Sally is 5 months old. She is going to be spayed on Friday. We cannot feed her on Thursday, so will have to keep her away from the other two cats who will be fed. She will smell the food and squeal, am dreading it.

She squeals, doesn't meow yet, just has one squeal that gets louder and louder!

If she is being payed the Friday then you can feed her up to midnight the Thursday, with my two I fed them midday the day before , some biscuits at 5ish and then their meal at 10pm so they were ok overnight and didnt ask for aything until morning and then it was time for the vets.

I wouldnt feed the others either. When i got vera done a couple of weeks back i didnt feed them all after midnight and i took the water up for them all

Check exact timings re feeding with your vet OP.
Some vets say no food after 8pm, others 10pm or midnight.
It's no hardship, they have their dinner as normal but they just miss breakfast on the day of the surgery - and they will be in a basket on the way to the vet around breakfast time anyway

Thanks, I did ring them and they said don't feed her after 10pm. She had her tea with all the rest and is now asleep. I have to take all the water up in a bit. The others will be fed once I have got her in the cat box!

She has been, had the op and now has a lampshade on that she is desperately trying to remove. We thought she would be quiet and want to sleep, my girlfriend bought her chicken and thought she was going to have a quiet night but Sally is running about trying to get the collar off and playing with her toys

My kitten Sookie hated wearing her lampshade - by the 3rd day we came home to find she'd managed to get the collar off and was racing around chasing her sister!!

She's doing OK and has a post op check on Tuesday, she is sleeping a lot but eats like a horse, had a whole pouch of convalescent food (the vet gave us three and she's had them all). She is very clingy just now and wont leave my girlfriend alone, always wanting to cuddle with her. We take the lampshade off to feed her but if we leave it off for too long she pulls at her stitches so it is straight back on. She will be glad to see the back of it.

Just a tip for anyone about to get their female cat neutered.
Cats hate these funnel collars the vet gives you to prevent the cat licking at the stitches. Any easy solution is to make a body tube for the cat to wear for a few days. We use stocking bandage which is tubular and cut 2 holes for the front legs so the cat wears it like a T shirt. Works wonders and the cats are happier.

Thanks for this which has given me another idea - I am going to check Leicester City club shop have a baby size Leicester City FC T-Shirt which might fit Sally - she can support the Foxes whilst she is recovering