normal behavior after being spayed?

[dustfromamoth]

So I recently got a little kitten from a woman who wasn't aware her cat was pregnant and found herself with an unexpected litter of 5 kittens. The little baby that I took home was the smallest one and I got her when she was 8 weeks old. Her name is Isis and she is now just under 5 months old. I took her to get spayed last Tuesday and it is now Saturday. She did really well at the vet. when I brought her home she was obviously still groggy and stumbling a little but she slept it off. Since then, however, she has been eating and drinking only very little, although she does it without any coaxing. She has been using her box regularly as well but what I'm really concerned about is her demeanor. She's always been SUPER energetic and playful and very vocal all the time. Like a normal kitten, she always climbs all over me and follows me from room to room and tries to jump up on the counters, etc. But since I brought her home, she hasn't necessarily been sleeping a lot but seems, for lack of a better word, just lazy. She is always curled up or laying down but is wide awake and just watches my boyfriend and I instead of being a part of everything. She still wants to be close to me but not on me or interacting with me. Like I mentioned earlier, she's always been extremely vocal and just meows for the fun of it, but since she's been home, her meows are either extremely quiet or silent. Like she's just mouthing a meow. She's always had a raspy voice and would sometimes do the silent meow thing but now it's all the time. Also, when she's asleep, she seems to be like completely out cold. I can lift up her paw and let it just drop down like dead weight without her waking. Today her breathing has seemed a little noisy but that only lasted about an hour. But her breaths seem to be really large,if that makes any sense... Like her body is rising and falling much more so than before. Her incision looks perfect, no redness, not swollen, doesn't cause any reaction when I touch it, and I haven't seen her lick or mess with it at all so I don't really have any reason to think there's an infection. I know she just had surgery and its normal for kitties to be a little lethargic and not have much of an appetite afterwards, but she was spayed 5 days ago now, and I thought those side effects usually don't last longer than a couple days. I've always had cats and dogs my entire life but this is the first pet I've had since living out on my own. I know I might just be worrying over nothing, and I know I probably could have written like 10% of this instead of this book I just wrote, haha, but she's my little baby and I would be devastated if anything was wrong with her, especially if I made it worse by not doing anything about it. so is this normal behavior for 5 days after being spayed, or could something be wrong with my little, Isis?

[dustfromamoth]

Thanks you guys. :-) I brought home some wet food with me after work today and she scarfed it right down. She feels a little warmer than normal tonight though.. Hopefully she'll show some improvements tomorrow and then I'm definitely going to be checking in with the vet on Monday just to see.

[BluCrystal]

Hi, Dust!  I used to work for a vet, and once in awhile we would do a spay or neuter and the pet would react in this manner.  She really should be showing some improvement by now tho.  Please take her back to the vet... I think that's what I would do.  Blessings - Blu

[opus88]

hi...and welcome, good for you for being so tuned in to what appears to be abnormal behavior of your little Isis. what is good news is that there doesn't appear to be any sign of infection and she is eating/drinking/eliminating maybe not as good as she should but at least somewhat.....good to keep a close eye on all these signs.
I will send you a site that lists many of the complications that 'can' happen with a routine spaying, I hope as info and not to scare you...read through it and see if you get any help with that.

I would certainly call the Vet clinic and speak to the Vet abt what you are noticing...b/c no its not really normal to still be lethargic after 5 days....
however I will say.....I am so angry that many Vets give these vaccinations along with surgery...the vac's alone can cause reactions and upsets to a little kitten let alone combining all at the same time...urrrg that makes me angry.

I would 'suspect' that yes this is the reason she is not bouncing back as quickly as she should...however,  I am NOT a Vet, your Vet should be the one having a look at her just to make sure...just incase there is something else going on.

www.pet-informed-veterinary-advice-online.com/spaying-cats.html#complications-spay

wishing you all the best and dear little Isis too.....please update us♥

[dustfromamoth]

Oh yeah, she also got her first set of shots during the same visit. Rabies, FVRCO, and leukemia shots. And after reading more cat-based information than should ever be necessary, I've learned that combining vaccinations with any surgery could prolong her recovery time and lengthen the time it takes for her to return to her normal self. So could that be part of it?