Female Cat extremely aggressive after spay

[rescuecatladylady]

Hello fellow cat lovers,
I'm in a tough situation... I adopted a kitten that nobody wanted, she was the runt of the litter. She turned 6 months on November 14th, as per the shelter's agreement, we had to spay her. Spaying at 6 months is quite normal around here.
We have another rescue female that is also spayed and everything went well with her although she was already an adult. She didn't like the cone, so we had to switch to a onesie. She healed fine.
The kitten is shy and isn't very open to people, although she is friendly to us. I know she is in pain, but we weren't given any pain medication or antibiotics like with our other cat.
I removed her from the carrier after a few hours (we were told to keep her confined for a few hours) she was mostly napping the entire time. For some reason, she started growling and hissing non stop; i was holding her correctly (as in, I'm sure i wasn't hurting her) so i have no idea why she acted so aggressive. I had to let go of her and now I refuse to go anywhere near. I almost died from a cat bite last year so I'm quite scared. We are supposed to clean her incision but I'm not sure how. I did help her to the litter box when she came home and she went but she didn't act this way when I handled her.
She won't keep the cone on as well. She's been 24h NPO and told to keep it that way until tomorrow morning. Could she be hungry or thirsty? She even scared our other cats. Is there anything I can do to keep her more comfortable? Any help is appreciated.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi and welcome!
Tell the vet about her behavior or just take her back in, and find out why they didn't provide pain medication.

 

[rescuecatladylady]

Hi and welcome!
Tell the vet about her behavior or just take her back in, and find out why they didn't provide pain medication.

I texted the vet right away - they told me it's normal but I'm scared to be honest. We tried to put a onesie one but she tried to byte us multiple times. I don't know how to keep her from licking the wound if she won't let us touch her I'm gutted

 

[rescuecatladylady]

Hi and welcome!
Tell the vet about her behavior or just take her back in, and find out why they didn't provide pain medication.

Sorry for the terrible types, but I'm so upset

 

[Furballsmom]

No worries about your typing it's fine, I would be very upset as well

 

[Sarthur2]

See another vet right away! This is not normal behavior. Your kitten is likely in pain and may need antibiotics. She also needs food and water. I’ve had many kittens spayed and never once had this experience. Something is not right here.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I have never heard of holding off on food/water for anywhere near that long. I wasn't even asked to do that when Feeby had surgery to remove bladder stones, which has to be a bit more extensive overall. And, while I don't think I gave Feeby pain meds for more than once or perhaps twice after she came home the same day, she still had some available.

It's very likely that the only thing wrong with your cat is that she is miserable from being deprived of nourishment and very well likely has some pain along with that. Just call the vet back and tell them you want something for pain as you are sure she is in pain and ask for an antibiotic to be on the safe side. I know how hard it might be to find another vet 'on the spot', so demand some help from this current vet and you can look for another one for the future. If that doesn't work out, take her to an ER vet to be looked over. And, as far as I am concerned - feed her!! It doesn't have to be a lot, but she still should be offered food and water. Getting her to eat will most likely calm her a bit and make it easier to get some pain meds into her - which she will need food with the meds anyway.

To handle her, wear a long-sleeved sweatshirt and gloves, if you are concerned about a repeat event of what you experienced before. Odds it won't happen again - it is quite out of the ordinary, and I am sure the circumstances are not the same as before. Or ask for help from a family member or friend. Also, give her a quiet place to recuperate, ideally somewhere away from the other cats - at least until she settles down.

 

[Furballsmom]

All the above suggestions are great!

Have you seen her trying to lick the surgery site? Some kitties don't

 

[fionasmom]

Something is off with your kitten and I concur that she needs pain meds, which my vet always offers after a spaying or neutering, some food, and very possibly a visit to the ER or another vet to see why she is having this extreme reaction. Protect yourself carefully with a heavy jacket, gloves such as rose pruning or other heavy duty gloves, long pants, etc if you need to handle her. If she is in pain from the surgery or from something that has gone wrong, holding her carefully will not alleviate the pain, even though you are trying to be careful.

