What will my kittens go through during spaying?

I've scheduled both of my kittens to be spayed, at the same time, right after Thanksgiving. They will then be 4 1/2 and almost 5 1/2 mo. old. My vet will not spay a cay younger than 4 1/2 mo, and then only if she is of normal size/not very small.

Anyway, I'm worrying about my youngest kitten, she very much freaked out when she was 8 weeks old and had her blood drawn to check for FAIDS etc. She litteraly screamed and screamed, and acted like she thought she was about to die a horrible death. I felt so terribly bad for her, she was so frightened. I felt like I had put her through bad mental abuse.

What I wonder about, is what the vet will do to them before they are put under; I assume they will be given a general anestesia? I mean, will they go through much trama, or will they sleep through the whole thing? How about afterwards? They will stay for 24 hours after the procedure.
Would you be able to go through it with me, step by step, so that I know what they will go through? I just hope she won't be traumatized during this procedure...
The older kitten I am less worried about; she seems to not be bothered very easily, she even tolerates and loves the vaccum cleaner!

Molly was about 8 mos. when I got her spayed (tried at 6 mos. but she was still too small). I brought her in to the hosp. at about 8 a.m. and they took her back in her kitty carrier (I requested they keep her in there for her own comfort and sense of security) and then I got a call at about Noon that she did just great for the operation and was resting comfortably. They did have to keep her over night but I was able to pick her up right away the next morning. I was worried she'd be in pain and not moving so well but she acted like nothing ever happened. They told me to not let her go up and down steps for the first 5 days....YA, RIGHT! We live in a multi-level with open staircases so that's about as successful as trying to put peanut butter on a dog's nose and keeping him from licking it off!

If your little one has that much anxiety, ask the vet if they can give you a sedative to give her before you bring her in. I'm not sure if they can when she's going to be put under for the surgery but it might not hurt to ask. I know my SIL gets a kitty version of Zanax for her 1 cat when she has to take him anywhere because he'll have a meltdown if he's not sedated.

Also, post-op, you're supposed to keep them from excessive licking or chewing on the incision which is really hard when it's itches as it heals. I don't know HOW to avoid that!

Lastly, get some Today's News kitty litter to use for the first week after surgery.....you don't want any litter getting in the incision.

GL!

They'll sleep through the whole thing. Both Buffy and Willow were stressed, but in different ways. With Willow, they had to gas her while she was still in the cage, because they couldn't get her out without being shredded to bits (so they put this box-type thing into the cage, over top of her, then released the gas, and she just fell asleep). With Buffy, she didn't pose any problems, but she screamed as the vet technicians took her to the back, and when we picked her up, we could hear her screaming ("Oh yeah, that's Buffy all right!"). Buffy was also thickly coated in dandruff and loose fur, due to the stress. Willow's normally the one who hates strangers and will fight at the slightest thing, but Buffy REALLY hates strangers when she's in strange places. Yesterday she got stuck up in a tree and her leash was wrapped around a branch, so a couple of people stopped and helped fetch her. Man, Buffy started screaming the second the kid got his fingers under her harness and pulled her towards him, but then again, the people had a yapping dog in their van so that probably contributed to it.

So the cats will be stressed, that's unavoidable (unless you get lucky with the "bombproof cat," lol), but they'll hopefully get some pain meds afterwards to help (neither of my 2 girls got them, unless they were administered before they were released to us). At least it's only for 24 hours and the cats will eventually forget about the experience. Sometimes vets will house two cats together (if the cats are housemates) to help keep both cats calm. Maybe your vet will do that with your two, if they're scheduled for the same day? It would help the spookier cat if she has the more mellow one in the same cage as her.

Even though I have had several kitties over the years I am no expert. One thing I can say with confidence is to get your vet to prescribe the pain medication to come home with your kitties. We never had medication offered to us for any of the other kitties until Bucky was spayed a few weeks ago.

The difference was night and day, every other kitty I have brought home from being spayed or neutered spent a few days hiding under my bed afterward, and most likely went through a lot of pain. Bucky was able to eat and drink and spent all of her time out here with us afterwards with the pain medicine.

She was on it for five days, and did not care at all for the taste...but it seemed to be doing the trick.

