If you're like me, you're preparing for your kitty's surgery with some anxiety. When you love your pets, you truly do feel the weight of responsibility for decisions you make about their health!
Fortunately, there is no need to worry. If you haven't already, you should receive instructions from your vet on how long your kitty should fast, etc. The following tips will minimize the stress you and your kitties feel during the process.
BEFORE the surgery:
The single most stressful part of the experience for my kitties was the noisy waiting room. So many scents! Big dogs barking! Luckily, my husband came with, and actually stayed outside with the kitties in their carrier until their names were called. If you don't have a friend who can come with, check in at the desk and let the staff know that you and the kitties will be waiting outside. This also minimizes their exposure to disease, since the waiting room is shared by sick pets.
AFTER the surgery:
Expect that your girl will take longer to recover than your boy. For boys, the surgery is a snap, and my little guy was running around playing later the same day. My girl, on the other hand, was in obvious pain, and had a hard time walking. Accept pain medication for your girl--she will probably need it. However, within a week my girlie was back to her normal self.
The other thing to prepare for is her appearance. My girl is a lightweight--she's pretty slender, and so the removal of her reproductive organs actually made her noticeably thinner! That was a bit shocking, but eventually the "meat on her bones" redistributed, so not to worry.
Truly, truly do keep in mind that you are doing the absolutely best thing for your babies. They will have much more comfortable lives, will be in less danger of certain cancers, and will not encounter the risks inherent to cats who mate. Good for you for doing this for them!
Post Script: For warning signs to watch for regarding adverse reactions to anesthesia, check out Kayte's comment on this post.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
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I had a frightening experience when our two boys got neutered at the same time--one was playing and eating and happily purring that evening, and the other had some swelling in his face and paws, and was sleeping and hiding away for a couple of days afterward, barely eating. We learned that some kitties can have bad reactions to the anesthesia, and it was pretty illustrative of how different one kitty's reaction to the operation can be from another's. It helped to get some more info on what to look out for as far as dangerous symptoms for the one who was having the bad reaction--we knew to watch his breathing (in case he was allergic and his airway might get blocked by swelling), and to try to offer him water and food if he woke up, but we learned that if he was sleeping, we should probably just leave him be, because waking up would almost certainly mean he would be feeling a lot of pain, so letting him sleep was more important than trying to get him up and eating/drinking in that first day or so after the operation. He eventually felt much better and went right back to his usual self!
ReplyDeleteKayte,
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you, thank you for this important info, and specifically for tips on symptoms to watch for.
Be sure to report any problem with recovering from anesthesia to your vet. Your cat should be pretty much back to his or her normal self within 24 hours or so. Tell your vet's office about anything unusual that happens, so the they can be aware the next time your kitty needs anesthesia.
ReplyDelete(I've worked as a vet assistant for 6 years, and it helps to know if your pet doesn't do well with whatever anesthesia we gave.)
Great info--thanks for sharing out of your expertise, Neesie!
ReplyDelete