Help - kitten just been spayed !

[daisyd]

Thank you ! I only ever had a dog so the cat thing is new ball game ! Yeah when she is unwell she will sleep next to me and purr when okay at the end of the bed ! Boy she is stubborn ! I cannot usually eat a meal in the same room as her ! Just dished up my dinner , she got up and stretched then seemed to remember she was angry with me ! And walked off

 

[kittens mom]

frog and toad spay 052.JPG

• kittens mom
• Feb 20, 2017

frog and toad spay 048.JPG

• kittens mom
• Feb 20, 2017

The vet put a cone on one of my kits because she was licking the stitches. This is them about 15 minutes  after getting home. She was going nuts with it. I made the collar in the other picture out of a rolled wash cloth and vet wrap. Just enough to make it uncomfortable to mess with her tummy.

 

[daisyd]

Haha that's a good idea ! We've tried different options with gracie but she won't have it ! She's sleeping again now ! Just want a week to pass then I take the come off

 

[stephanietx]

Honestly, I would remove the cone. She WILL lick at her incision to get the foreign smell off of her and to make her belly smell like herself again. After that, she'll be fine.  If she pulls out a stitch or if the incision becomes red and angry or starts weeping, then put it back on her. Cats are very good at self-limiting if they are hurting, so I wouldn't worry about her overexerting herself.  You will both be much happier and less stressed.

 

[daisyd]

She has her check up at the vets tomorrow ! This is horrible she's at end of bed laying down won't even look of pur ! I'm used to her jumping around happy ! Should I have had Her spayed so Young ? She's only 5 months

 

[Kieka]

My boys both got neutered as soon as they hit the right weight. I want to say 3 months old. Rocket I had to wait for her spay because she was underweight and sickly so she didn't until 6 months. The younger they are spayed/neutered the quicker they recover and the less likely they are to develop any sort of cancers. I am fairly confident that if you took off the cone she would be acting like nothing happened and the reaction to the cone would be the same regardless of age. 

 

[mollyblue]

I will not go so far as disagree with or attempt to discredit your vets instructions for post surgical care... I am not a vet and this purely cat guardian to cat guardian comment. 

In the last 18 months we have had 3 cats go through spay and neuter surgery, one birth, and one dental surgery requiring anesthesia.  We have used a cone 0 times. I always ask myself, if my doctor gave me a cone, and said leave this on until your wound/surgery site is completely healed, would I? For me, the answer is no...  I can't even leave a bandaide on until I get home... Hope things are settling down for you and your kitty.

 

[daisyd]

Thanks we have max a week to go! I'm unhappy now. I know silly but I lost a baby and she has been my therapy ! Playing with her every evening after work is great! It'd stupid I know !

 

[mollyblue]

Aw, that's not stupid.  I am sorry for your loss and happy the kitten and you are able to come together now.  When our Alex died, we didn't want another cat, but we needed something to fill the huge void.  (Fostering lasted all of 10 days before we had to adopt) None of the cats we have now is just like Alex... we still love and miss her... but they have been very helpful in moving on.  Nothing wrong with needing something to love and to love being loved back..

 

[stephanietx]

The lethargy would concern me. She might've picked up an upper respiratory infection from the stress of the spay and time home.  (This is common, btw) Keep an eye on her and make sure she eats well and continues to drink plenty of water. You might find that if the cone is removed, she'll perk up.

 

[kittens mom]

She has her check up at the vets tomorrow ! This is horrible she's at end of bed laying down won't even look of pur ! I'm used to her jumping around happy ! Should I have had Her spayed so Young ? She's only 5 months

Mine were spayed at 5 months. They were getting so big I was afraid of a heat if I waited. The vet agreed, in fact two vets agreed and one was a cat vet.  Poor Frog sat down in the corner of her crate put her head down so the cone was on the floor and was moaning. I'm not a vet or cat expert but it seemed THAT was worse for her healing than a few licks. If you are directly supervising your kitten you can take the cone off and see how she does. My other kit never had a cone on and she healed up fine and I only used the homemade device for a few days but I'm home and was able to supervise them .

 

[catwoman707]

I agree with the others, get the cone off of her, she is miserably stressed.

I have had hundreds and hundreds of cats and kittens spayed over the years (I have a rescue) and never used a cone.

They all want to lick it clean of those awful vet smells, but other than that leave it alone.

Only once have I had to deal with a cat who tried chewing the stitches, so I made her a fabric collar so she would leave it alone, and just needed that for a few days.

One out of that many, vets do tend to tell you to use the cone, but it's not their cat who is miserable either.

 

[red top rescue]

In most cases I am an anti-cone person and feel that the cone does more harm than good in terms of stress.  My vet gives clients several choices, and my choice is ALWAYS the pain meds.  They measure out the appropriate dose of buprenorphine in a small syringe with a cap and no needle.  You get three doses with instructions to give the first at 7 PM and then the other doses 12 hours apart IF NEEDED.  It is absorbed through the mucous membrane, so it just goes between the cheek and gum.  I get these for adult males also, because they DO have pain after surgery.  You can tell when they flash around as if a bee stung them and try to lick hard and fast.  With the buprenorphine, they may lick a small bit but there is no of the sharp pain response, and the females usually just sleep and don't bother their stitches at all.  Dogs tolerate cones pretty well but most of the cat specialists I know will use another method to prevent over-licking, including pain medicine or a belly band or even both if you have a cat who is determined.  My spay vet makes such a tiny incision and uses a surgical hook to pull ut the uterus and tubes, so it's like scope surgery in that there is not much to see externally.  There are no external stitches, only surgical glue, and while they could like that off if they did lick it, with the pain medicine they just don't seem to bother it. 

 

[Primula]

I've never put a cone on an animal.

 

[kittens mom]

I couldn't tell if my one kit was in pain or stressed. She was herself within minutes of having the cone off. And yes to pain meds.

 

[daisyd]

She went to the vers today and it's healing well ! Next Tuesday latest for cone to come off ! I've ordered her an apparently v comfy cone online delivered tomorrow

 

[daisyd]

Thank you ! I will see what this cone is like tomorrow when it's delivered and see if it's fine ! I just read horror story of cats biting stitches open

 

[kittens mom]

Thank you ! I will see what this cone is like tomorrow when it's delivered and see if it's fine ! I just read horror story of cats biting stitches open

I believe that pet owners know their pets best. Weeks later my husband is still scared to pick the kits up and their incision is long healed. Spaying is more stressful when you are so in love with one of these little girls. You do what YOU need to do.

 

[daisyd]

I'm just worried that she will hate us forever ! She doesn't greet us at the door anymore !

 

[kittens mom]

I'm just worried that she will hate us forever ! She doesn't greet us at the door anymore !

It's only been a few days just relax. I felt so awful sending my girls off because we want to protect them and spaying no matter how good the vet must at least be scary for them. You made her life 100% better by making the decision to spay. She is not going to hate you it just doesn't work that way.