Cat After Neutering or Spaying

Neutering and removing the ovaries are surgeries, albeit minor ones, and you have come to the right place if you want to know more about caring for your cat whose ovaries have been removed or your cat who has been neutered after surgery. You can do many things to help your cat recover from surgery and return to its full health as before.

Provide a safe recovery space

Cat After Neutering or Spaying


1. Provide a safe and comfortable space for your cat.

  Your cat will often feel nauseous and upset for 18-24 hours after anesthesia, and it may tend to be violent with people or other animals, so it is best to provide it with a quiet and secluded place to rest in.

Make sure you can see your cat at her resting place. Close any places where it can hide or be difficult to reach.

Keep other pets and children away from the cat as it needs rest and recovery, and this is difficult with the constant disturbance of others.


Cat After Neutering or Spaying


2. Keep your cat comfortable.

  Ensure your cat has a comfortable sleeping place; Line a box with a blanket or pillow and make it her bed if she cannot have a regular bed. Place the bed, if possible, on a wood or tile floor, because cats like to cool themselves by spreading their stomachs on cold, hard floors, and this will also help relieve pain at the site of surgery.

Keep the bed low if possible and keep your cat from jumping too much.


Cat After Neutering or Spaying


3. Keep the light dimmed.

  After anesthesia, cats become sensitive to light, so dim or turn off the light in the place they rest.

You can use a canopy bed to block out light if you cannot do the previous.

Cat After Neutering or Spaying


4. Provide your cat with a clean box and easily accessible food and drink. 

The cat should not jump, climb stairs, or exhaust herself to reach the essentials in order for it to heal well after surgery.

Do not use a regular cat box for at least a week after surgery. Box mats can enter the surgical incision and cause infection (especially in males). Use shredded paper, newspaper, or uncooked long-grain rice as the box liner instead.

Cat After Neutering or Spaying


5. Keep the cat indoors.

  Do not allow your cat to go outside for at least two weeks after surgery, so that the place remains clean, dry, and free of infection.


Treating your cat after surgery

Cat After Neutering or Spaying


1. Check the incision site on your cat.

  Looking at the location of the incision in your cat will help you recognize its shape and monitor its progress. Ask your veterinarian if he can show you the location of the incision before taking your cat home. You can take a picture of the site on the first day for reference later.

In female cats (or males whose testicles have not descended into their normal position) will be in the abdomen, and males will have two small openings in the scrotum area (under the tail).

Cat After Neutering or Spaying


2. Use an Elizabethan collar.

  Your veterinarian can provide this collar or you can purchase one at your pet store. This collar extends all the way to the cat's face so that it cannot tamper with the surgery site.

This collar is also called a "protective collar", "conical collar" and "(e) collar."

Your cat may or may not need this collar, depending on her behavior. Alternately try to put it on and remove it while watching the cat well, and dress it up for her if she starts playing around with the surgical site.

Cat After Neutering or Spaying


3. Offer the cat food and drink.

 Once you get home from the vet, you can offer your cat some water in a shallow dish (or ice cube). Most of the time your vet will give you instructions for feeding your cat, but be aware of the following if you don't receive them:

  • Offer your cat a quarter of her daily food ration 2-4 hours after you come home from surgery if she appears alert and responsive. Do not pressure your cat to eat or drink.
  • If she ate this, give her another meal 3-6 hours later, then repeat this until the cat has eaten her usual daily ration and then return to her usual eating routine.
  • Feed your cat a small meal (half the usual amount) immediately after returning from surgery if it is younger than 16 weeks.
  • You can try wiping the cat's gums with a cotton ear swab or a cotton swab moistened with a little maple syrup or corn syrup if the cat won't eat anything after returning from surgery.
  • Do not give the cat any special food, delicious food, or fast food after the surgery, as your cat's stomach will be unstable, so keep her food as usual as you can. Do not give the cat milk because cats cannot digest it.

Cat After Neutering or Spaying


4. Let your cat rest.

  Do not try to spoil or play with your cat right after the surgery. This may seem reassuring to your cat, but it may prevent her from feeling safe and comfortable.

Cat After Neutering or Spaying


5. Avoid lifting your cat unless absolutely necessary.

  The incision can rupture again if you move or lift your cat too much. Avoid putting any pressure on the scrotum area (under the tail) in males, and avoid putting pressure on the abdomen in females (or males whose testicles have not descended from the abdomen).

If you have to raise your cat, try this method: Surround the back of your cat with one hand and support the other with its chest under its front legs, then gently lift it.


Cat After Neutering or Spaying


6. Select the movement of your cat.

  Make sure your cat does not jump, play, or move a lot for a week after surgery so that the site of surgery does not become inflamed or cause an infection.

Remove cat trees, perches, or any furniture your cat enjoys hopping on.

Keep the cat in a small room when you cannot watch it, such as a laundry room, bathroom, dog house, or even a crate.

Carry your cat up and down on any stairs. It is rare for a cat to harm the surgical site by going up and down the stairs, but this is a useful precaution.

Cats who feel distressed (like they do after surgery) may try to escape, so watch the cat carefully, especially in the first 24-48 hours immediately after surgery.

