Post Operative Questions

Hi All:

This has been a terrible two days for Tania, my 13 year old feral female
Main Coon, and for me as well.

Christmas eve Tania started bleeding from her vagina. I took her
immediately to VERG [http://www.vetemergencyreferral.com] Xrays,
ultrasound, and blood tests revealed her uterus was infected, and a Spay
operation was needed. It was performed yesterday, Christmas day by the
director of the hospital.

I just brought her home. She is so happy! I was expecting that she would
attack me, but she is being very sweet, wanting to sit in my lap.

She has this clear plastic cone collar on so she can't get to her
stitches. The problem is that she can't eat because the collar doesn't
allow her to dip her head the way she is used to. Also, she has a
drinkwell fountain, and of course can't reach the water. I put some
small cups, cups smaller than the opening in her collar, filled with water.

Will she learn how to get around the impediment? Or should I see if
there is a smaller collar available? She is wobbly on her feet, bumping
into things, can't jump to her favorite places....

I am concerened about her not seemingly being able to eat and drink with
this thing on. She has to wear this for 14 days, then return to the
hospital to have the stitches removed.

Any ideas???

TIA
Bob

Suddenly, without warning, Seafire exclaimed (12/26/2009 7:39 PM):
Hi All:

This has been a terrible two days for Tania, my 13 year old feral female
Main Coon, and for me as well.

Christmas eve Tania started bleeding from her vagina. I took her
immediately to VERG [http://www.vetemergencyreferral.com] Xrays,
ultrasound, and blood tests revealed her uterus was infected, and a Spay
operation was needed. It was performed yesterday, Christmas day by the
director of the hospital.

I just brought her home. She is so happy! I was expecting that she would
attack me, but she is being very sweet, wanting to sit in my lap.

She has this clear plastic cone collar on so she can't get to her
stitches. The problem is that she can't eat because the collar doesn't
allow her to dip her head the way she is used to. Also, she has a
drinkwell fountain, and of course can't reach the water. I put some
small cups, cups smaller than the opening in her collar, filled with water.

Will she learn how to get around the impediment? Or should I see if
there is a smaller collar available? She is wobbly on her feet, bumping
into things, can't jump to her favorite places....

I am concerened about her not seemingly being able to eat and drink with
this thing on. She has to wear this for 14 days, then return to the
hospital to have the stitches removed.

Any ideas???

TIA
Bob


Yup. When my cat needed to wear the collar for a while, we found she
couldn't adjust to an opaque one - she would get stuck at corners and
walls because she couldn't see what was stopping her. The new collar we
bought for her was clear and a bit shorter front and back - still long
enough she couldn't get to her hind leg, but short enough that she could
maneuver it to eat and drink out of her bowls, and since she had her
peripheral vision back she got around much better.

If we were home and could watch her continuously, we'd take the collar
off for a while - but as soon as she tried to mess with her injury, it
went back on (and of course if we left the house it was on). She
learned pretty fast.

Good luck with your kitty, I hope she's feeling better soon!

jmc

jmc

"Seafire" wrote in message
...
Hi All:

This has been a terrible two days for Tania, my 13 year old feral female
Main Coon, and for me as well.

Christmas eve Tania started bleeding from her vagina. I took her
immediately to VERG [http://www.vetemergencyreferral.com] Xrays,
ultrasound, and blood tests revealed her uterus was infected, and a Spay
operation was needed. It was performed yesterday, Christmas day by the
director of the hospital.

Why hadn't you had this cat spayed?

cybercat wrote:


Why hadn't you had this cat spayed?



Because I don't believe in mutilating animals. She is a house cat,
always in. I will miss her estrus' she was the most loving and gentle
during those times.

Bob

"Seafire" wrote in message
...
cybercat wrote:


Why hadn't you had this cat spayed?

Because I don't believe in mutilating animals. She is a house cat, always
in. I will miss her estrus' she was the most loving and gentle during
those times.

What do you do when the male cats come around and she detects them, and goes
into her mating drives?

I had a feral cat that did that, and she tore things up to get to the male
cats, so I had to put her back out.

"Seafire" wrote in message
...
cybercat wrote:


Why hadn't you had this cat spayed?

