Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat Health & Behaviour => Health & Behaviour General => Topic started by: Déborah on March 05, 2007, 09:54:28 AM
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Hiya,
I know, another topic about spaying, I'm sorry... Mia was 6 months last week, and she's booked to be spayed tomorrow (tuesday) and I have a few questions:
1 - she was still in heat last night (she seems to be ok during the day and it comes up at night). It's been over 5 days now, do you think there's any chance she'll still be in heat tomorrow? She was ok this morning but that doesn't prove anything. Will the vet be able to tell before starting the op? Is it very bad if he starts operating in her when she's still in heat?
2 - Is she going to be ok? I'm so worried and upset about this. I know it's a fairly rutine operation, but well, even routine operations can go wrong, and she's small for her age, and I'm just so worried! What are the risks really? :(
3 - What do you recommend me to do when she (hopefully...) comes home? Should I put all her stuff (litter box, food, bed) in a quiet room, or would she be better off in her norrmal environment (i.e. would moving her stuff around upset her more?)?
4 - oh god I'm so worried...
Thanks for your time, here's a pic of the wee girl:
http://www.chaptanservices.com/purrs/index.php?topic=2299.0
Déborah xx
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I think you should ring your vet now and have a word, vets have different opinions on this.
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Fingers crossed she's not in heat tomorrow. You can spay a cat while she's in heat but it's best not to if possible.
re the actual operation - I've never had a female cat spayed as I've only had boys but it's still a fairly simple operation and I'm sure she'll be fine (although it's natural to worry). I think the main thing you'll have to be careful about when she comes home is that she doesn't pick at her stitches. That's if she has stitches, I believe there's a glue they can use? I'd ask the vet about glue v stitches etc. She might be a bit woozy from the anaesthetic when she comes home but that should wear off fairly quickly. Other than that I wouldn't have thought she'd need to be confined anywhere. I'd try to keep things as normal as possible for her. Your vet will probably give you a care sheet to bring home with after care instructions. She'll probably be bouncing around like nothing's happened in no time.
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it wont make much difference if she's still in season tomorrow or not as the slightly enlarged swollen uterine body and horns will not have gone down in the space of 12 or 24 hours.
personally if your vet was happy enough i'd go ahead with the spay tomorrow as yes its trickier but its not brain surgery, abit more care and time has to be taken thats all. post operatively theres no difference.
if mia is having prolonged seasons i cant see it getting much better as spring then summer grips us !
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Thanks for the advice :thanks:
I did ring the vet and they said pretty much what you all said, that it was possible to spay her while she was in heat, but not ideal.
She is still in heat tonight, so I've postponed it to thursday. It seems to be calming down, so hopefully she will be ok by then. The vet nurse told me it was better to wait a week or two after the end of the heat, which made me laugh, as Mia is in heat every other week, for a whole week. It does seem to be getting worse as well, so I really want it to be over and done with!
Have you folk got any idea why she is in heat so often and for so long? Could it be linked to the fact that it started when she was very young (4 1/2 months)? I wish the vet would have spayed her then, but they refused, and she was very small... Poor baby!
Déborah xx
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some cats do seem to be like that..i think come thurs regardless of her season cycle get her done, the vet nurse was right to say a week or so after the end as it would take that long for the uterus to be "normal" so be it tomorrow or thurs i dont think it would make a huge difference but i have every confidence she'll be fine regardless.
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Hi Déborah, I recently had both my kittens spayed & I too was worried, but thankfully they were both fine afterwards. I dropped them off at the vets in the morning & by early afternoon they were ready to be picked up. They were a bit sleepy & didn't feel much like eating for the first day, but that was about it. I left their bed, litter tray etc where it normally was, so they knew where to go. Maddi was spayed in December & she had three stitches & Mia was done in Feb & she only needed one. They licked their stitches now & then, but never tried to bite them or pull them out. Their fur is now growing back in nicely & I now wonder why I was so worried in the first place!
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Fingers crossed for Thurs, but I would get her done regardless then if she is having heats so often and for so long, there are health risks that are more serious than being spayed in heat - one of my fosters was accidentally spayed at the end of her season, I thought she had finished, but the vet told me she hadn't and things were still enlarged - she was as bonkers after she came back as seh was before, you couldnt' tell anything had happened to her!!
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:thanks: everybody!
Well, Mia is at the vet's right now. It made me feel better re-reading all your posts, but well, I'm still worried. I just wish it was over!
There was a little bit to walk from where we parked the car to the vet, and the traffic was quite heavy (buses etc.) so Mia got really scared. She was shaking when we got to the vet, which made me feel terrible. It's hard to think of my wee baby all alone in there, I hope she's ok.
Oh dear, I really need to calm down.
Anyway, thanks a lot for your advice and reassurance!
