What's Recovery Like After Neutering or Spaying a Cat?

Getting your cat neutered or spayed is typically considered to be the right thing to do, so long as you don't intend to breed your cats at some point. Neutering or spaying your cat can reduce a wide range of unwanted behavioral problems and help to eliminate the risk of certain types of cancers, too. But if you've never gone through this process with a cat before, you may be wondering what you can expect after the surgery. Here's what you should know.

1. Neutering

When a male cat is neutered, the testicular organs are removed. Once this is finished, your vet will apply dissolving sutures to the region and your kitty will be ready to come home.

Recovery for male cats from neutering is typically pretty quick. You'll want to make sure that your cat has easy access to food, water, and a litter box, preferably where they can hide if they're feeling insecure. Most importantly, you want to keep your cat from jumping up onto high surfaces.

If you have cat trees or tall bookshelves, for example, you'll want to either remove them, limit your cat from accessing the room they're in, or put up barriers so your cat can't leap to the top. Jumping could potentially cause the sutures to tear, which would mean having to go back to the vet to get them fixed.

2. Spaying

From the get-go, spaying is a little more intense. Female cats have their abdomen opened up to remove the internal reproductive organs. This means that female cats typically need more time to fully recover from the procedure than male cats do.

Like male cats, you want to give your kitty access to her necessities and discourage leaping and jumping while she's recovering. Your cat's recovery time may take anywhere from a few days to a week—your vet will let you know what to expect in that regard. Your female cat may also be given pain medication. Make sure to follow the directions and to give it to her as often as indicated.

Some female cats have special considerations after getting fixed. For example, if your female cat was in heat when she was spayed, she won't instantaneously stop being in heat. For this reason, it's extremely important that you don't let any male cats near her while she's recovering. Attempted intercourse at this time could potentially injure her internal incisions and could cause bleeding. If needed, isolate her in a single room with everything that she needs to keep her safe.

Learn more about spaying and neutering by contacting services like Animal Emergency Clinic.