Because I don't believe in mutilating animals. She is a house cat, always
in. I will miss her estrus' she was the most loving and gentle during
those times.


You're a complete ****ing idiot. Bye now.

"Seafire" wrote in message
...
cybercat wrote:


Why hadn't you had this cat spayed?



Because I don't believe in mutilating animals.

Do you know why your cat had pyometra, Einstein? Because you *didn't* get
her spayed. Your silly belief almost cost your cat her life. When a
female cat is in estrus, the mucous membrane that lines the uterus (the
endometrium) is constantly exposed to high concentrations of estrogen and
then even higher concentrations of progesterone. If she doesn't get
pregenant, cystic endometrial hyperplasia can develop. CEH predisposes the
uterus to bacterial infection followed by the production and accumulation of
pus- which can cause the uterus to rupture- which can cause death due to
sepsis or organ failure if not treated immediately. You're *very* lucky she
had open-cervix pyometra because the vaginal discharge alerted you in time
before the uterus ruptured. If the cervix was closed, you wouldn't have
seen a discharge and the only signs you would have seen were coma followed
by death.
Spaying a cat with pyometra is 100x more risky than a normal spay becuse the
pus-filled uterus can easily rupture during surgery. Once again your silly
belief exposed your cat to a very serious and unnecessary risk.

This a normal feline uterus
http://maxshouse.com/Feline_Reproduc...ine_uterus.jpg

This is uterus with pyometra
http://maxshouse.com/Feline_Reproduction/Pyometra.jpg

The danger didn't end with the spay. She's also at very high risk of
developing mammary cancer. Cats spayed after 2.5 years old have a risk or
incident rate 7 times higher than cats spayed before the first cycle. Most
tumors occur in cats 9-11 years of age and are found primarily in the
breasts closer to the tail. So, you better check her breasts very
frequently.



She is a house cat,
always in. I will miss her estrus'

She definitely won't miss estrus. Estrus is not a fun time for female cats.



she was the most loving and gentle
during those times.

She was also extremely uncomfortable.

Mark Earnest wrote:


What do you do when the male cats come around and she detects them, and goes
into her mating drives?

We live on a yacht. The only animal which has come on deck has been a
raccoon. In the 13 years I have had Tania, I have never had a problem.
She never tore anything up, except for me a few times.

Bob

Kelly Greene wrote:


Do you consider women who get hysterectomies "mutilated?"

Only if the hysterectomy is performed for no good medical reason. They
used to be performed as a matter of course. In those instances, where
there is no indication of disease, yes, it's mutilation.

Unspayed
animals are prone to pyometra, a deadly infection and breast cancer.

This I didn't know. I have had several cats in my long life, but all
came spayed or neutered. Tania came literally off Manhattan streets as a
wild feral animal. It took a full year of her living with me before I
could approach her without needing stitches. I am the only human she
will allow near her. She had to be wrapped in a towel and sedated so she
could be examined the other day. It's always a dangerous proposition
bringing her to the vet for her check ups and shots, so I do it only
when required.

Thanks for the info!

Now, if I can figure out how this poor cat is going to eat and drink
with this cone over her head, and her wobbling around on unsteady legs,
I will feel better. I have to give her pain meds in the morning and
evening, it's oral, but they set up several syringes pre-measured so all
I have to do is shoot it into her mouth. Then once a day she gets
antibiotics, also pre-measured in syringes. All tis is doable, but 14
days in that cone seems like a dangerous proposition.

Bob


Bob

Phil P. wrote:
You're *very* lucky she
had open-cervix pyometra because the vaginal discharge alerted you in time
before the uterus ruptured.

Thanks Interesting information. She had started with what appeared to be
a normal estrus. Except there was a bloody discharge.


The danger didn't end with the spay. She's also at very high risk of
developing mammary cancer. ..... So, you better check her breasts very
frequently.

OK. She gets her belly rubs frequently, and I know where all her breasts
are. They normally enlarge a bit during estrus. What should I look for
as a bad sign?

She was also extremely uncomfortable.


I honestly don't think she ever was. I am very in tune with her, and I
know when there is something amiss.

Bob