My cat was spayed yesterday.... a little worried.

Kai was spayed yesterday, when she was brought home she drank a little and ate a little, this morning she took he pain medicine fine w/ a piece of ham at 7:30am. She walks around some and is sleeping most of the time. I tried to give her her pain meds again at 7:30 pm but she wouldn't take it, i gave her dry food, she didnt eat it, i gave her water, she didnt drink it then i tried wet food and thats a no go also. should I be concerned?

They are usually out of it for a day or two. If she is not better tomorrow, call the Vet that spayed her and ask what is expected for recovery. Often, they will give antibiotics and/or other meds for swelling, pain, etc. Those can also affect appetite. Do you know what was administered?

every single of the females I spayed did that for 2 days and went back to normal except for one Bumble 4 days after she was fixed didn't want to eat or drink grumpy etc I took her in because her stitches was swallon and red and wet my vet said she had a bad infection and put on antibiotics for 2 weeks and pain meds and she got better <room was vary clean weird<

My cats have never done that, but in the UK a flank spay is normal rather than a mid-line and maybe that's why.  The two done as kittens both bounced out of their carrier, run round the house and tucked in.  The one with a litter of kittens (20 years ago) was a bit sore for a day and then carried on feeding them.  She had a longer incision - the recent ones have had a 1cm (less than 1/2 inch).  They have also never come home with pain control and have never shown any sign of needing it.

What pain relief has she got?  I wonder if it could be making her sleepy?

If one of mine was like that I'd be ringing my vet.

I'd be ringing the vet too, even with a midline spay recovery is pretty fast. The last grown girl I got done came home and immediately fed her kittens, returning to normal right away.  I've also never been given takehome painkillers and never needed it.

Yesterday (12/21) she got up and used the litter box, boy did she have to go! Then I saw her get a quick drink then went back to laying down. During the day my mom saw her eat a little and drink a little and this morning (12/22) she drank more water and just licked her food. Today is starting day three after surgery and the packet the vet gave me said it can take 2-3 days so today I'm keeping a closer eye on my baby and seeing how she does and if no change I'm going to call our 2nd vet.  (we have 2 vets b/c the other vet does farm calls and our dogs are under them.)

OrientalSlave said:

...They have also never come home with pain control and have never shown any sign of needing it.

What pain relief has she got?

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First, whether or not a cat 'shows signs of needing pain relief medication'....rest assured that spay surgery requires humane aftercare - and that must include pain relief:

For far too many years the veterinary profession has considered pain management to be of little consequence, with practitioners citing such outdated aphorisms as “animals feel less pain than humans”, “pain is beneficial because it limits activity” and “analgesia hides clinical deterioration” All of these reasons for not providing adequate analgesia are now known to be false; in fact, the beneficial effects of pain control far outweigh the few adverse effects that may arise from using analgesic drugs.

Pain takes a tremendous toll on our patients. Some of the negative conditions associated with pain include V/Q (ventilation/perfusion) abnormalities, increased metabolic demand, tissue catabolism, impaired immune function, increased risk of sepsis, delayed wound healing, prolonged convalescence and cardiovascular stress. Additionally, studies in humans suggest that improperly controlled acute pain may precipitate a chronic pain syndrome that can be very difficult to control. Above all else, we have an ethical obligation to provide humane care to our patients.  http://www.vasg.org/analgesia.htm

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It's also well-established that adequate pain management speeds overall recovery time.

My sense is that the symptoms of withdrawal that you are seeing DO indicate that she's experiencing pain.

Exactly which pain medication - it's name - was she given?

Kai Hines said:

Kai was spayed yesterday, when she was brought home she drank a little and ate a little, this morning she took he pain medicine fine w/ a piece of ham at 7:30am. She walks around some and is sleeping most of the time. I tried to give her her pain meds again at 7:30 pm but she wouldn't take it, i gave her dry food, she didnt eat it, i gave her water, she didnt drink it then i tried wet food and thats a no go also. should I be concerned?

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When Zoë was spayed she did not react well at all. She doesn't  handle anything well actually. Even vaccinations give her extreme reactions. She's very different from any other cat I've ever had (or have now). I had to hand feed her little bits at a time, and water feed her too. And I don't mean hold food in my hand and give it to her. Oh no...I used a needless syringe and filled it with wet food. Every few hours I fed her the smallest amount you can think of. She had a very hard time swallowing it but we had to be patient and continue on. The doc did give her a shot which was to keep her from throwing up any food. Trust me, that shot was what kept my baby alive! Even though she didn't want to eat the food I was feeding her, when it was in her belly, it never came back up. After a few days for this, she finally came to and was back to normal. I hope Kai is better soon. 

