Hands-on Advice on Caring for Your Cat after Spaying Operation

Both our female cats have been spayed. Snowy, the Egyptian Mau was spayed eight months ago. Savannah, the Savannah cat was spayed yesterday. Since Savannah just came home from her operation yesterday, we are taking some special measures for her recovery, I would like to share our experience of taking care of the cats after their spay operation.

Cats are small creatures compared with dogs. Most of cats are spayed when they are still kittens, so they are especially fragile after the spay operation. 

Snowy, our Egyptian Mau Recovered Quickly from Spaying

I never knew how the operation was conducted until the night before Savannah’s operation when I watched a video online about such procedure. It is similar to C-section done on women. The cat’s lower abdomen is cut open and some stuff is taken out, and then the skin is stitched together. I am not a biologist or medical doctor, so I do not know how fast the wound heals, but based on what I saw, it must be pretty painful even in the healing process. 

Your vet might have given you some instructions on how to care for your cats after the operation, but not all vets actually have cats of their own. I am going to share with you some hands-on advice for a speedy recovery of your cats. My advice is particularly useful if you have multiple cats at home.

Nutrition: hand feeding is needed during first few days

Like people, a cat who just went through such a big operation needs good nutrition to recover. You do not need to buy anything special to your cat, just feed her/him the regular food. But because your cat will be wearing a recovery collar, it is extremely difficult for them to eat and drink normally. During the first few days, mostly likely you need to feed them by hand. We did this to both Snowy and Savannah.

Rest: separate the cat from other animals at home

During the first week or so after the operation, your cat needs a lot of rest. It is important not to let him/her interact with others (animals and people) too much. Activities like jumping and running may affect the wound negatively.

For both Snowy and Savannah, we actually put them in separate rooms for the first week after their operation. Each day we allowed them to get out of the room and interact with other cats for limited time, and we always monitored their interaction closely.

Hygiene: more cleaning is needed

A clean environment is crucial to the recovery of any patient. When our cats had their neuter or spay operation, I always cleaned the entire apartment before their return from the hospital, and maintained a high level of hygiene throughout their recovery process. All the cats’ utensils were cleaned daily. Now it is summer and it is quite hot here. I try to keep the rooms cool to reduce the risk of infection.

Lots of TLC (tender, loving, and care)

I have written about the changes of our male Bengal cat after his neuter operation. What surprised me most after going through our female cats’ spay operations is the extra emotional needs of our girls. If your cat just had the spay operation, or is going to be spayed, do pay attention to her emotional needs, and give her more love and care.

Snowy, our Egyptian Mau, slept with “daddy” every night, literally on his chest or neck. Savannah is doing the similar things. She felt most comfortable and happy sleeping on our bed.

Even though they need to be separated from other cats constantly, they do not want to be alone. You need to spend more time with them, talking to them, petting them, or simply staying with them.