Déborah xx
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It's hard
I am sure she will be fine and the anaesthetics nowadays are very safe. Please remember she is not alone and hundreds of cats are 'done' most days.
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Hope you about mia soon deb and im sure she'll be fine.
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Just give her lots of cuddles when she gets home and something extra nice to eat ;D
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Thanks folk,
I've just been to the shop and got her tons of treats! ;D I'm to phone the vet in an hour or so, to see when I can pick her up.
Déborah xx
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remember it will be a light meal tonight for mia..ie cooked chicken etc, or the vet sells cans of Hills a/d prescription food...this is usually liked by most cats and its a convelesing / recuperation food and excellent for the digestive system after an op so perhaps you could get one or two of them just for tonight and tomorrow, altho she'll be fine with normal food tomorrow.
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Thanks for that Lynn, I knew she was probably going to be off her food for a bit, but I hadn't thought of any specific food to give her :thanks:
Well, I just phoned the vet, and they told me she's recuperating just fine, and I can pick her up at 3pm :yesss: :ok: :clap: :Party 3:
Déborah xx
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aw glad it all went well, see we told you it would.
Hopefully you are now picking her up and she's fine.
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Well, she's home and she's fine, though a bit shaky from the anaesthetic. The vet gave me free cans of hill's recovery food (they could afford it, seeing how much the op was >:() She was starving and already ate a whole one :)
The other good thing is that the stitches are all internal, so she doesn't need a collar or anything! ;D
She's roasting herself in front of the heater right now. I don't think she's speaking to me though :(
Thanks for your support everybody! :Flowers:
Déborah xx
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awwww glad mia is home and is well , mine was starving when they came bk too .
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thats great and i'm glad she's got subcutaenous stitches, they are so successful i dont know why all vets dont do that.
Lots of animals are hungry after a ga but if she's had one can i'd not give her anything elses to eat for a good while ie much later on tonight, she could still be sick .
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I'm glad she's ok. She'll forgive you eventually!
I don't know whether it's the anaesthetic or just the fact that they've not had food for a while, but when Jaffa came back from having a dental he was absolutely desperate for food.
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Aye, I didn't plan on giving her anymore right now. Normally she can't even eat half that amount in one sitting! :Crazy:
Déborah xx
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its prob a combination susanne but more so the anaesthetic. it disturbs and even temporarily shuts down you natural gut movements you see and when it wears of you tummy starts gurgling and churning alot of the time and makes you feel ravenous, epidurals have the same effect.
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Ah right. Jaffa loves his food all the time but I've never seen him so obviously ravenous as when he came back from his dental.
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Hows mia today deborah ?
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Mia is fine, Mia has been jumping on everything, all the time. She's jumped on all the window sills, and all the radiators, and most of the furniture. :rofl:/ >:(
The wound/incision, whatever you want to call it looks very neat and clean and sturdy, so I'm really happy with it ;D Only two stitches.
Btw, they did make me pay for the recovery food, it was included on the bill >:( >:( >:( Thw whole thing was so expensive! But she was microchipped as well ;D
Déborah
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Oh, also I think she's forgiven me, as she was very cuddly last night, she slept on my pillow, and she also cuddled next to me under the duvet :Luv: :Luv: :Luv: I love when she does that!
Déborah xx
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The recovery food? whats that
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It's hill's i/d (dunno what the letters stand for). It's easy to digest food meant for convalescing cats. Mia loved it!
Déborah xx
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The recovery food? whats that
It is made by Royal Canin (maybe others make it also) and helps (or so they say) when a cat is recovering from digestive upsets, surgical procedures or other cases of when a cat needs a highly digestable diet. In all honesty I don't bother with it.
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I thought Hills i/d is to help reduce or eliminating problems such as flatulence, diarrhoea (small intestinal and certain large intestinal types), pancreatitis and gastric disorders, but I suppose it could be used to aid recovery after a surgical procedure.
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I think the recovery food is a/d - there is an i/d too which is for something different (the one ela describes I believe). I've never used a/d before either - never needed to - but it does seem to be good for when cats wont or cant eat. Not a problem I've ever had! ;D
Glad Mia is doing well!
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Mmmmm, I remember reading i/d, but it did say 'recovery food for cats' on the tins so I'm not sure now. Guess it has to be a/d then and I 'm just being daft ;D I'll check when I'm home
Déborah xx
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Yes a/d is a wonderful standby we use it a lot in rescue, sometimes we get a cat in and it won't eat , so many times I have given a cat a couple of syringes of a/d and the cat has started to eat. It is a high calorie, high protein food to promote healing and speed up a pets recovery and can be given in a syringe easily, as although it appears solid in the tin it can easily be placed in a syringe.
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When I have had my cats done the vet said just give them some chicken or bolied fish as something light, but they have always wanted to eat their own food and scoffed it down.
