Finally got the cats fixed

[hatchytt]

Yes, we finally got the cats fixed. They're both done... but now I have a quandary... Hecate wigged out immediately upon getting out of the carrier until she took off the cone... and putting it back on only made things worse... so I took a long sleeved tee shirt and cut off a sleeve and made her a "gown" that covers her incision... but Hades is in hiding. I trimmed an inch off his cone because he was tripping over it... so that's not a problem anymore... but he's in hiding behind the couch. Hecate has eaten about a tablespoon of wet food. Hades is hiding. Hecate is lovey and happy... Hades is hiding... how long should I let him hide before trying to push a bit of wet food on him? When should I start to worry? The paperwork they came home with said he could be hallucinating from the anesthesia... do I just leave him alone?

 

[hatchytt]

I gave Hades a tablespoon of wet food behind the couch and he's definitely eating, so that's one less worry... I just hope he comes out at some point.

edit- We suspect that one of them was infertile, likely Hecate at her very tiny 5.4 lbs at full grown. So they've never had kittens. But she was constantly in heat, he got to the point where he was spraying us, and it became either fix them or get rid of them. Luckily a friend pulled through and got us the $100 to get them both done at once. And another question... when should I start checking incisions? When Hecate was fighting the cone, she actually crawled in the litter box and started rolling around... so I'm a bit worried there... I'm not sure if I should clean the incision or just let it be and hope she didn't get anything in it.

 

[lavishsqualor]

I would just let the incisions be unless your vet told you otherwise.

Both my cats, Atticus and Thirteen, were done with the Kitty Cone of Shame the minute they got home and they had no issues whatsoever.  In fact, both were tearing through my house as if nothing were amiss.

Definitely keep an eye on them but don't worry too much.

Incidentally, I love their names!

 

[hatchytt]

Vet paperwork says cone for 2 weeks, which seems excessive to me... I plan to cap that at like 3 days, because I can't have Hades unable to bathe for 2 weeks. Hecate is already out of hers. I made her the gown. She can wear that as long as necessary. But you can't really put a gown on a male, not for any sexist type reason, but because it would be completely useless for keeping him from screwing around with his incision.

 

[NewYork1303]

Never had any problem with letting male cats just go free without a cone. They will lick at the incision, but usually it is such a minor surgery for them that they'll be fine even so. 

 

[hatchytt]

Neither the vet nor Rune want the cats licking incisions... idk why it's different with this particular spay/neuter clinic, but there it is. Maybe they do something different...

 

[Willowy]

Some clinics are overly cautious. I never use a cone, I'm sure I've had more than 50 cats spayed/neutered, and out of that many only one female picked at the stitches, no other trouble. So I'd give him a chance, see how he does. A bit of licking is fine, to clean it, but if gets excessive you can always put the cone back on. I just feel like cones are too stressful for that cats AND the humans. Some cats won't eat with the cone on.

My vet says not to expect them to eat anything until the morning after.

 

[hatchytt]

The clinic paperwork recommended small meals of wet food tonight. They've both eaten about half of what was offered... so about half to two-thirds of a tablespoon. What's fun is I gotta stay up and make sure Hecate stays in her gown. She's disrobed twice.

 

[hatchytt]

Oh... I'm doing three days in the cone because that's how long they're on pain meds. I figure after that, if it hurts, they're not gonna do it.

 

[hatchytt]

Neither of them has drank any water... how long before i get worried about that? I put some water in a low coffee/soup mug near Hades' new hiding place... I think he's just gonna live behind the sofa for now until the cone goes away...

The coffee mug is smaller than the cone, so hopefully he can figure that out.

 

[hatchytt]

so, I decided to take Hades cone off, but the first thing he did was go for his missing "equipment". And i still can't really get him out of hiding. So the cone may have to go back on after he's had a bit of time to eat and roll around on the carpet behind the couch some more. He doesn't understand why I won't let him just lick himself. I don't know what else to do. It's now almost 6 hours post surgery pickup. And to think... I need to pill him tomorrow too!

 

[hatchytt]

morning update... put the cone back on Hades last night, woke up this morning and Rune had taken it off... oh well, let's hope he doesn't mess with it... fed the both of them half a can of wet food... dry food has been down all night... and I guess one of them was snacking on that too, so appetites are good. Not sure if they're drinking water yet, but the vet gave them both subQ fluids, so maybe they're not thirsty... Hades has come out of hiding but is still running away from me. I don't know why. Rune is the one who crated them and took them to the vet... anyhow, gonna have to pill them this afternoon... what would be the easiest way to do that for both of us?

 

[hatchytt]

Both cats have gotten their pain pill... that was easier than I expected... just kinda kneel with the cat between your knees and your feet behind their tail and open their mouth and shove the pill down their throat... the sausage treats were refused, and the raw egg has so far been ignored.

 

[hatchytt]

hecategown.jpg

• hatchytt
• Jan 28, 2017

Hecate in her "gown". She's the most lovey little thing when she's stoned on pain meds!

 

[lavishsqualor]

Glad to hear that they're doing well.  You have such beautiful cats!

 

[tiptopper]

Great decision to get them both fixed. It was the right thing to do.