In our article What should a healing cat spay incision look like, we explain the advantages of spaying your cat. These included protection from certain urinary infections and breast tumors, improved behavior, and saving money by not having to pay to shelter a litter if your cat became pregnant.
How to prepare for spaying a cat
If you have decided that you will spay your cat, you probably have a couple questions. One of the most important things you should know about spaying a cat is that you should keep your cat sheltered for a short period of time following the surgery. This is beneficial in many ways, but especially for ensuring that the incision heals correctly.
You should keep your cat in a cage, and we recommend covering this cage to block the light and encourage your cat to sleep. You should also continue to clean the cage so that your cat is comfortable.
Best way to confine cat after spay?
While your cat is in confinement, you should check on him/her regularly. You should wait around 10 hours before feeding your cat after surgery. We recommend consulting your vet to see when they recommend feeding your cat following a surgery. One great way to confine your cat after spay is to get a cheap cat spay recovery suit from Amazon. You can click on the picture below for more details.
Your vet might also recommend that you put a cone on your cat’s head after the spay surgery. To learn more, you can reference my article on How Long to Keep Cone on Cat After Spay? If your cat keeps trying to remove the cone, you should read my guide on how to help cat keep cone on after spay.
While this seems self-explanatory, it is extremely important that you do not let your cat escape while you are checking on it. If your cat escapes the cage prematurely before the spay incision has properly healed, it could be very problematic. Additionally your cat would be at a risk of getting lightheaded or passing out after exerting too much energy. If worst comes to worse, you could always try feeding your cat through the cage if you think there is a big possibly it would escape if you open up the door.
You should also know that it is normal for a cat to eat a lot after getting spayed.
How long to keep cat confined after spay
We are frequently asked how long to confine cat after spay? You should keep your cat confined after spaying for at least two days.
When deciding when to let your cat out of confinement, there are a couple important signs you should look for. The most important is that your cats incision has been completely healed up. This is very important because if your cat’s spay incision reopens, it could cause serious infections and your cat may have to undergo additional surgeries.
You should make sure that your cat has full awareness before you take it out of confinement. His/her eyes should be clear and it should not looking dizzy or lightheaded. You should check out this article to see what cat spay healing photos should like.
How long to keep cat confined after neuter?
A cat neuter refers to when you remove the testicles of a male cat so that they can no longer produce offspring. The neutering of a cat is similar to the procedure of spaying a cat, and usually involves putting your cat under with anesthesia. The vet then makes a cut on each side of the scrotum in order to remove the testicles.
Just like spaying a cat, a cat that is neutered should be confined in order to allow the incision to heal. The vet will usually keep them overnight for a day or two. When you neutered cat returns home, we recommend keeping them confined for 3-5 days. After this period, you should still limit their physical activity.