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I'll check when I'm home
You could be right, but recovery after an op is not the main reason to give the i/d. Perhaps the vet had no a/d or Royal Canin. However, I really am not convinced you really do need to give special diet food after what is a normal everyday procedure. Then again what do I know.
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When I have had my cats done the vet said just give them some chicken or bolied fish as something light, but they have always wanted to eat their own food and scoffed it down.
Same here! Mine have always given me that "dont' you dare give me something light, I want proper food" look. I try to make sure I always have applaws or almo nature chicken flake in now as that's just chicken, a small amount of rice and broth so that must be pretty light and easy on the stomach.
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but they have always wanted to eat their own food and scoffed it down.
Mine too, although I usually offer them some chicken breast or tuna as well.
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However, I really am not convinced you really do need to give special diet food after what is a normal everyday procedure. Then again what do I know.
First of all Ela, I think you do know a lot ;D
I agree with you, it probably isn't necessary, but they automatically included it on the bill >:( so I gave it a try. Mia likes it, and she sometimes have digestive problems, so, well, why not?
Btw, is £99.93 for a spay+microchip (+recovery food lol) very expensive? Seems very expensive to me! The vet did a very good job, and I'm not complaining, but it does look like a lot! (not covered by insurance either)
Déborah xx
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First of all Ela, I think you do know a lot
A lot of useless information is what I know
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but they automatically included it on the bill
At our vets when you book an op they send you a form telling you how much the op is and then asking you to tick any extras you want, bloods, food etc. it is not automatically added on the bill.
is £99.93 for a spay+microchip (+recovery food lol)
Here that lot would have cost no more than £64, possibly less
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Here that lot would have cost no more than £64, possibly less
Yes, that's pretty much what I was expecting, so the actual cost was a bit of a shock. Ah well...
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Where do you live? Is vet care generally above average where you are?
I can't remember how much it is for a spay at my vets as I've never had a female cat but I think it's about £60. I can't remember exactly how much Mosi's microchip was but I think about £20 or something. so that would bring it up to £80+ without any of the recovery food. Do you have an invoice that breaks it down so that you can see how much everything was?
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Here that lot would have cost no more than £64, possibly less
Is that with a rescue discount, ela? or is your vets just really cheap?!
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I live in Musselburgh (right next to Edinburgh). I don't know if that vet is more expensive. The other prices seemed very reasonable (consultations etc.)
Do you have an invoice that breaks it down so that you can see how much everything was?
Aye I do, but I don't have it on me right now. If I remember properly, the anaesthetic was around £20, the spay around £45 and the microchip around £30. The food was £3.
Déborah xx
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thats where the expense has come from deborah and too be honest i'd give them a ring to check up that the pricing has been done correctly.. I'd say 45 quid is pretty reasonable for the spay withouth the extra 20 for ga...Where i worked going back 6 years it was around 38 for the spay and that included the ga. the only things that were costed out separetly and they had to be for the veterinarly computer system that was used was the painkilling injection and the owners had the option of hills a/d so that would have taken it to just a few pounds over 40 quid.
(by the way i believe i/d can be used aswell as its still kinder on the stomach, altho i think of a/d as the recovery food)
on our computer the pricing out of routine every day ops such as neuterings were listed quite straight forwardly ie cat castrate, cat spay etc and only on all the other non routine surgerys where you couldnt have a standard listing was it priced out as GA, then everything else added on ie materials used, time of op etc.
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PS i didnt realise Mia was scottish aswell LOL
oh and i meant to add i think theres nothing wrong with the old advice of white meat/rice after an op. also regardless of how routine it seems to us its still a full blown ga which affects gut peristalsis (my god cant believe i can still remember words like that LOL) and also major surgery into the abdominal cavity. (cat castrates dont have that i know but are under ga) So probably the likes of hills a/d will be "better" but the light meal of white meats still ok. Also with the higher moisture content in the hills (i dont know about the rc type) and the mineral / electrolytes etc it will prob help replace losses incurred because of the ga which chicken wouldnt to the same degree, i cant remember precisely why but more fluids etc are lost under ga..perhaps used up because of the liver etc working harder to metabolise the drugs and there will always be a slight blood loss which the body will respond by balancing blood volume and draw fluid into circulation. Of course in practically every healthy animal we will never see much of a difference regardless what you feed but i do believe a/d would be better.
One of the reasons we offered it was on a convience level for the owner aswell so they werent suddenly panicking about what to feed and leaving puss/doggie in car while they stopped off at the supermarket for some tasty bits on the way home, also i think owners felt some how better coz they had "special" food for that night.
Part of their post op discharge we explained the benefits of this food but at no time were they forced, if they didnt seem keen on the extra pound or two then we'd put their mind at ease also by saying that a small light meal of chicken etc would be fine.