White Shadow said:

First, whether or not a cat 'shows signs of needing pain relief medication'....rest assured that spay surgery requires humane aftercare - and that must include pain relief:

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In countries outside the US (yes we do exist & do things differently) an injection is given, rather than sending cats home with medication. The animals are not just left in pain. 

White Shadow said:

First, whether or not a cat 'shows signs of needing pain relief medication'....rest assured that spay surgery requires humane aftercare - and that must include pain relief:

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A kitten that's eating quite normally, drinking quite normally, using the tray quite normally and doing regular sessions of the 'wall of death' round the house with her brother - in short a kitten behaving completely nornally in evry way - doesn't sound like a kitten in pain to me.

I find the OP's cat quite worrying. 

OrientalSlave said:

A kitten that's eating quite normally, drinking quite normally, using the tray quite normally and doing regular sessions of the 'wall of death' round the house with her brother - in short a kitten behaving completely nornally in evry way - doesn't sound like a kitten in pain to me.

I find the OP's cat quite worrying. 

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Agree, ours return like the little loonies they left as, same with older cats. 

She was given Tramadol HCL 50mg. she has only taken two, I tried to give her another one 12 hrs later as directed but she didnt want to eat.

Kai Hines said:

...I tried to give her another one 12 hrs later as directed but she didnt want to eat.

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Here's a good coverage of Tramadolhttp://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_tramadol.html Take a look at the "Side Effects" section - upset stomach - that may account for her inappetence....constipation - that could also reduce appetite.

Has she has a bowel movement since coming home?

Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook 7th edition indicates that "dose avoidance (unpalatability) has been reported" in cats.....now, interestingly, the tablets come in two forms: a film-coated and an "Oral Disintegrating Tablet". If what you're using is film-coated, she shouldn't be reacting to any distaste. If it's the other type, then perhaps so.

Now, one further point...Plumb's gives the dosage as 1-2mg per kilo (2.2 pounds) of body weight. You're giving 50mg tablets...based on the drug handbook, 50 mg is therefore appropriate for a very heavy animal...and, this patient is merely a kitten. I would be concerned enough to stop this med and speak with a competent feline Vet ASAP.

Given that she hasn't hardly eaten in some days, I think I'd be assist-feeding her at this point. Here's some excellent info on that http://www.assistfeed.com/feline_assisted_feeding.htm IF you're going to use a syringe to feed her, be VERY careful that she doesn't aspirate the liquid...tiny drops into the corner pockets of the mouth, NEVER straight down the throat!

Ah then this might make sense! The directions the vet gave me was to give her 1/4 of the pill and they cut the pills up for me so that may be it and I haven't noticed a bowl movement from her yet my mom has been watching her while im at work during the day so I'll ask next time I see her. I've only seen her pee.  Today though she walked herself upstairs to lay under the Christmas tree and she drank water and ate wet food a little more then the past 3 days so I see her starting to get get back to herself, slowly but surely. I keep praying every night! 

Kai Hines said:

...Today though she walked herself upstairs to lay under the Christmas tree and she drank water and ate wet food a little more then the past 3 days so I see her starting to get get back to herself, slowly but surely.

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All good signs that she's returning to normal! I think you can relax - just keep up the supportive care.

If it turns out that she hasn't pooped, you might try a dose or two of Miralax...that's a "human" powdered laxative which is tasteless and easily mixed with watery food. The usual dosage is 1/8-1/4 teaspoonful - usually starting with 1/4. More about that here http://www.felineconstipation.org/acutetreatment.html#OsmoticLaxatives (if you're in Canada, it's called "Restoralax" and is over the counter).

Keep us posted!

Even split into quarters, it's a big dose for a kitten.  1/4 of 50mg = 12.5, 12.5/1.8 = 6.95 - almost 7.  I doubt your kitten weighs 7 pounds unless you have had her neutered when almost an adult.  There is also the question of how evenly the vet was able to split the tablets.

Tramadol is a very effective painkiller (I know - I had it after major surgery) but given the experiences of myself in the UK and MM in Australia it strikes me as a way over the top painkiller for post-spay pain.

How is she doing now? lt's been so long since l had a female cat spayed that l've forgotten what is normal and abnormal.

My male was neutered last month and was given a s[color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]ustained release Buprenorphine injection. He was lethargic and didn't eat for a couple of hours, but was otherwise normal.[/color]

l don't remember ever getting meds to administer to them after, but l'm sure they must have some effect on their appetite, mood, etc.

l hope she's getting back to herself.

For the most part they were even but she only took two b/c I couldn't get her to eat and yea she weighs 7.25 lbs shes 2 1/2 years although I still consider her a kitten lol.

Shes getting better I'm seeing great improvement now I think she's just sore and stiff so ive been getting her up slowly to make her walk around and yesterday she started cleaning herself and she's been going and sleeping in her normal napping areas of the house.

Thank-you all for the help and support!