Finally got a date!!!

Okay Jeepers is 6 1/2 months old so I finally got a date for her to get spayed. She is booked in on 22nd April, I wish it was sooner but there is a huge waiting list and I was lucky to get this appointment. They are VERY good vets, hence the waiting list but I am worried all the same.

Because of the hours I work I can't drop Jeepers off at the vet myself, but I can pick her up after she's been fixed. My other half is trying to take the 23rd off to keep an eye on her (we aren't paranoid at all )

I guess my question is, is it normal to be this worried. I know she will be looked after and that nothing bad is likely to happen to her but I can't stop worrying. I think it's because I've only ever had male kitties, Axl was his old self within 24 hours.

Jeepers won't have a collar on at all so I dread to think what she's going to make of her stitches. Any suggestions?

I hope it's normal to be worried because I was worried sick about taking Dori to get fixed. I worried the entire week before it happened. I couldn't sleep the night before at all. I scheduled it for a Friday so I could spend the weekend with her afterwards. I had to drop her off at the vet's at 7:30 am. I think I was more scared than she was. When I went in I had to fill out some paperwork and in the meantime a girl from the back picked up her carrier and walked away with her. I made them bring her back out, how dare them not let me say good bye to her! I almost cried leaving her and called them 3 times during the day to check on her. They were very nice and understanding and the doctor called me at work after the surgery to let me know everything was ok. I was allowed to get her at 4:00, so I left work early to pick her up so I could be there at 4:00 on the dot. I took her home and she slept alot but everything went ok. I got it done the week before Christmas and missed a couple Christmas parties that weekend because I insisted on staying with her even though the vet said it was unnecessary. Dori did not bother her stitches at all and everything healed with no problems. She had dissolvable stitches so she didn't have to go back. So anyway, all this to say I know how you feel and I think it's very normal to be worried. You love her and that's why you feel that way. Just try to keep busy that day and everything will be fine. (I tried but ended up watching the clock, if your anything like me be prepared for a LONG day)

She should be fine. I always pay for the extra pain shot to be given. They give it right before the cat is placed in the carrier to go home, and it helps to take the edge off. The new vet that I have that deals with just cats has a policy that she keeps the cats 24 hours, Just in case. Except she won't keep my ferals 24 hours at my request because being caged stresses them to much.

The fact that there is a waiting list tells me these vets are good at what they do. There is always a risk with any surgery, but with over 500 cats that I have had spayed and or neutered throughout the years, I have never encountered a problem. They are typically wobbly after the surgery and understandably sore. You should find a small room where they can rest that has no stairs or anything to encourage them to climb or jump (they won't be able to) I take either a carrier or a cardboard box (but not the same carrier they went to the vet in) and drape it with a blanket, pile in soft bedding and make a cave for them. They usually go right in and just sleep. They will be incredibly thirsty when they get home, you only feed them small amounts, but again, they should be just fine.

Thank you both for being responsible pet owners. That act alone means so much!

I scheduled it for a Friday so I could spend the weekend with her afterwards.

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I tried for a Friday but there's no surgery. That's why my other half is trying to book the Friday off, so he can 'Jeepers-sit'.

I take either a carrier or a cardboard box (but not the same carrier they went to the vet in) and drape it with a blanket, pile in soft bedding and make a cave for them.

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I'm probably going to move her cat bed in to the living room, it has four walls and a roof so she can hide out in it. If we put it in the corner I can put her food near it and the litter over the other side of the room.

If I'm still a bit worried Jason says he'll sleep on the sofa to make sure she's okay.

Thankyou both..... I don't feel like such a panic monster now

My little guy is going in for "alterations" on Friday. I made the appointment four months in advance so I could keep an eye on him during the weekend. I'm not worried. They have so many tests before the operation and so many monitors during the operation that it's hard to imagine how it could be done more safely.

When we got Doku fixed I wasn't nervous....UNTIL after we went to pick her up, they kept saying how if she got cold she will die, and that we can not make any stops on the way home, and all that. We got her home and I let her out into my room and she couldn't walk at all, her front legs would start moving, and back legs didn't want anything to do with her. The anasthesia was a hallucinogenic so she was also seeing things flying around the room. I had to put her in the bathroom with towels, sheets, and fleece blanets, along with a very shallow litter pan and a bit of food and water. I also put a portable heater in there and turned it on a bit just to get it warm. That night I was so nervous I was on the verge of tears, I am a very paranoid person when it comes to my cats, so I can't say it is normal, lol. But good luck with everything!

