spay and neuter care

[armejy]

Marmite and Toast are 4.5 months old and both got sterilised today. Toast is a male and Marmite a female. I've had them since they were barely 2 weeks old. I didn't receive any information or extra pain meds from the vet. Any tips on how to help them recover ?

 

[sivyaleah]

Lovely siblings!

For your boy, not much really needs to be done, most male cats sail through being neutered from what I know. Rarely need pain medication either. May or may not need an Ecollar for a day or so depending if he's messing with the area.

Your girl should be kept as quiet as possible for the first few days if possible, a week is better. Ecollar strongly suggested if you can't keep an eye on her just in case she starts messing with the stitches. Or you can put her in a "onsie" for a day or so, which is what I did - ecollar after only when she was out of sight.

Spaying is more invasive and while it's rare for anything bad to happen afterwards (the surgery is SO routine) being proactive helps. Sometimes there may be some irritation or a seroma might develop. Seromas are collections of fluid under the site and nothing needs to be done for them other than maybe some warm compresses a few times a day, but they can look alarming. Always good to call the vet if she develops this just to make sure it's not a hernia, which can happen but is rare.

Both would have gone home with long acting pain relief which should carry over for a day. They may or may not be quieter than usual. Males tend to recover fast and are acting normal by the next day. Females will take a bit longer though plenty of stories of them recovering swiftly too. Mine took about a week to get back to herself but she didn't have another kitten friend to chase around the house with either. She also got a seroma so I have experience with that and it really wasn't a big deal, just looked weird!

If anything looks odd about the way either are healing get in touch with the vet. Don't be hesitant, they are used to nervous cat parents especially if it's the first time you're dealing with this!

 

[armejy]

Lovely siblings!

For your boy, not much really needs to be done, most male cats sail through being neutered from what I know. Rarely need pain medication either. May or may not need an Ecollar for a day or so depending if he's messing with the area.

Your girl should be kept as quiet as possible for the first few days if possible, a week is better. Ecollar strongly suggested if you can't keep an eye on her just in case she starts messing with the stitches. Or you can put her in a "onsie" for a day or so, which is what I did - ecollar after only when she was out of sight.

Spaying is more invasive and while it's rare for anything bad to happen afterwards (the surgery is SO routine) being proactive helps. Sometimes there may be some irritation or a seroma might develop. Seromas are collections of fluid under the site and nothing needs to be done for them other than maybe some warm compresses a few times a day, but they can look alarming. Always good to call the vet if she develops this just to make sure it's not a hernia, which can happen but is rare.

Both would have gone home with long acting pain relief which should carry over for a day. They may or may not be quieter than usual. Males tend to recover fast and are acting normal by the next day. Females will take a bit longer though plenty of stories of them recovering swiftly too. Mine took about a week to get back to herself but she didn't have another kitten friend to chase around the house with either. She also got a seroma so I have experience with that and it really wasn't a big deal, just looked weird!

If anything looks odd about the way either are healing get in touch with the vet. Don't be hesitant, they are used to nervous cat parents especially if it's the first time you're dealing with this!

Thank you so much ! They're both still a bit "out of it" from the anaesthesia. The boy is already walking around a bit more while the girl is still tired. Luckily I'm homeschooled so I can keep an eye on them all day. I also have a surgery shirt prepared for the girl in case she tries to mess with her stitches