My cat is booked in to be spayed tomorrow morning. She is 15 months old and a house cat. We've found that she's going in and out of season on a two week rotation now so it's definitely time to get the procedure done.

I just have a couple of questions -

She went into season at the end of last week again, normally she's in full swing for 4 days then the cat calls/crawling along the floor ease off.

I called the vet today and the surgeon who'll be doing the spaying said she's happy to go ahead with the cat in season and that the only difference is that the uterus will be bigger. Are the risks bigger too? She sounded pretty confident and said it was only dogs who can't be operated on during a season.

Secondly, I know the procedure takes under an hour, but how long is the average recovery time? IE the time from when I drop her off to when I can get her again? She's due to be dropped off between 8am - 9am.

Thirdly, she was never able to wear a collar. She would fight with it & try and tear it off, so is the vet going to expect her to wear a cone (so as to not bite the stitches)?

Finally, how much of her little tummy will be shaved?


Thanks in advance - hopefully your experiences/stories might make me feel a bit better about all of this, lol.

I know how anxious you feel - I was in tatters when my two were going in. I can't help you about the fact that she's in season, but I'm sure the vet wouldn't do it if she wasn't happy about it. My two were dropped off at 8 in the morning, and I got the call to collect them at about 2 - I think its a really quick procedure, but they just keep an eye on them for a while afterwards. they have a small shaved patch on their side - can't really remember which now, but its not too big and regrowth will happen very quickly. Mine had collors on them when I got them back, and they hated every second of them - It was only when they were in for their annual check-up about 6 months later that the vet asked how they'd got on, and I said fine apart from the collars, and he said " I don't really believe in them myself, but the veterinary nurse insists " If I'd known that at the time !!

If it makes you feel any better, I left the girls off and had to sit in the car sniffling for a while before I went to work. I collected them and drove them back the 20 miles home, with the two of them bellowing at me. I got them home, let them out and they shot off, terrified at the noise generated by the collars - I sat on the floor and cried. They, on the other hand, had a little snack, a play, and then a nap. It will truly hurt you more than it will hurt her !

Oh, I totally know what you mean! The only time she'll moan is when I can't give her breakfast in the morning! For a skinny, athletic cat, she's the greediest!

I figured that it's worked on a first-in basis where if I drop her off as close to 8AM as I can, she'll be done earlier.

That's good news about the shaving - my cat is black, so she'll definitely look a bit ridiculous until the regrowth is in, lol!

I'm just planning to bring her back, stick her carry case near a radiator and to keep the tv/other noises to a minimum so she can sleep and recover quicker. That way she can stay in or come out as and when she feels. She sleeps about 23 hrs a day as it is, so I'll probably not see her for a week haha!

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply - I know it's a routine operation that a vet could practically do with their eyes closed - but when it's YOUR cat...


Thanks again!

Cats usually have a small shave on their flank, and recover ever so quickly. Hopefully the stitches will be under her skin so no need for a collar. If she isn't micro-chipped I'd get that done as well.

The advantage of going in through her side is that the muscle layers don't get cut, instead they are parted and they spring back afterwards.

When I collected Minnie from being spayed she bounded out of the carrier for a few wall of death circuits of the house with Max, then ate lots, then slept a little, then did a few more wall of death circuits of the house. I expect they will let you collect her mid-late afternoon and she might be sleepy, but again she might not! They tend to do neutering first thing as it's a 'clean' op unlike dentals, abcesses and the like.

Yeah she's being micro-chipped & given her injections too, which are conveniently due to be renewed on Jan 20th anyway.

Aww.

I know how worried I was when we finally booked Winnie in to be spayed. They probably won't shave that much off, just a patch. Poor Bungle's fur is still growing back even though she was spayed in July! She has such long fur, bless her.

We waited for about 6 hours before picking Winnie up and around the same amount of time for Bungle.

Neither Winnie or Bungle had stitches, glue was used so there was no need for anything to be removed.

I expect you're probably going to be picking her up in an hour or so.