I am sorry to hear about your kittie's reaction to being hospitalized...maybe your doctor can prescribe something right away to reduce her anxiety when she gets there?

OH...one more HUGE tip.....if your vet offers it, definitely pay the extra money for the surgery to be done via laser! It cauterizes the nerve endings, blood vessels, etc., and makes a much more precise incision and the end result is a lot less pain & bleeding and quicker healing! I'm SURE that's why Molly didn't seem like she had gone through surgery at all....it was money well spent!

Why wasn't I offered pain medication for Molly and Penelope? Poor girls. I thought they were being reclusive just from the shock of going to the vets. I really hope they have forgotten all about their surgery.

Originally Posted by SnowLeop

Why wasn't I offered pain medication for Molly and Penelope? Poor girls.

I thought they were being reclusive just from the shock of going to the vets. I really hope they have forgotten all about their surgery.

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Some vets don't believe in giving pain meds for spaying or neutering and think there's more of a risk in having a cat/dog on pain meds. That's what 1 vet told me when I was trying to select one....I moved on to a different vet entirely!

Originally Posted by SnowLeop

Why wasn't I offered pain medication for Molly and Penelope? Poor girls.

I thought they were being reclusive just from the shock of going to the vets. I really hope they have forgotten all about their surgery.

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I was in the vets office the other day. Another person had just spayed their cat, she asked for pain meds, and he just told here that they don't need it. I was never offered pain meds when I spayed my girl, or for Buddy, who just got neutered. I think it is a falasy that they don't need it. I think vets just overlook the need for pain relief because cats don't always show that they are in pain even when they are. Its very sad, but they seem to get through it, and get over it pretty quick.

What I wonder about, is what the vet will do to them before they are put under; I assume they will be given a general anestesia? I mean, will they go through much trama, or will they sleep through the whole thing? How about afterwards? They will stay for 24 hours after the procedure.
Would you be able to go through it with me, step by step, so that I know what they will go through? I just hope she won't be traumatized during this procedure...
The older kitten I am less worried about; she seems to not be bothered very easily, she even tolerates and loves the vaccum cleaner!

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Firstly, the one cat is simply a weenie. Cats are all unique in personality. Some can handle things, other can't. The biggest thing is to not read into it, or feed into it.

I can tell you what we do at our clinic with spays.

First we weigh the cat, so we know how much anesthetic to draw up. When the doctor comes in, he'll look the cat over[listen to their heart and breathing, check ears, check the sex] do a basic exam to make sure the cat is healthy. Then he'll give the cat a pre-injection which makes them drowsy and relax. After they get drunk, we take the cat out and give it the full anesthetic. The cat goes under, we put a trachea tube in them, and hook them up to a really safe gas called Isoflorine. They'll shave your cat's belly, and probably trim her nails [at least we trim the nails]. A spay surgery is invasive, but pretty simple.

The vet cuts through like 3 layers of skin, don't ask me the names because I can't remember them. Then they pull out an overy, suture it, and cut it out. They do the same to the second ovary. Then they put the ovaries back in and sew things up.

We send pain meds home for spays. Because it's invasive, pain meds are a good idea. They aren't required, but if your vet is compassionate they'll send some home. I wouldn't bother if it was a neuter, but spays definitley. The cats wake up and are usually drowsy that night. They probably won't want to eat until the next day. You want to watch for redness, or fluid build up on the surgery site. But it's really not traumatic. Your one cat is just really tempermental and bossy about being poked with a needle. Some cats are that way. It's really not a big deal, she just thinks it is.

When we had angel done she was about 8 months. She went in early in the morning and came home late the same day. Or vet clinic has started to use a long acting pain med shot so she got that, also she was "glued" back together so no stitches to deal with. The only problem was when she got home she was still real wobbly from the meds and had real trouble with her balance so we had to watch her so she didn't get into trouble because she likes to climb on stuff so she didn't fall and hurt herself, But if they keep your kittys over night I wouldn't think this would be a problem. After a while she had a hard ridge under where she was opened up, the vet told me it was just her belly healing up and after a couple weeks it went away, she has grown all her fur back and would never know she had the operation. But all in all she did great. Getting our big cat declawed in his front feet was MUCH worse than getting them "fixed", If I had any idea how hard that would be for him I never would have had him declawed. The 2 male cats we had fixed took it alot harder than angel did, since I was the "bad guy" who took them in I can't pick up either of the male cats anymore, both of them get scared and fight till I put them down, they must think that I am taking them back there again. Tom

Oh Boy, you got your kitty declawed??

