Can I spay my cat while she is still nursing?

tonymel

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Mar 1, 2013
Messages
118
Purraise
13
Location
Lancaster, CA
Hello everyone :) My last post here was sometime last year. I had a cat named Mrs. Peppers that gave birth to 5 kittens. They all found new homes and Peppers is now spayed. While she was nursing I found a stray cat with kittens. Two of the kittens died but the other three found homes. I decided to keep the mother cat and call her Paprika. Paprika does not like to be indoors so I have always kept her outside. She recently got pregnant and had four kittens. They are about 3 weeks old right now. I keep her inside with them for half the day then I put her outside for some time. I really want to get her spayed before she gets pregnant again, but I don't know if I can if the kittens are still nursing. I want to do it possibly on the 23th or 24th of this month. By that time the kittens will be 6 weeks old. Would this be a good idea? I really don't think I can wait until the kittens are fully weaned because I heard they can get pregnant really soon. 
 

Norachan

Moderator
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
May 27, 2013
Messages
32,673
Purraise
32,858
Location
Mount Fuji, Japan
That would be just about perfect timing I think. She'll still be able to nurse the kittens after she has been spayed. Ask your vet to do a flank spay, rather than a belly spay, so the kittens don't hurt her while her stitches are healing.

Keep her indoors for a day or two after the surgery so she has time to recover fully. You'll need to keep an eye on her stitches too, to make sure they don't start bleeding. She might not want the kittens in the same room with her right after she has had the operation. The trip to the vets and the anaesthetic can be disorientating for cats and the smells of the vet will still be on her, which will make her nervous. Give her at least 24 hours on her own.

At six weeks the kittens will be able to eat wet food so they'll be fine without Mum for a while. I've know cats to go on producing milk for their kittens for up to a month after being spayed. It doesn't interfere with lactation.
 
Top