 

[rescuecatladylady]

I have never heard of holding off on food/water for anywhere near that long. I wasn't even asked to do that when Feeby had surgery to remove bladder stones, which has to be a bit more extensive overall. And, while I don't think I gave Feeby pain meds for more than once or perhaps twice after she came home the same day, she still had some available.

It's very likely that the only thing wrong with your cat is that she is miserable from being deprived of nourishment and very well likely has some pain along with that. Just call the vet back and tell them you want something for pain as you are sure she is in pain and ask for an antibiotic to be on the safe side. I know how hard it might be to find another vet 'on the spot', so demand some help from this current vet and you can look for another one for the future. If that doesn't work out, take her to an ER vet to be looked over. And, as far as I am concerned - feed her!! It doesn't have to be a lot, but she still should be offered food and water. Getting her to eat will most likely calm her a bit and make it easier to get some pain meds into her - which she will need food with the meds anyway.

To handle her, wear a long-sleeved sweatshirt and gloves, if you are concerned about a repeat event of what you experienced before. Odds it won't happen again - it is quite out of the ordinary, and I am sure the circumstances are not the same as before. Or ask for help from a family member or friend. Also, give her a quiet place to recuperate, ideally somewhere away from the other cats - at least until she settles down.

Thank you for much for your reply. Yes I found it extremely odd too as my other cat had emergency surgery a while back and she had eaten a few hours before.
When I contacted the vet and the shelter they told me the same: keep her from eating and freaking until tomorrow morning. When I questioned the vet about the antibiotics, she said she had already given her an antibiotic injection and that she was "medicated". They didn't even put a cone on her. When I asked for pain meds she insisted she had already given her pain meds.

I didn't pay for the spaying (perks if you adopt from a shelter) but still. She handed to us right out of surgery, I honestly don't know how normal that is because all of my other cats stayed for a day or two. This is not my vet! It's the shelter's vet. I wish I'd taken her somewhere else if i knew it was going to be like this. All my other cats are rescues / born from the pregnant cat i rescued so this is the first time i adopted from a shelter. I took all the others to my vet and it was nothing like this. I know she's in pain. I can tell from her eyes that she doesn't want to hurt me. Poor baby i finally managed to put her in a onesie. I really can't let her go the entire night without food. I'm sick to my stomach.

I messaged my vet, currently waiting for a reply. Most vets in my town are away on vacation right now, ugh! She's currently in a spare room with a night light.

 

[rescuecatladylady]

Something is off with your kitten and I concur that she needs pain meds, which my vet always offers after a spaying or neutering, some food, and very possibly a visit to the ER or another vet to see why she is having this extreme reaction. Protect yourself carefully with a heavy jacket, gloves such as rose pruning or other heavy duty gloves, long pants, etc if you need to handle her. If she is in pain from the surgery or from something that has gone wrong, holding her carefully will not alleviate the pain, even though you are trying to be careful.

I don't understand why they didn't give me pain meds. One of my other cats ripped one of her claws off (wall climber!). I took her to the vet the next morning and was given all sorts of meds! Anti inflammatory, pain meds, antibiotics and cream. I called my vet for advice. They gave me NOTHING. Not a single pill and told me to wash the wound with Betadine and water, something I've never heard.
My late heart dog had a wound from the top of his leg to his "toe" with bones exposed that could not be stitched close and I was instructed and taught to use saline and saline only (the IV kind). I was never told to use anything else in so many years of having pets. I truthfully don't understand. I don't know how I'm supposed to wash her belly if she tries to bite me every time i touch her. I hate having to do this because it hurts my heart to see her in pain

 

[rescuecatladylady]

No worries about your typing it's fine, I would be very upset as well

Thank you so much I honestly hate this sort of stuff, seeing them in pain and sick cat mom problems

 

[rescuecatladylady]

