Help! cat spay complication...

Originally Posted by kluchetta

(I don't really know about cats, but antibiotics make the human nauseous a lot of times.)

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I think that might the reason right there. She's had an antibiotic injection every day for the last three days. I hope when it wears off, the naseau will go away. Meanwhile, I'll be straw-feeding her liquid food.

Thanks for the suggestion about baby food. But I think no matter what kind of food I use, I'll have to force-feed her. Maybe I'll buy some baby food tomorrow though. (It's night here now.)

By the way, according to the vet's instruction, I've been rubbing a kind of alcohol on her stitched area with a Q-tip, three times a day. The alcohol is brownish-reddish. Mimi doesn't it like it, but neither is she resisting with all her might.

The spay procedure was horrible to watch. (I could sort of see what they were doing through a window.) Remember, I'm in China. Her eyes were open the whole time, apparently she was completely "numbed". But she started wailing terribly near the end of the procedure. I think she vommitted during the procedure. I could see her mouth opening and closing, her head tilted backwards as she lay on her back.

I heard from my friend who was with me that the vet was using his bare hands?! I hope my friend is wrong about that.

Coindidentally, my friend's sister (also in China) recently had her uterus removed (for medical reasons of course). She said that she had no appetite for a few days after the operation.

By the way, the vast majority of pet cats in China are not spayed/neutered, and I think most of them are not confined indoors. It's a totally different pet-culture than what you have in developed countries.

Hopefully, the antibiotics are the answer.
Please keep posting.

Sounds like your doing all the right things for your cat. It does sound like she is improving. Hope each day she is better.

She's REALLY resisting being force-fed, but at the same time I've been improving my force-feeding skills: my friend holds Mimi, while I hold her head to the side and poke the straw into the side of her mouth. The key is to close her mouth with your thumb once you get the straw in, so she doesn't spit the liquid out.

So far she's eaten about half an egg yolk plus the same amount of milk, and some water. Not much, but I hope it's enough to prevent irreversible damage from starvation.

Will try to feed her again in the middle of the night, and tomorrow morning.

Yes you need a syringe! My cat has been doing the same kind of thing and my vet recommended a finely pureed cat food (or baby food, like Gerber strained beef) mixed with enough water to easily draw up into the syringe.
Glad she jumped up on the computer. Maybe she is getting better. Maybe Chinese vets use some anaesthetic that makes them nauseus.

You are doing wonderfully and I applaud you. The alcohol mixture could be an iodine application which is antiseptic. Here is Bosnia almost no cats are spayed/neutered either, and it is hard to find 'normal' things for pets. But there are vets, though very varied in their approaches and available facilities. My Persil almost died last Christmas because a vet had no Xray facilities and kept treating her for parasites when she had a ruptured diaphragm. But it sounds like your MImi is improving, and I di hope she eats on her own soon.

Oh my God! I just read the account of the operation. That is terrible. I don't think I would ever get any more cats spayed in China!I am sooo sorry for her.

It's morning now, and Mimi just ate a few pieces of cat food on her own, and lapped up some water! Yay! And she seems to doing her normal morning routine of following me around the apartment. Her appetite is barely there, but it seems to be coming back at least. So I hope I won't be needing a syringe.

Quote: "Oh my God! I just read the account of the operation. That is terrible. I don't think I would ever get any more cats spayed in China!I am sooo sorry for her."

That's an interesting point. While I fully agree with the necessity of getting cats spayed in developed countries, you really have to think twice about getting a cat spayed in a developing country where the operation itself might be life-threatening. All the (correct) advice I've been reading about getting a cat spayed must be taken in the context of developed countries!

Getting a male neutered is much safer I think.

If I were to do it all over again, I'm not sure I would get Mimi spayed... but I hope Mimi will continue making her recovery, and I won't regret getting her spayed.

I'm so happy to hear she is doing better! Ohh poor Mimi! I am happy the two of you stayed strong!

Love and Support for the both!

Well, after eating those few bits of cat food on her own, she refused to eat anything else on her own, so I force-fed her ten tiny strawfuls of yolk/water mixture.

The stores aren't open yet, but when they open I'll try to go out and find and buy a syringe; I'm afraid the end of the straw might be injuring her gums after repeatedly (but gently) forcing the straw into her mouth.

Now Mimi is licking her lips again. Darn, I guess she feels nauseous.

I got a syringe now, it works better than the straw.