When Catsy had her spay, I hadn't yet read this thread, so I didn't know enough to ask about pain meds My poor baby girl... Also didn't know enough to get some litter which wouldn't get into her wound, though I lightly disinfected it twice a day with some alcohol from the vet's and everything was healing great.

I brought her in for surgery in the morning and picked her up in the evening. She recovered very quickly, no problems there... she was drunk as anything when she got home though, as a result of not having stayed 24 hrs... she just flopped around and ended up sleeping most of the time till the next morning.

Then she spent the next coupla days hating me for bringing her in... she sulked and squirmed away when I tried to pet her!!

When I asked my vet's tecnichian about pain meds, she said that they prefer not to, because it makes the cats run around more because they can't feel the pain. If they are not on pain meds they will take it more easy which will be better for healing.
What are your thoughts on this? I don't want my cats to be in pain, but I want them to heal up well though...

Stormy came home yesterday from getting spayed and they gave me pain meds for her. I, for one, am very happy that she has pain meds. When she uses the litter box she cries a bit and I feel better "thinking" that the pain meds make it better for her. If she didnt have the pain meds it could be worse, maybe not I dont know but I feel better knowing I can give her something for pain. The little pills are so cut up and its such a tiny amount but still.

I don't have much to add other than I'm right there with you. My baby girl is at the vet right now getting spayed. I'll let you know if I get pain meds tomorrow when I pick her up.

Originally Posted by Rang_27

I don't have much to add other than I'm right there with you. My baby girl is at the vet right now getting spayed. I'll let you know if I get pain meds tomorrow when I pick her up.

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Thank's! I'd appreciate it, and also I'd love to know why you chose what you did.

It's not an easy one... I definitely feel for my kitties, not having asked for any of this. At the same time, it's not good for them to go and get litter after litter either, and there are just too many kittens and not enough homes. I love to not change them in any way, just let them be the way they were made, including keeping all claws etc. But when it comes to spaying and neutering it's just best for them ultimately. I just don't look forward to it at all. I'll have to calm way down and be done worrying by the time I bring them in, so that I don't make matters worse for them by being all tense.

I hope your cat will do fine and that she'll heal up well and quick. Hope you'll be OK through it too, and that everything will be great for you all! Good luck!

I do pediatric pain research and I made my little one a patch of oxycodone - based on the minute amts I would use for tiny babies. But cats tolerate narcotics much better than humans so my vet recommended I add more. I stayed throughout the procedure and YY did just fine. She is a sweetheart anyway but is not so thrilled to go to the vet anymore. She only needed pain meds for the first day however and was back to herself almost the next ay!

Ask for antibiotics too!! That is very important - more cats die from infection than from pain relatted stress- Pain is of course is a symptom.

Originally Posted by Plebayo

The vet cuts through like 3 layers of skin, don't ask me the names because I can't remember them. Then they pull out an overy, suture it, and cut it out. They do the same to the second ovary. Then they put the ovaries back in and sew things up.

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whaaa? Isn't a spay like a hysterectomy?

As one poster said, every cat will be different just as humans react differently to pain. I personally would have the meds at the ready but I wouldn't give them unless she seems to need them. Mika didn't stay overnight and didn't have meds and she was fine. She was a bit tired that first night but by the next day she was fine and not licking much either.

I worry that we are being over-medicated by our doctors. I couldn't believe the number of pills they had her taking every day.

My personal opinion is that letting them suffer in pain to keep them more subdued for healing purposes is cruel and unfair. If you have to, you could even confine them to just 1 room so they don't have free, open running/jumping spaces.

We do not send home pain meds with spays (or antibiotics). We use a narcotic pain med in the (butorphanol) in the pre-op injection that lasts about 4 hours, we also use Metacam injectable in the pre-op which is a non-steroidal anti-inflamatory which is slower and, longer acting (about 24 hours). We have not had any complaints (from either our 2 legged or 4 legged clients. All of my cats were done this way and I did not see any pain issues after their surgery's.