cat spay and recovery

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waweldragon@tiscali.co.uk - 10 Mar 2006 12:29 GMT

I posted recently about a neighbours cat who was bleeding. Since my
post I arranged with Cats Priotection to fund a cat spay operation on
behalf of the owner. yesterday I took the little lady to the vet and
it was done. I bought her home and once out of the carrier started
to tug at her stitches ! I rang the vet who suggested I get an
Elizebethan collar. I managed to obtain one and it seems to work.
But it prevents ALL grooming and to some extent is disorientating. Sop
the cat really hates it.

But I wonder how long I should impose this regime for ? Perhaps
another night and all of tomorrow ? It might be that she would not
actually remove those stitches but I am not at all sure. A bit of
moderate licking causes me no problem as the cat has an antibiotic
course to take. But stitches out ... I don;t like that thoight at
all

I plan to keep her here for another couple of days and nights. Her
owner has 3 children under 5 and I sense it would be difficult to
protect the cat there

Any advice would be really appreciated

Andrew

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cybercat - 10 Mar 2006 15:50 GMT

> I posted recently about a neighbours cat who was bleeding. Since my
> post I arranged with Cats Priotection to fund a cat spay operation on
> behalf of the owner. yesterday I took the little lady to the vet and
> it was done.

That's really great!

>I bought her home and once out of the carrier started
> to tug at her stitches ! I rang the vet who suggested I get an
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> But I wonder how long I should impose this regime for ? Perhaps
> another night and all of tomorrow ?

That sounds reasonable to me, but if I were you I would ask your
vet to be sure.

> I plan to keep her here for another couple of days and nights. Her
> owner has 3 children under 5 and I sense it would be difficult to
> protect the cat there

This little cat is lucky to have you for a friend.

> Any advice would be really appreciated

Much as she hates the collar, she can't be pulling her stitches out,
so she needs to keep it on. Can you maybe take a warm damp cloth and
wipe her down with it, as though you are petting her, kind of a soothing
plus grooming thing? It won't be long before you can take it off, and in
the meantime she will likely be sleeping a lot--mine did after their
surgeries. Plus, she's a cat--it's what they do!

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jmc - 10 Mar 2006 16:28 GMT

Suddenly, without warning, waweldragon@tiscali.co.uk exclaimed
(10-Mar-06 12:29 PM):

> I posted recently about a neighbours cat who was bleeding. Since my
> post I arranged with Cats Priotection to fund a cat spay operation on
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>
> Andrew

I can't really say how long it should be on, but can offer this bit of
advice: If you've got one of the usual translucent collars, check out
the pet stores and see if you can find a clear one. I did this for Meep
when she had to wear a collar for nearly three weeks, she found it much,
much easier to get around the house. Guess she relies a lot on her
peripheral vision. It's nicer than the cheap ones too, with a padded
edge at her neck.

jmc

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friesian@zoocrewphoto.com - 12 Mar 2006 09:24 GMT

I'd leave it on her as long as possible.

I've had two female cats and both pulled out their stitches. The first
was when I was a young child, so I don't know how long she waited or
what happened.

Kira only waited 2 days, and I was horrified. She had been messing with
the night before. I called the 800 vet number, and they said to trim
the stitches and put ben gay on it to make them less appetizing. I did
that, checked them in the morning, and went to school. I cam back and
the stitches were gone. I called the vet, and had me look at the color
and said it sounded fine.

We had spayed two cats at the same time, so they both went back in a
week. The vet looked at Kira and said she looked great.

So, it isn't always bad, but I would have felt a lot better if she had
not done that, and I would be especially concerned the first few days
since it needs a chance to heal, and chewing on the incision could
cause an infection (the vet's main concern).

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