Hello fellow cat lovers,
I'm in a tough situation... I adopted a kitten that nobody wanted, she was the runt of the litter. She turned 6 months on November 14th, as per the shelter's agreement, we had to spay her. Spaying at 6 months is quite normal around here.
We have another rescue female that is also spayed and everything went well with her although she was already an adult. She didn't like the cone, so we had to switch to a onesie. She healed fine.
The kitten is shy and isn't very open to people, although she is friendly to us. I know she is in pain, but we weren't given any pain medication or antibiotics like with our other cat.
I removed her from the carrier after a few hours (we were told to keep her confined for a few hours) she was mostly napping the entire time. For some reason, she started growling and hissing non stop; i was holding her correctly (as in, I'm sure i wasn't hurting her) so i have no idea why she acted so aggressive. I had to let go of her and now I refuse to go anywhere near. I almost died from a cat bite last year so I'm quite scared. We are supposed to clean her incision but I'm not sure how. I did help her to the litter box when she came home and she went but she didn't act this way when I handled her.
She won't keep the cone on as well. She's been 24h NPO and told to keep it that way until tomorrow morning. Could she be hungry or thirsty? She even scared our other cats. Is there anything I can do to keep her more comfortable? Any help is appreciated.

Here is a picture of my Piper

 

[Furballsmom]

What a sweet babygirl

 

[FeebysOwner]

I messaged my vet, currently waiting for a reply.

I hope you hear from them! If you don't, feed her something anyway!

When I questioned the vet about the antibiotics, she said she had already given her an antibiotic injection and that she was "medicated". They didn't even put a cone on her. When I asked for pain meds she insisted she had already given her pain meds.

The antibiotic shot may be one that is supposed to last a while, some as long as two weeks. So that part isn't bad. Even if given a pain shot, I am not sure it would last more than 24 hours.

I really can't let her go the entire night without food.

I am with you on that one!!! I hope if you do get ahold of your vet, they will tell you this is simply insane.

Keep us posted, please.

 

[rescuecatladylady]

I have! Not continuously though just here and there!

All the above suggestions are great!

Have you seen her trying to lick the surgery site? Some kitties don't

 

[Furballsmom]

You said you were able to get a onesie on her, that should do the job

I just had a conversation about cleaning the spay surgery site with another member, -- I'm not really sure that needs to happen. How does the surgery site look?

 

[rescuecatladylady]

You said you were able to get a onesie on her, that should do the job

I just had a conversation about cleaning the spay surgery site with another member, -- I'm not really sure that needs to happen. How does the surgery site look?

Unfortunately she took it off almost immediately
It looks good. It's less than 2 inches with no visible stitches (you can see a bit of thread but if I'm being honest I don't think she can pull it). It's not red or anything. They stitched the incision with absorbable stitches, so we won't need to go back (we wouldn't anyway). I gave her some wet food and she seems much calmer and let me pick her up and look at the incision, horayyy! Maybe she was hungry? She's jumping around which isn't ideal. Our other girl had to have her stitches done because she wouldn't stop jumping around. Thank you for all of your help it's very much appreciated!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hang in there, and I'm glad she is calmer, good for you and for her! Can you contain her in a small room - I've read where a member took every pillow in the house, and some chairs, and set up the pillows and chairs to try to avoid big jumps up and down as much as possible

 

[rescuecatladylady]

I hope you hear from them! If you don't, feed her something anyway!

The antibiotic shot may be one that is supposed to last a while, some as long as two weeks. So that part isn't bad. Even if given a pain shot, I am not sure it would last more than 24 hours.

I am with you on that one!!! I hope if you do get ahold of your vet, they will tell you this is simply insane.

Keep us posted, please.

I gave her a bit of wet food and she gobbled it up! She is much calmer!
My vet told me it's bananas to keep a KITTEN that just had surgery without food for almost two days... Especially without water since she runs the risk of getting dehydrated. She told me to give wet only for now