Recovery and aftercare after neutering?? HURRY!

Guys in TNR. How do you do with the recovery after kastration of the females? Home cats are supposed to take it easy about a week.
Do you keep the new-neutered female feral somewhere inside, or do you let her go after she awakes and is well??
How do you do!???


On a Swedish forum there I do witness a quite horrendous happening.
A feral she-cat is keeping around a stable. The owner was recommended to shoot her, but she tolerates her, even gives some food and shelter as she is good at catching rats and mices. She get kittens, the owner giving them some protection. The female owner took one of the kittens as own, tryies to help the other three kittens get own homes as well.
And she says: I dont want more kittens, I dont want a feral colony here. I did said neuter her, it isnt so costly like neutering for dogs. I also told about the philosophy of TNR. Ok, she says, I can afford that, a good rat catcher is good to have here in the stable.
Nice and swell, no?


But. The aftercare! She is feral. They can catch her, but to handle is difficult. To mind her, to handle her during the aftercare - impossible they say.

So. The cost + aftercare = death by shooting.

The owner is going to shoot the semiferal she wanted to keep alive.

She will keep the three most tame kittens, shoot the wildest fourth...


A tragedy. The saving was so near, so near...
It cant be Gods intention for the mom-cat to die!


Please, advice me / the owner.
How to do with the aftercare?

There are two techniques the wet say:
Sewing with steel - no collar necessary but the sewing must be remowed after 10 days.
Sewing without steel - and no remowal of stitches - but collar necessary...

Oh my- does the vet use disolvable stitches? If so, I think I would get her spayed, keep her 24 hours and release her immediately

I did forwarded the answer immediately. Hope it isnt to late.

I also send a PM to the owner, promising 200 kronor, ie almost 1/4 of the surgery costs - if costs are important for her...

But I wait for more answers and comments.



ps. the owner feels it is a little hurry as the she-cat is pregnant again. I told her it is much possible to do neutering nevertheless, and the vet says he can do it, no big problem for him he says...
Horrible to die with the salvation so near...

Good luck, it is unfortunate that this owner believes the answer lies in a bullet instead of a patient 24 hour aftercare and release.

I do hope she will accept 24 hour, this is no evil person - opposite, she is better than many other. This is why it is so horrible...

Her problem is she is believes the cat needs a care of perhaps 7-10 days, like home cats usually need - or are recommended.

Saw now an answer from her. The deed is not done yet as I was afraid she perhaps already did, she is willing to await till more answers comes.

Please, come with a lot of opinions and answers!
The stable owner feels she needs a second, third and fourth opinion.... Please!

When I have trapped and spayed female ferals, I have always kept them confined for 24 hours and then released them (as long as they seem healthy). The vet will need to use dissolving stitches so that the cat won't have to be re-caught so that the stitches can be removed.

I believe that almost everyone who does trap/neuter/return follows this format.

You can tell her about the Alley Cat Allies web site www.alleycat.org which will describe this process in more detail.

Females can be kept in the trap for 24 hours after surgery and then released. Ideally they would be kept a bit longer (36 hours or so), but 24 hours is fine especially given the alternative.

The Alleycats sheets tells if the shecat was pregnant, she should be kept under observation two days extra.
- Is 24 hours enough after all??

The cat IS probably pregnant anew, but the vet is can and is willing to do the surgery.
The cat is more semiferal than feral, as she is living around the stable, and thus perhaps can get some surveillance also afterwards. I think and hope therefore if she is really ill she can be picket up... ?? Dont know anything for sure.

48 hours is ideal if the cat was pregnant but if it's a decision between releasing her after 24 hours and having her shot, I'd definitely take my chances with releasing after 24 hours. The risk is not that significant, especially if the cat is living in a barn situation.

I volunteered at a feral cat spay/neuter clinic several times this summer. We always recommend the cat be released after 24 hours, and this is for male or female. We do not change the recommendation if the cat was pregnant.

Thank you for helping to educate this person and keep the kitty alive.

When we had our feral spayed, the vet used dissolving stiches and boarded her overnight at the clinic, then I kept her in the bathroom an additional day before releasing her.

If she doesn't have a place to keep this feral after surgery, would she consider having the vet keep her for a day or so after the surgery? There would probably be a small charge for boarding, but it would be worth it to give her a little time to recover post-surgery.

hi ther would it be possible for you to take the feral over night from the vets even if she has to stay in her trap as long as you have her even for 24 hours it would save her life , if this is a option you could collect her from the vets.

I think the worst crisis is over. The stable owner is now more then half convinced.
She ask if keeping the she-cat in a dog-transporter in her boiling room would be okey?
Super I wrote. The dog-smell a drawback but the cat is probably rather friendly with the dogs living there around two years, besides she can wash off the transporter. And the boiling room is surely much OK. (it is no boiling room as in the old ships, it is probably an oil aggregate, temperature normal room-temperature).

I did remind her the cat is no familycat who must be taken care of. It is a survivor, who surely did made through more than one injury and more then one bloody fight. Survival of the fittest. It is why she is still alive and healthy.

She is wondering: her dog when spayed was on the stiches, it was no pretty sight. What if the cat too will be biting on the stiches??

She is wondering: her dog when spayed was on the stiches, it was no pretty sight. What if the cat too will be biting on the stiches??

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Vets that work with feral cats use dissolving stitches and glue that does not have to be removed.

Katie

Originally Posted by TNR1

Vets that work with feral cats use dissolving stitches and glue that does not have to be removed.

Katie

Click to expand...

The vet is usually not working with ferals, there is no TNR in Sweden.
We must presume the vet vill use dissolvable stitches as he understands it is a feral. But what if she bites and licks on them?? That is the womans question...

A family cat would get a elisabethanian collar, but this must do without. OR??

I've honestly never had a problem with a female pulling out her stitches even without the Elizabethan collar.

Surgical stitches are not like sewing stitches in that they are not continuous. You can pull one thread on your shirt and have the entire seam come undone but that is not the case with surgical sutures. The suture material is cut after each stitch. So even if she does pull out one stitch, she's only pulled out one stitch. The rest will still be fine.

They will lick it, and if not stopped, it can cause an irritation. If stitches are pulled out, there could be some discharge and a second vet visit. I am glad you were able to stop the date with a bullet.

Originally Posted by hissy

They will lick it, and if not stopped, it can cause an irritation. If stitches are pulled out, there could be some discharge and a second vet visit.

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This is what we dont want to hear. *sad smile* Althought this is the reality...

Is there a good way to stop licking?

a body socks? (ie a socks, preferably a sports socks- hole made also in the other end - on the cats body - as convenient alternative to e-collar)


As seweral experienced has answered and they all says 24 hours is usually enought, I take most cats dont lick so much, or if they lick - it is usually harmless. But...
Or what are all the helpers doing to stop the ferals lick?
Homecats gets e-collar or body-socks. Or tight observation.

Irritation is not a huge deal. It's temporary and will heal.

I've never done anything to prevent my ferals (or fosters, or my own cats) from licking and no one has ever had a serious problem. I have actually had only two cats (out of literally a few hundred, between my own and my fosters and ferals I've cared for) have any complications as a result of s/n. One was a sickly guy who died under anesthesia, and the other was a young male who had complications that were the direct result of the surgeon's carelessness. Other than that everyone has been absolutely fine. I have never used an e-collar and no one has had a problem from it.