Mimi is so pretty! I have a little kitten with close coloring. I think it's wonderful how much you obviously love your cat to do so much for her! I agree with some of the other posters that the antibiotics could be the cause for the nausea/not eating. And I don't know about cats (Marlee was spayed before I got her from a shelter) but my roommate got her dog spayed a week or so ago, and the dog threw up several times the day of her surgery. The vet said its not a bad sign, just like humans their stomach can get upset from the anesthesia. Anyways, I applaud you for keeping your kitty as healthy as possible right now, and keep us updated! Also, I know its so different over there, but you could ask the vet about supplements. I got somethign from a vet here called Rebound, its a milk like substance to help sick cats get back to eating and gain weight. Good luck and keep us updated!

Aw poor wee Mimi. She is lovely and I applaud you for your gentle caring of her. Please keep us informed as to how she (and you) are doing. We're all rooting for you and Mimi on this side of the world.

I am suprised no one else mentioned this, don't give her cows milk that is really bad for cats cuz they cannot digest it, cats are lactose intolerant. Use Cat Sip or some sort of cat milk from the store, NOT cows milk.

Originally Posted by Jen

I am suprised no one else mentioned this, don't give her cows milk that is really bad for cats cuz they cannot digest it, cats are lactose intolerant. Use Cat Sip or some sort of cat milk from the store, NOT cows milk.

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OK thanks. I did give her a little bit of milk, mixed with the egg yolk, because I was thinking I just needed to get calories into her body as efficiently as possible. But then later I realized she shouldn't be drinking cow's milk, so I just mixed egg yolk with water. You're right. Thanks again.

In the latest force-feeding, I syringe-fed (without the needle of course!) her about 6 ml of "cat food broth". I doubt there are many calories in the broth, although it's good that she's getting water.

This morning I found some fresh poop in her litter. She's urinated I think three times since I started force-feeding her liquids, which was about 24 hours ago.

Maybe I should feed her more egg yolk (calorie-dense) in an hour or so? Or should I wait until this evening (8 hours later) to see if she eats on her own again?

Another thing you could feed, although it may not be the right consistency - is her regular food soaked in some chicken broth (salt free), and mushed up. My cat also LOVES yogurt. (She actually likes any yogurt, even with fruit, but most people feed plain yogurt.) I think yogurt is ok - anybody know that for sure since it's made with cow's milk? I used it when my cat was on antibiotics because of the cultures in yogurt that help the digestive system...

Antibiotics CAN & DO often make cats nauseus, especially Clavamox, which is one vets in the States frequently use. Following a typical spay surgery, your baby should be eating & drinking normally within 24 hours. Have you asked the vet about giving her fluids injections to keep her hydrated? I have no knowledge of vet care in China, but I worked in a vet hospital here in the States for 3 years...a kitten in Mimi's situation would be given an injection of fluids to help her recover (the fluids are called Lactated Ringers over here). You're doing a great job of force-drinking her; it can be really hard for people to make their babies do something they don't want to do. Have you tried any tuna juice to tempt her (by this I mean the water that tuna comes packed in when it's canned...not the kind that comes in oil)? That often works. There's also a prescription cat food here in the States made by Hill's Science Diet called A/D...we often described it as "Ensure (a high-calorie supplement drink for humans) for cats," and many cats post-surgery who were refusing to eat succumbed to its charms . But again, I have no idea if it's available in China...if it is, your vet should have it. You're a fantastic kitten nurse, Mimi is lucky to have such an attentive & loving parent...hope she keeps getting steadily better & better.

She just ate ten little pieces of cat food on her own! I moistened them and microwaved them to make them more appealing.

About your suggestions, I'll try the tuna with water a little later. I think I'll pass on the yoghurt, because I'm afraid the milk content might not be good for her.

I did ask the vet yesterday (before I started force-feeding her) if she should get an IV (fluids injected into her). The vet said doing so without knowing the cause of her sickness, is dangerous. Well, I think this force-feeding thing is much safer than an IV. Plus, IV is just sugar and water I think, whereas by force-feeding her egg yolk I'm getting in good-quality protein and fat.

Before you guys mentioned force-feeding, I was under the (wrong) impression that you can't force a cat to eat/drink. I guess I had in the back of my mind that idiom, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink". lol

I was going to suggest an IV to get fluids into her system.

Yogurt is what we use at my shelter when the cats have diarrhea, just a little bit or else they will get it even worse. I don;t really see a purpose in giving her yogurt but you could try just to get something into her.

Yoghurt is OK, and I think I mentioned in one of my early posts that goat milk is OK - I have raised several kittens on it as there is no kitten milk available here either. My cats still love it as a treat.