Kitty about to be spayed - maybe

I have a "kitten" - 16 weeks old and she has an appointment to get spayed tomorrow.

I was wondering how long the recovery time usually is for females, and what kind of care she will be needing afterward.

I just found out that I'm going to have to house sit for someone for about a week - starting 3 days after her surgery and I'm almost positive she is not going to even be close to better by then.

But my only basis for that assumption is the fact that my male dog took about 1 and a half weeks to fully recover from being neutered, and that's a fairly simple surgery.

So I was considering waiting another week BUT I really want to have her spayed before she is sexually mature. I don't want her going into heat at all - and I've heard they can go into heat at 4 months - 16 weeks.

I'm not concerned with getting her spayed this early - the only thing I'm worried about is her going into heat. Does anyone have experience with a kitten going into heat this young?

Does it really help their behavior to have them fixed before 'puberty'?

(BTW, there's no chance of her getting pregnant - she's an indoor cat and her "room" is so far away from a door leading to the outside that her chances of escaping and getting all the way outside are very slim)

I don't know about the behavior, but I do know that having her spayed before her first heat greatly reduces her chances for mammary cancer and much moreso than waiting until afterwards. Spaying at any point benefits the lower cancer rate, but doing it before the first heat is the best.

Also, three days after her surgery she'll probably be bouncing around like normal, just a little sore. If there are no problems, by the time you're housesitting you'll almost have forgotten what that big shaved spot on her belly is even for.

Oh, and if you're housesitting in the area, and can come home a couple times a day at least, then there is absolutely no reason to delay her surgery. It's really not a big surgery at all.

I've spayed 2 female cats recently and they were both drowsey the first day, and just layed around wanting extra attention, but 2-3 days later they were back to their normal self!

All the spayed and neutered kitties I've had have been raring to go the day after coming home.

Also... I've never had to take anyone back to have stitches removed. I guess dissolving is the norm here.

Originally Posted by tru

All the spayed and neutered kitties I've had have been raring to go the day after coming home.

Also... I've never had to take anyone back to have stitches removed. I guess dissolving is the norm here.

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All the spayed and neutered kitties I've had have been raring to go THE day they came home (which is to say, the same day they had the surgery).

I did take them back to have their stitches removed, but my cats would have rathered that I let them deal with it themselves - they were convinced that I was overreacting.

Both my cats were good to go within three days of their surgery. Plus with my cats they used a glue instead of stiches so no returning to the vet. The first day they were totally out of it and sleeping alot...the second day, awake more and moving around more. By the third day they were pretty normal.

When I do office shifts at the shelter I volunteer at, part of what i do is check out the cats from the spay and neuter clinic. Older cats are generally more affected by the aneasthetic - or just sulk more

Kittens are bright eyed and ready to play by the time they get picked up (spayed/neutered in the morning, go home in the afternoon). Yesterday there was two 5 month old kittens that were going up for adoption that had just been fixed - a brother and sister, and by 4:30pm they were literally climbing the cage door in the clinic and yowling and wrestling, so I moved them straight to the adoption room to their new cage which had toys, food, litter, water, and is bigger. They ran straight to the food, wolfed some down, had a drink, used the litter tray, then started playing with the toys and were happy

Ask if they use the tissue glue rather than stitches. Stitches apparently tug a little more than tissue glue which is why animals try to chew their stitches - it's a little uncomfortable. As well as that, you don't need to take them back with tissue glue - it just dissolves.

Hmmm - I guess cats must recover more quickly than dogs do, probably because they are smaller. That would make sense, when people have surgery it takes really long to recover from.

I took a young stray male in to be neutered once and he was jumping around and playing when I went to go pick him up! I just wasn't sure how much of a difference it was with females, since their surgery is a little more involved.

Thanks

Did you keep her appt for the spay today? I had been wondering, you didn't mention it in your post though.

She should be fine and back to her old self almost right away when you bring her home. Just don't let her jump around too much or lick the incision or she can rip it back open.

Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

Did you keep her appt for the spay today? I had been wondering, you didn't mention it in your post though.

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Oh sorry - I got kind of sidetracked and forgot to let you know what happened...Actually I didn't keep the appointment because I got in a scuffle with the idiot vet who was going to do the surgery - so now I'm looking for a new vet to take her to - and I haven't done the surgery yet.

I actually had her age wrong too, I called the place I adopted her from to double check and it turns out she's a week younger than I thought she was.

I think I finally decided on a vet, and I'm planning on scheduling the appointment for next Tuesday. I'm just so frustrated with vets these days, I want to take her to my regular vet, but I have a voucher from the place I adopted her from that lets me get her spayed for free at certain vet offices and my regular vet isn't listed - so I've just been juggling work and trying to find a vet I actually like....

Luckily she hasn't gone into heat yet so I'm praying she lasts a few more days without her first heat!

Anyway - yeah I'll let you know how fast she recovers and everything. I'm sure she'll be just fine - she's already survived a concussion, ruptured eardrum and some broken teeth when she was about 9 weeks old. (long story)

So she got spayed yesterday - and I picked her up this morning. You guys were right, she's trying to run around and play and I'm supposed to keep her from being active for 7-10 days. That's going to be tough!

She doesn't even act like anything happened! She came strolling right out of the back room at the vets office - I leaned down to pick her up . . . . she "headbutted" me, and then crawled into my arms to go home.

I stopped and picked up a burger on the way home, and as I was sitting in the car in the parking lot eating - I hear her paw swiping the air and look over into the passenger side to see her arm stretched all the way out through the holes in her kitty carrier, trying to grab a chunk of my burger!

And I thought I would be free of her "deviousness" for at least one day. . .

Can you keep her in the bathroom, laundry room or large crate? Mainly the first couple days you don't want her to be crazy all over the house.

Yes, she has a large crate that she sleeps in at night that I'll be keeping her in when she starts trying to play! I fed her just now and she zonked out on the bed.

Mostly they don't even realize what happened, just that their tummy is a little sore. If she's not on pain meds, she should be self-limiting, won't jump up on things, etc. Do not pick her up, that is a great way to bust her stitches open.

I'm sooo glad you finally found a good vet with your voucher and got the little angel spayed.

She does sound devious, I can just see her trying to get that burger.

You're right, she acts like it's nothing. But, she's NOT on pain meds (the doc says she doesn't need them), AND she's not being self-limiting. I feel so bad because I keep having to put her back in the crate cause she won't settle down!

This morning she waited until I opened the closet where her toys and food are kept - and then dashed in and "stole" Da Bird!

Plus she keeps pouncing on the dog trying to tempt him into a game of tag. (Her all time favorite thing to do is chase after and swat the dog over and over until he chases her around the house....he's a sweet guy and always plays so gently with her)

Soooo, she's officially in kitty prison for the rest of the day! Yet she still insists on playing. Right now she's putting pieces of food into her water bowl, and then 'fishing' them out.

By self-limiting, I meant that she will probably not jump up on the counters or other high places, and won't stretch out her stomach. If she does, and she's not on pain meds, then she's probably not hurting herself.

She doesn't need to be confined while you're there, unless you start to notice problems with her stitches.

She probably doesn't need to be confined while you're gone either, unless it makes you feel better.

Playing in her food isn't hurting her stitches.

Oh I know that playing in her food isn't hurting her, I just think it's funny that she's constantly playing with everything!

I'll probably keep her in the crate just for today - because there's one spot that's up high that she jumps up and down from everyday, and that's the windowsill in my bedroom. It's her favorite window because there's a huge tree right outside that a lot of birds hang around on.

So I don't want her jumping up and down from there all day - just in case. I don't think she's in pain because she's not acting like she's in pain. She already jumped up onto the windowsill last night and didn't act like it bothered her, I just don't want to take that risk.