American Shorthair Cat

　　Firstly, if your pet is a male, you do not need to worry at all; just make sure that during the surgery the doctor applies eye drops or eye ointment. This is to prevent the cat’s eyes from drying out because they don’t close their eyes under anesthesia. Everything will return to normal a few hours after surgery.

　　If it is a female cat, there are more concerns. First, the doctor’s clinical experience must be rich, and the incision should be limited to within 3 stitches; if the incision is too long, the cat will suffer for several more days. Normally, excluding preparation time (such as shaving), the time on the operating table should not exceed 20 minutes, which indicates the doctor is sufficiently skilled. It is essential to use enough eye ointment for female cats as well, because in the first few hours after surgery, she is still anesthetized and staring fixedly. The doctor should take this into consideration. Post-surgery, the cat must be laid flat (placed in a flat-bottomed basket to bring home), otherwise the wound will be adversely affected. It should be admitted that the female cat’s surgery is tougher for the cat, since it is an open operation. But do not underestimate the cat’s recovery ability; usually after 50 hours post-op, she can walk normally, eat, use the litter box, and even play biting with her owner.

　　Dudo recovers relatively fast, which is firstly due to Dr. Pan’s superb skill; secondly, as long as the surgery is normal, cats’ recovery ability is usually similar. So, if you find an experienced doctor (never let an intern be the primary surgeon—you can strongly demand this, as your pet’s life is important and it’s okay to offend anyone to achieve this), the cat will be back to normal 2-3 days after the surgery. Just because the incision has not fully healed, you must especially watch to prevent the cat from jumping around and breaking the wound. Stitches can be removed after 7 days and do not necessarily have to be at the hospital where the surgery was done; any nearby hospital will do since suture removal is a very simple procedure.

　　There are no strict rules for fasting or water restriction. At the time of Dudo’s surgery, I didn’t know much and only restricted for four hours; she was fine. Some cats vomit even after fasting for a day—each cat’s sensitivity to anesthesia varies, so vomiting or not is normal. Some cats may urinate on the bed post-op, but Dudo did not and struggled to reach the litter box, so both incontinence and continence are normal, mainly depending on the cat’s sensitivity to anesthesia.

　　In summary, do not worry too much. Once you take this step, choose a good doctor, provide careful care for 2-3 days, and it will be done for good :)(Source：PetsZone)