Everything You Need to Know About Neutering Your Cat

Hello everyone and welcome to another post!

On Wednesday little Kevin went in to get neutered.

Mike and I decided to get him fixed for a couple of reasons: He was getting really unruly, his litter was really awful smelling even though I changed out at least once a day, and since he was rescued from outside we don’t know anything about his genetics and we didn’t want to risk him passing on any dangerous Feline diseases.

Anyway, as with any life decisions I researched a lot before I made up my mind so I could make a well informed decision and I thought I would write a post of common things you need to know if you are considering neutering or spaying your cat.

Listen to your vet

You would never make an appointment to see a doctor and then diagnose yourself in their office using Wikipedia, so don’t do that with your Vet. They are the experts not you so listen to all their advice.

There is a weight minimum

If you have a kitten, they will have to be at least 5 lbs before they will be strong enough to handle the anesthesia and surgery.

Food and drink

Your little furry friend won’t be able to eat anything after midnight the night before the surgery, so make sure you take away their food source.

Your kitten or cat will however need to be hydrated for the procedure, so let them have access to a good water source.

Health

I’m not sure if it’s like this everywhere, but Kevin could not be neutered without first being in good health. He had to be screened for Feline HIV and Hepatitis before my Vet would agree to put him under. And good news, he doesn’t have either.

The Procedure

I don’t know about female cats, but with males the actual neuter will only take about a half hour.

First they will be given the “sleepy shot” to make sure they are unconscious during the surgery. This only takes a few minutes to activate and my Vet let me stay with Kevin until he was out.

Then the Vet does the neuter and calls you when your cat wakes up.

My Vet called around an hour after I dropped Kevin off and said he was awake but was too out of it to come home yet, but about 3 hours later I was able to go pick him up.

The Recovery

Just like humans every cat is different.

This means that every cat will react differently to the anesthesia.

Some get really hungry and will eat everything in the house. Some will be grouchy and some will be sleepy.

Once your cat is home, you’ll be able to feed them. My Vet recommended that I only feed Kevin a little food every few hours and once he was back to normal I could resume his normal feeding schedule.

However your cat reacts, they will probably be loopy and out of it for the rest of the evening after the procedure and be pretty much back to normal the next day. During this time Kevin was just super cuddly and affectionate.