What special food can I give my cat for post-surgery recovery?

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. You do not need to feed Coach anything special for his surgery, it is always best not to change things up too much. He should receive proper pain medications that should keep him very comfortable, & this will do more to prevent nausea & loss of appetite than anything else. He should do just fine. Take care.

Hello. Not eating can have serious consequences in cats, so it is important that you do everything you can to encourage Rocky to eat. I would try some different things to spark his appetite, including a little cooked chicken or hamburger, tuna in water, any kind of kitty treats ( many seem to really like the Temptations brand ), & offer, in addition to fresh water, chicken broth, tuna water, even those packets of broth available for kitties, now. You can also offer him some jarred meat based baby foods, as long as they do not have any garlic or onion in them. If Rocky is still not himself by Tuesday, please take him back to your veterinarian for evaluation. He may need some fluids & an appetite stimulant to get him back on tract. I hope he is feeling better soon & thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Oh my goodness! Poor guy! He does need nutrition. What was your vet's recommendation for feeding him? Its hard to assess the risk of infection without knowing what the area looks like more specifically. Definitely offer him water. Is he on antibiotics? If he is on antibiotics, offer him a liquid diet; you can soak cat food in water, mash it up with a fork and let him lap it up. Sometimes a temporary feeding tube is needed to help patient's recover from significant oral injury. Regarding the IV, My understanding from the information you gave is that he was on IV fluids during the surgery, but he went home after surgery. The IV fluids will help him maintain hydration for the time that he's getting them, but not much beyond that, so he does need to be offered water and if he's unable to drink it you need to take him to a vet and either discuss subcutaneous fluids (fluids you can give under the skin at home) https://icatcare.org/advice/cat-care/how-give-subcutaneous-fluids-your-cat or possibly a feeding tube, as subcutaneous fluids don't provide nutrition (calories, fat, carbohydrates), only hydration and electrolytes. IV fluids also do not provide nutrition. Thank you for asking PetCoach!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern! As for the eating, you can remove the cone temporarily to allow him to eat better. For the litter, I would recommend using shredded paper to prevent any fine dust particles from getting into the incision. I hope this helps!

He likely hasn't eaten enough to produce enough stool yet. If he isn't straining to defecate and he seems to be acting normally I would not be too concerned about that just yet. That being said, constipation can be caused by dehydration. If you are seriously worried about him being dehydrated you cannot force him to drink so my suggestion would be to take him to your vet so they can give him some fluids under the skin of neck so his body can absorb them (this is called subcutaneous fluids). I think you are doing fine by feeding the canned food and adding the water. You can try adding a bit more and maybe just a very tiny pinch of salt to see if that will cause him to drink a bit more. I also suggest you feed him a probiotic. That will help with digestion and overall health. My favorite is Fortiflora. You can buy it over the counter or online. If you can't find it or get it then you can use any probiotic but make sure it is made for cats (not humans and no dairy). Hope this answers your questions. If you have more please feel free to post again.

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Your Billy should be able to get up and walk a few hours after the surgery. She may be slow and quiet on the day of the surgery, but on the following day she should be active and playful. You do not have to change her diet but you do need to put a head cone on her. She should not be allowed to go out until the wound is fully healed. Depending on the suturing technique, you may have to take her back to your vets in about 10 days time to remove the stitches.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sometimes it can take some time for cats to recover from anesthesia and administration of these medications together so that could be a reason why it has been taking him longer than expected to recover. If he is eating and otherwise doing well, it may be ok to monitor him for a bit longer. However, if he worsens or by tomorrow he has not improved, he should be evaluated by his veterinarian for reevaluation. Good luck and have a great day!