Nala Ava Marie scheduled to be spayed on January 19.

My little Nala Ava Marie is not going to have the opportunity to be a Mommy. I know it's for the best, her own good but I just know she'd have some beautiful little kittens someday if she had a chance. Haha. Today is her 4 month birthday! 20 weeks old.

what a cute girl

She is so precious - I love black & white kitties 

I know how you feel - my husband and I love all our cats of course, but one of the boys is very very special to us.   Part of me hates that he is neutered - I love the idea of raising his descendants, so that a part of him would live on forever.....but however much I may romanticize that idea, I know that it is all for the best to always get your pets fixed!    I guess we waited just ever slightly so late to get our newest boy fixed, and he sprayed for the first time literally two days before his neutering appointment, and it stunk      Boys get stinky with spraying, girls get loud & annoying when in heat 

Lol. She's my first kitten baby but I've heard when they are in heat it's not fun! Does it take very long for them to recover from surgery? Males and females? My daughter has a male cat, Jax who is going to be neutered at the end of this month. Nala had a medical emergency and had to suffer being declawed. She spent 2 nights and 3 days at the vet. I was beside myself the whole time. In some ways I was relieved though that she was in care of professionals and not associating me with the pain she was in. I will miss her like crazy but I kind of want them to keep her as long as they're willing to so she can get the best treatment though I know they don't love her like I do. And even though she's an aggressive kitten, I know deep down she loves me. Also, the vet has video monitoring on all of the cats at all times after hours but they do not actually have a 24 hour staff on location, just on call. That kind of makes me nervous but if there would be a problem, would they be able to tell if she's in pain? Would someone come help her? I guess they probably wouldn't care if she was sad or lonely. [emoji]128575[/emoji] They get there at 8:00 AM and are there until 5:30-6:00 PM. I'm embarrassed to be so ignorant about this but will she have a huge incision and blood and obvious stitches? I worry and think the worst. How long will she be sore? Worrying already.

I don't think they keep kittens overnight for spays.  both of mine arrived fixed.

Maybe that's why they wanted me to bring her in early so she can have her surgery in the morning & I could pick her up in the afternoon? Hopefully she won't have gruesome wounds? I'm squeamish about blood and I will have terrible anxiety if I feel I'm hurting her.

I wouldn't pick her up by the belly our anything, and I'd probably be careful about playing, but when my girl got spayed she was acting totally normal as soon as her meds wore off. She was about a year old when she got spayed, I think they recover faster when they're younger. And in my experience, males take no time at all to recover! I wouldn't worry about your daughter's cat at all

Hoping Nala is home soon and recovering well!

Handsome Kitty said:

I don't think they keep kittens overnight for spays.  both of mine arrived fixed.

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My Ruby wasn't kept overnight, but the girl my parents got as a kitten was. Maybe it depends on the vet?

Thank you. She doesn't go in until the 19th & I'm already worrying about it! [emoji]128568[/emoji]

Adoringangel72 said:

Thank you. She doesn't go in until the 19th & I'm already worrying about it! [emoji]128568[/emoji]

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Ahh, I must've misread somewhere.
Don't worry! She'll be just fine and the wound isn't gruesome at all!

I worried about Pea-Pea when I found out her date too. Until you have a date, it's all conjecture. Now you have a date and it's solidifying in your mind. I scheduled by boys to be neutered back in August three weeks before that date (had to do it way in advance because it's a high-volume low-cost spay/neuter clinic). With the boys, they had to be there by 8:30am, and I could pick them up between 5-6pm. That went for both spays and neuters. I still remember going there and this couple had brought in a feral that they called "Grandma" because she'd already had five litters by the time they caught her. When they were talking to him, they told him she was actually pregnant with a sixth litter (which of course was aborted by default with the spay).

Anyway, with Penelopy, the shelter paid for the spay and it was done at the vet next door to them. I had to have her there at 8am, and by shortly after 9am, they had called me to tell me it was all done and went well, and I could pick her up after 1pm. Whoa! I was going to work from home in the afternoon anyway so that worked for me, as the vet was kinda/sorta on the way home.

