I'm having my cat "fixed", any advice?

My cat goes in at 10:00 am today to be "fixed". She is female..so would that be neutered?! [img]images/smiley_icons/smlylaugh2.gif[/img] I get them mixed up! [img]images/smiley_icons/smlylaugh2.gif[/img]



Anyway, this is a first for me. She is an outdoor cat and I will need to keep her inside for about a week they said. Does anyone have any tips for caring for her afterwards? I'm really nervous about this! Is she going to hate me?! She had kittens 7 weeks ago. I kept one that is also female. They want to take care of her when she is 8 weeks. I thought that was kinda young! So she will go in next week to be done. And too, this kitten sometimes still nurses off the mamma, I can't allow that after the surgury right? [img]images/smiley_icons/confused.gif[/img] So....if any of you all have and helpful tips, let me know!

I would ask about the nursing! I'm not sure about that one!



I CAN tell you that I have 6 animals in the house and every one of them is fixed!! (It really is the resposible thing for a pet owner to do!) and not one of them appears to hate me! [img]images/smiley_icons/smile.gif[/img]



Keep her inside, and don't let her get too playful if that is possible! (for instance don't give her catnip or encourage her to play with any toys - you don't want her ripping stiches) Also, it won't hurt to make certain that she comes home to clean cat litter.



8 weeks sounds VERY early to me!! I do understand that they want to get the kitten before her first heat, but 8 weeks? I would call another vet and ask if there are any associated dangers with doing it so early!



... hang on!! She is going in on a SUNDAY???!!!

Yep Slide, a Sunday! It is our brand new local animal shelter that is doing it. My cat was a stray I took in. Then she had babies. I couldn't find the babies homes so I took them there to be adopted. That was when I learned that they had this service. 35.00..I thought that was really cheap. She is an outdoor cat! I plan on keeping her inside until she is healed though. I guess leave the one baby we kept outside? [img]images/smiley_icons/confused.gif[/img] That way she doesn't want to nurse. I will ask though. I pick her up at 5:00 this evening. I got the litter box with the clumpable litter.... never had a cat in the house!! Now I did get her some kitty treats so I can butter her up! [img]images/smiley_icons/smlylaugh2.gif[/img] Thanks so much for the advice Slide!!

How is the kitty doing this morning?



If you don't normally have the cat in the house (so she doesn't know that there is a litter box) you should very gently place her in the litter a few times over the course of the day!... but watch that incision!

She is doing really good! Thanks for asking!! I did show her the litter box and it just took that once. She goes everytime there now. She is eating little, sleeping a lot. She basicly stays away from us all. I had to pick her up last night when I went to bed....she had to sleep in my room with me with the door shut. Anyway, when I picked her up to take her to my room, she growled at me! So I might have hurt her a bit. I felt bad. But not once did she try to bite me or claw me. That surprised me! Hopefully she will be back to herself real soon!

I'm glad to hear that she is doing so well! [img]images/smiley_icons/smile.gif[/img]

Hi from Meowzy.



It's possible your cat growled at you just because she didn't want to be picked up. My two cats do that sometimes.



I have heard of kittens being spayed at six weeks, but it's not necessary to do it that young. They won't go in heat until they are at least six months. When I had both my females spayed, they were about 5 months old. All I have is the two females, Miss Cat and Miss Meowzy.



For males, they can be neutered at about two months.



Just keep the kitten apart from its Mama until Mama is healed and it will be ok. By that time the kitten won't need to nurse anymore.



Hope things are going well for you and your kitties!



The litter box thing -- most cats are really good with litter boxes. I only had to show my kitties once. Just make sure you clean it every day, so no dirty litter gets against her incision. Just don't want to get infection. I'm sure she's fine. Both my cats had NO problems at all.

I HAVE A WONDERFUL VET. ONE OF THE BEST IN THE CITY. HE TOLD ME KITTENS SHOULD NOT BE SPAYED TILL 6 MONTHS OF AGE. I HAVE HAD ANIMALS ALL MY LIFE AND ANY VET I HAVE HAD SAYS THE SAME THING. I WOULD NOT SPAY A SMALL KITTEN LIKE THAT. THERE IS NO NEED TO. THEY CANT HAVE KITTENS TILL THEY ARE OLDER ANYWAY.

We thought so too. She is 8 weeks old today and we decided to wait till she is 6 months old. We had always heard around 6 months was when they could be done. So I think that would put us at around December. Momma cat is doing really well! She is back outside and back to her old self!

First... I think that 8 weeks is too young... but on the ohter hand, be careful... my stray had her first litter at about 5 1/2 months... if you are going to wait the whole 6 months, you may need to keep her in for the last one or two (and if she DOES go into heat, you will have to suffer through that before they fix her)