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Down here it cost £47 for the spay
that includes the lampshade collar ,the recovery pack of food u need to buy aswell
or they say to feed them chcicken or white fish .
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It cost's £30 at my vets for a neuter, don't know how much for spay. They also do open surgery times so you can take your pet and you don't have to pay a consultation fee.
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yea they do open surgery here too , the vets i go to do a pre op check about 3days b4 they give u the appointment for the op but the one my mum went to they do the health check on the same day as they operate .
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Is that with a rescue discount, ela? or is your vets just really cheap?!
No, a spay at my vets is £39 something, chipping is at the most £20 but the often have a special offer on. We charge £10 ish but will charge just the cost of the chip if necessary. The recovery food for a 2 day supply is £2.62 (I have just checked the bill as I did get some last month to see exactly what is was, the cat didn't like it) The neuter/spay cost includes a check before the op, a check 3 days later and obviously stitches out.
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When we got the recovery pack through Kelly's vet, it was Hills i/d, so maybe that is what htey are starting to offer now. My vet still recommends chicken or white fish though. A female spay is £43 at my vets, and microchipping is £20 - that is full price.
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they do microchipping for only a tenner if u have it done same time at my vets .
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deborah, also i meant to say... when i was studying in edinburgh i stayed at the "jewel and esk valley college halls of residence" thats out the mussellborough way isnt it. (wasnt that college i went to tho)
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deborah, also i meant to say... when i was studying in edinburgh i stayed at the "jewel and esk valley college halls of residence" thats out the mussellborough way isnt it. (wasnt that college i went to tho)
Yes it is, about 10 minutes on the bus from Musselburgh. I pass it fairly often, as it's on the 44 bus route ;D My partner got a degree from the college (community education), then went to edinburgh uni.
Déborah xx
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small world !! its shaped like a boat isnt it, my most vivid memories of being there are of being drunk...very very drunk :rofl: up till 4 or 5 am then sitting in a lecture room for 9 am at telford college a few hours later.....my god hell would have to freeze over before i'd feel like trying stunts like that again :rofl: :rofl:
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In the olden days :rofl: most vets would just say it's £65 for a spay whereas now most will break it down (the new practice standards scheme - or wotever it's called - requires them to do that) so that the cost of the actual op and how much for ga is separate. £65 doesn't sound excessive for a spay to me. There was a thread on catchat about this about the time I had Mosi neutered and I think the average was round about £55 - £60. Mosi's neuter was £37 or something and a spay is always more than a neuter.
Is your vets in an expensive area? If property is expensive where they are their prices will be a bit higher than average.
edit - ok just rang my vets cos I was curious and I was wrong - a spay is £40 plus VAT and a microchip is £17 + VAT so by that your vet is expensive!
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Glad Mia is OK after her op :Luv: Spaying at my vets is £57.75 (flank) or £86.36 (midline abdomen) - maybe they did a midline one which is why it cost more than expected?
Big head kisses to the gorgeous Mia :Luv:
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My Lilly has just been in today for a spay. It cost about £57 including microchipping, but that is with a deduction for a CPL voucher. The spay itself would have been £64 I think, or thereabouts.
She is currently walking backwards round the house trying to escape the collar, whilst I try to stop Robbie from helpfully cleaning her wound.
No interest in food at all, other than a small piece of wafer thin ham which she nibbled at. I know it's not white meat, but she wouldn't touch the rice that I made for her and we haven't got anything else in at the moment.
Karen
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When we got the recovery pack through Kelly's vet, it was Hills i/d, so maybe that is what htey are starting to offer now.
Good, so I'm not going mad after all ;D I checked mine, and it said 'feline i/d recovery pack'.
Spaying at my vets is £57.75 (flank) or £86.36 (midline abdomen) - maybe they did a midline one which is why it cost more than expected?
Nope, it was flank.
Honestly, it's not that big a deal. I'm gutted it was so dear, but they did a really good job, and they're very friendly. Mia is insured, so if she needs another op, I'll only have to pay the £65 excess.
Déborah xx
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Deborah - most insurance companies wont cover spaying or microchipping costs. In fact, I dont know any that do. What company are you with - £65 excess sounds a lot, I dont pay that for my oldies unless it is an expensive bill?
Forgot to say that my vets do chipping for only £15 if they are having an op at the same time - shame Tiger didn't need a dental doing, I could have had hers done then, but it is only £5.
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Deborah - most insurance companies wont cover spaying or microchipping costs.
No, I know, that's what I meant, sorry, I wasn't very clear: I'll pay the £100 this time, and next time she needs an op (which won't be spaying obviously), I won't have to pay that much because of the insurance.
Déborah xx
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and next tim
Lets hope another op is not necessary.