Rhian it is normal to worry. The day i dropped Rosie off at the surgery i cried when i left her, and i'm not ashamed to say it either. I even rang them up later that morning to see if she was ok, after all it's what we would do if it was a relative in hospital?!.

When i picked her up, they gave me a couple of sheets telling me what had been done, that they had given her pain killers, how i had to keep her in a warm quiet room, and what to expect.

If they dont put one of those collars on Jeepers, ask them for one. Their only about £1.50 but they save a lot of stress for both of you trying to keep her off the stitches.

They never gave me one and Rosie was growling and hissing at me when i tried to stop her pulling at them. In the end i had to ring the emergency number who told me to make a makeshift one.

She had a collar ok in a few minutes flat with the word 'Weetabix' all around her neck, bless her!. Watching Blue Peter came in handy after all!


Jeepers will be fine, but whatever you do don't show that your upset otherwise She'll be able to sense it.

I was on a weeks holiday when i took Rosie in, but she was fine after a couple of days.

Their only about £1.50 but they save a lot of stress for both of you trying to keep her off the stitches

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I'm just about to do a search for those cool collars made out of material, they make it more comfortable for kittys to get to sleep, someone posted the website addy a while ago, If they ship I'm getting one.

About those cat collar things, I talked to my vet about those soft ones and they said it was a waste of money cause they can get around it. I haven't tried them, so I don't know if it works or not, just wanted to let you know!
(I thought they were cool too!)

It's perfectly normal to worry. I also couldn't sleep the night before JC was fixed, and scheduled his operation during our fall break, so that I could be home with him. He was a bit wobbly (ditto after he had his teeth cleaned last year), and kept dozing off that evening after I picked him up (I dropped him off at 7:30 a.m., and picked him up at 6:00 p.m.). The funny thing was that he was absolutely starving (no breakfast, and an early dinner the night before). He reacts to any visit to the vet's with an enormous appetite. He was bouncing around the next morning. The last female I had fixed needed two or three days to recover. She also didn't get a "collar", so one of us stayed with her all day so that she didn't mess with her stitches. At night we shut her in the bedroom with us. Our vet gave us a bad-tasting, antibiotic powder to sprinkle over the stitches (sorry - it has been so long that I don't remember the name) to prevent her from licking.

Rhian Rosie didn't have a problem sleeping with her collar, although i had to cut about 5" off as it was huge

jcat: i like the thought of the powder as well!.

If i do decide to get another kitten, i've kept Rosies old collar because i couldn't go through that again!

A friend of mine just had her cat fixed and said the vet told her about some sort of spray you can buy at most pet stores to keep her from licking (sorry I can't remember the name of it). I was pretty lucky with Dori I guess, she didn't seem to bother her stitches at all.
She also had a huge appetite when she got home. The vet told me to only let her eat a little because it would make her sick if she just chowed down. I put her food bowl up so she couldn't eat anymore and she cried and cried. I was still feeling guilty from not being able to feed her the night before or that morning so I let her have more food I shouldn't have but luckily she didn't get sick.

I thought I'd finally start to get worried once I took him to the vet this morning. Bah! Once I took him out of his carrier, he explored the office then took a quick nap on the table. After five minutes he acted like the vet was his second-best friend. When the vet carried him off, he looked like he thought he was going to Disneyland or something.

I'm sure he's not that happy right now though.

We're all sorted now. I have booked off the Friday so after Jeeps comes home on the Thursday I am home until after the weekend. I have also resigned myself to sleeping downstairs with Jeepers, I guess it's the only way I'll get any sleep. Thankyou all for your advice

Awww 2 weeks today and hopefully by this time it will all be over for Jeepers.

Oh god i've got this to go through again myself when i get Sophie

Your wise taking a long weekend as well because you would only worry more!. Post us as soon as Jeepers comes home!.

Susan

To follow up on my last post, the neutering was nothing at all to him. He was doped up on morphine and high as a kite when I picked him up on Friday. I gave him the prescribed morphine through Sunday morning and it never looked like he had any discomfort at all. He ran around and played and acted like nothing had happened to him.