I'll be honest, I've never felt like I'd love to have my kitties' descendants. Not even Lucky's. I've wondered what it would be like to have newborn kittens, but if I truly wanted to know what it was like I'd adopt or foster (not sure they'd let someone adopt) a pregnant kitty. But in all honesty, the seniors tend to steal my heart :heart2:

They won't keep her overnight just for a spay - every time I've gotten a cat fixed, it's always the same deal - drop them off early in the morning, then they are ready for pick-up in the afternoon.

When we spayed our girl, she was still a little woozy from the pain meds once we brought her home, but she was fine after a few hours.  Just set Nala up with a comfy quiet resting spot once she gets home & let her rest.

They will shave off a patch of fur on her belly, and there will be a small incision, maybe like an inch and a half.  It's really not that bad, she's not gonna be oozing blood or anything.   Just keep an eye out for redness/irritation and keep an eye on her for the next week to make sure she isn't scratching/biting around the incision.   They will probably give you an e-collar (cone collar) to put on her - most cats DESPISE the cone collar - they gave me one for my girl, but I didn't force her to wear it because she didn't mess with her incision.   If you supervise Nala and she does  mess with the incision site, she'll need to wear the collar.   If she doesn't mess with it, I'd say don't force her to wear it.    Ask the clinic if they plan on giving you take-home pain meds for her - they will likely do that for you, but it may cost a few bucks extra.   

Another note - other folks here and even the vet that did the spaying suggested putting a onesie on her (vs an e-collar) if there were issues with her pulling her stitches. Licking is ok, pulling on stitches isn't.

Thank you! I can't believe how fast Nala is growing up. She's on my lap, grooming herself, at the moment looking very babyish! Sometimes she still has her baby look then I'll look at her again and she's like a petite, but grown up cat. [emoji]128570[/emoji][emoji]128062[/emoji] I bet she'd look adorable in a onesie! Those cone collars don't look comfortable at all. I'll pay extra for pain meds for her. Last time, after her accident the medication to relieve pain looked and smelled disgusting but she loved it! It was chicken liver flavored! It was like a gross, dark olive green color. Made her sleepy though. She was on a pink antibiotic one time also and she hated that. Oh, her Composure chews do not seem to be very effective. Idk, she's an energetic kitten so it's hard to tell. They're huge, thought I'd have to cut them up for her. Takes her awhile to eat one but she likes the challenge! [emoji]128570[/emoji]

My boys will be 8 months old on Friday, and they still look baby-ish, especially Oscar!

she's adorable. let's all hope for an uneventful surgery and a quick recovery.  

Tomorrow morning my baby Nala Ava Marie goes in for her spay. [emoji]128575[/emoji] I'm nervous and feel bad for her. She's 21 weeks old. She only weighs slightly over 4 pounds. I don't want her to go into heat. I don't want her to run off and get pregnant. She's usually just around me, she never goes outside. There aren't any male cats that I know of anywhere around here, just don't want to take chances. I hope she's not going to be in pain. I hate when she is away from me but if they keep her overnight, might be fine bc I'll be afraid to see her in pain. How long before she'll get her appetite back? Will she be able to go potty ok? I'm going to get the pain reliever from the vet whether or not it costs extra. I feel guilty right now when I should be cuddling her and loving on her I have my bedroom door closed bc she was attacking me and I couldn't get her to stop. [emoji]128575[/emoji]
Is she going to get fat after her surgery? Will she still be playful? She gets so upset at the vet. Sad day for Nala Ava Marie tomorrow. [emoji]128575[/emoji]

Good luck Nala at the vet! [emoji]127808[/emoji][emoji]127808[/emoji][emoji]127808[/emoji]

I've only had a cat spayed once so don't know if this is typical, but she really didn't seem to be in much pain afterwards. And she didn't get fat after her surgery. As for being able to eat and use her box - it's been a long time but I think my girl Poppy started eating within 24 hours and used her box okay. Nala should still be a playful girl - that shouldn't change.

Fingers crossed all goes well!

Thank you! My daughter took this pic of her earlier. I'm going to open my bedroom door now and see if she's ready to stop attacking me!