Cat After Neutering or Spaying


7. Avoid bathing the cat.

  Do not bathe your cat for 10-14 days after surgery, as this may cause irritation or infection of the wound.

Clean the area around the surgical site, if necessary, with a damp cloth (without soap). Do not get any wetness on the surgical site or rub it.

Cat After Neutering or Spaying


8. Give pain medication only as prescribed by your veterinarian.

 The veterinarian may prescribe medication for your cat before you return home, so give it to your cat regularly as ordered by the doctor, even if you feel that your cat is not in pain, as the cats brilliantly hide their pain and maybe in suffering and nothing appears on them, and do not give the cat any medications that the veterinarian did not prescribe.

Human or even dog medicine may kill your cat, so do not give your cat any medicine (even if you can get it without a prescription) if the doctor has not confirmed to you that it is suitable for it because simple medicines (even such as Tylenol) may kill your cat.

Do not put any products (not even antibiotics, nor antiseptic creams) on the site of surgery until your veterinarian has approved them first.


watch  your cat

Cat After Neutering or Spaying


1. Watch for vomiting.

  If your cat gets up on the same day of surgery, after returning home, remove food from in front of your cat, then try the next day to feed her a small amount and contact the vet immediately if she vies up again or has diarrhea.

Cat After Neutering or Spaying


2. Check the surgery site every day and every night.

 Check your cat's surgical site every day and every night for 7-10 days after surgery. Compare the location of the surgery to how it looked on the first day after it, so you can judge whether the wound is healing, and contact your veterinarian if you notice any of the following:

redness. The wound may initially be pink or bright red at the edges, but this redness will disappear with time. Increased redness or dark redness at any time is a sign of infection.

Bruises. Some light bruises at the site of surgery are not a problem, as they heal with time, changing their color from red to blue and then disappear, but you should contact the vet if the bruises spread, worsen, appear severe, or any new bruises appear.

Swelling. There may be some swelling at the site of the surgery as a normal part of healing, but you should contact your veterinarian if the swelling remains or worsens.

Secretions. You may notice a small amount of secretion with a bright red color in the place of surgery and this is normal, but contact the veterinarian if the secretion remains for more than a day, if it increases in the amount, if it smells bad, if it becomes bloody, or if it changes color to become green, yellow or white.

Separation of wound extremities. The holes in a male's scrotum will be open but small and heal quickly on their own. Stitches may or may not be visible in the abdomen of a female or male who underwent abdominal surgery. Stitches should remain intact if they are visible, and wound edges should remain close together if stitches are not visible. Call the vet right away if you see the limbs turning apart or if you notice anything strange (or stitches) protruding from the wound.

Cat After Neutering or Spaying


3. Check your cat's gums.

  Your cat's gums should be light pink to red, and the color should return quickly after you press and release the gums. Call your vet if your cat's gums are faded or if the color doesn't return after you pressed quickly.

Cat After Neutering or Spaying


4. Look for signs of pain.

  Cats do not usually show pain like humans or even dogs do, so pay attention to any signs of discomfort that appear in your cat and contact your veterinarian if you see any signs of pain, as your cat may need help. These are some of the popular signs of post-operative pain in cats:

  • Continuous hiding and escape attempts
  • Chill and depression
  • Loss of appetite
  • Having a hunched back position
  • the abdominal muscles are tight
  • Tension and dread

Cat After Neutering or Spaying


5. Pay attention to other warning signs.

  Ensure that your cat is recovering by monitoring her behavior. Anything abnormal should disappear within 24 hours of surgery, and contact your veterinarian immediately if you notice any behavior or symptoms unusual for your cat. Here are some examples of things to watch out for:

  • Apathy for more than 24 hours after surgery
  • diarrhea
  • Vomiting after the first night of surgery
  • Fever or chills
  • Lack of appetite for more than 24-48 hours after surgery
  • Does not eat anything after 24 hours (for adult cats) or 12 hours (for kittens) after surgery
  • Difficulty or painful urination
  • No bowel movements for more than 24-48 hours after surgery


Cat After Neutering or Spaying


6. Call an emergency veterinarian.

  In most cases, it will suffice to contact your regular veterinarian if you are concerned about your cat’s health to get it to full recovery, but you may sometimes need to seek emergency help for your cat, and here are some things that require contacting an emergency veterinarian or veterinary hospital:

  • Unconsciousness
  • Lost response
  • difficulty breathing
  • Signs of violent pain
  • Change in mental state (such as if your cat seems unable to recognize you or surrounding things, or if it behaves in a very strange way)
  • The abdomen is stretched
  • Bleeding


Cat After Neutering or Spaying


7. Adhere to the follow-up dates.

  There may be no stitches in your cat's skin, but your vet will need to remove them 10-14 days after surgery.

Even if your cat doesn't have stitches, stick to the follow-up appointments set by your veterinarian anyway.


Helpful ideas

  • Keep your cat away from young children for the first day after surgery.
  • Use a dirt-free cat box or newspaper to make it easier to clean.
  • Keep castrated males away from fertile females for at least 30 days after surgery, because males are still able to fertilize a female for 30 days after they are castrated.
  • Do not let your cat go out of the house for at least 7-10 days after the surgery, as it may harm the site of the wound.

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