Stop Food. Your pet will need to stop eating prior to surgery. If your dog or cat eats prior to surgery then vomits, stomach contents can travel to the lungs and cause infections, pneumonia or respiratory distress syndrome.
Pre-operative Care
All animals must have food and water withdrawn the night before surgery at 12:00 midnight. Animals must be in good health, so if your pet is showing any signs of illness such as coughing, sneezing, runny eyes, or diarrhea, it is possible that they will be declined for surgery.
With a lot of moving around and no fasting guideline followed, your pet could be at risk for vomiting food up and possibly aspirating (food going into the lungs). Before recent research, 12 hours was the appropriate time to fast your pet. Now, guidelines are aimed towards 6-8 hours before surgery.
The norm is to fast 12 hours beforehand, but there are a few exceptions. Puppies and kittens will be allowed a small meal to give them the energy to go through with the procedure.
Whenever possible, pet owners should ensure that their cat has no food after midnight before a scheduled surgery; however, allowing the cat to drink water will generally be fine.
In most cases, veterinarians will tell you to prepare your cat by having them fast from midnightprior to the surgery — meaning no food or treats. Normally it's ok to leave water out for them. Fasting helps reduce the chances that your cat will vomit during surgery.
Your pet should have water available throughout the night before surgery, but please take their water away first thing in the morning. If your pet is on any medications, please contact us prior to the day of your pet's procedure to get specific instructions regarding these medications.
Don't leave your cat alone during her first 12-24 hours post-surgery. This stretch of time is when your pet needs to closest monitoring for excessive bleeding or issues with urination. If, after the allotted time, your cat seems to be able to urinate without trouble, you can keep an eye on her as you go about your day.
You cannot leave your cat alone for the first 12-24 hours after she is spayed, since this is a critical time to monitor for postoperative bleeding and normal urination. After this, as long as your cat seems comfortable and is urinating, you may leave her in a confined area with her E-collar in place.
Cats want to eat more after being spayed or neutered.
The reasons behind this increase in appetite still aren't totally understood, but the effect can be truly shocking.
If your pet accidentally eats before surgery, you need to tell your vet, as it may be unsafe to proceed on schedule. Give your vet as much information as possible, like what they ate, what time they ate, and how much was consumed. This will help your vet determine when it's safe to perform surgery.
Recovery After Spaying Surgery
Most pets will start to feel better in 24 - 48 hours, but full recovery takes between 10 to 14 days. During this period you should aim to keep your pet calm and refrain from allowing them to jump, as this could cause the incision to reopen.
Following surgery, your veterinarian will most likely advise you to restrict your pet's movement for some time (usually a week). Sudden jumping or stretching can cause the incision to reopen and disrupt the healing process.
The overall goal with fasting patients is to reduce the volume of stomach contents to prevent gastroesophageal reflux (GER) (regurgitation of stomach contents) and aspiration (inhalation of stomach contents) (Robertson, 2018). Preventing inhalation of stomach contents whilst under anaesthesia is vitally important.
Preparation for neutering is the same for male and female cats. Your cat should have food withheld from around 10pm the night before it is due for surgery, so it is advisable to keep your cat indoors to prevent it eating elsewhere. You should still ensure that your cat has access to drinking water during this period.
Keep your cat in a crate or small room to sleep, and make sure he is comfortable and secure. On the day of surgery, the incision site on your cat might look minorly red and swollen. Check it once per day if your cat allows, and be on the lookout for any excessive redness, swelling, and discharge.
If your pet is going to lick or begins to lick their incision, they need to wear an E-Collar (plastic cone) for 7-10 days after surgery. A pet can pull out stitches easily which can lead much more damage. 2. Limit activity—no running, jumping or playing for 7-10 days.
Incision Care
Ensure the incision stays clean and dry for two weeks. Do not apply human products onto incision. Please check your cat's incision daily until it is healed. Contact us if you notice excessive redness, swelling, any discharge or openings of the incision.
Our vets will probably recommend that you limit the movements of your cat as much as possible for around a week following their surgery. Suddenyl jumping or stretching can disrupt your feline firend's healing process and cause an incision to reopen.
The most important thing to remember is to restrict your pet from eating after midnight the night before surgery. You can leave their water bowl out until early the next morning, at which time you will need to remove it.
With today's anesthetics, many of which are reversible, your cat should be almost completely normal by the time of discharge. However, many cats will sleep more or be more tired after returning home for twelve to twenty-four hours after anesthesia.
Spay surgery usually takes more time and effort than neuter surgery, since removing a male animal's testicles often takes only a couple of minutes. Your veterinarian will need to make an incision into your female pet's abdomen to remove the reproductive organs, making spay surgery a more invasive operation.
For many cats, a trip to the vet and subsequent surgery might be a frightening and stressful experience. So your cat might act timid or jumpy for a few days after. This change is temporary, and you can encourage her with gentle petting along with a warm and quiet location for recovery.
Ovarian remnant syndrome is a condition that occurs when ovarian tissue remains inside the body after a female cat is spayed. This tissue can produce estrogen, triggering signs of heat in the cat.
She adds that the first few days post-surgery are the most critical, because it's the highest risk period for having some type of internal bleeding from the surgery sites.