My cat won't eat, drink, or pee after stitches. Should I worry?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Kent. I am sorry to hear that he is still not eating after his surgery. Is his pain well controlled? Being painful after surgery is a big reason why a cat will refuse food. Perhaps ask your veterinarian to prescribe an additional pain medication. Do not give any over-the-counter pain medications as these can be toxic to cats. Also make sure his incision site is clean and there is no pain, redness, discharge or swelling that could possibly indicate an infection. I hope this information helps!

You can try moistening a little of his hard food if you have his hard food on hand. You can soften it with a little warm water so it is moistened a bit. You do want to try and avoid completely hard food or kibble as it may irritate the stitches inside the gastrointestinal tract.

If possible I would contact the veterinarian that did the surgery to discuss any concerns they might have. I recommend monitoring Archibald closely continuing to offer him small amounts of food and water and following the discharge instructions given by your veterinarian. If he begins acting painful, weak, or has any vomiting then he needs to be seen by a veterinarian.

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.

After 3 days, the recovery from anesthesia should be gone and she should be feeling like her old self and normal. For her to not have an appetite at this point is concerning something else is going on and it is not part of the surgery recovery. I would recommend taking her to a vet for a check up. They can take her temperature and make sure she is not dehydrated. They can see if there is an infection or a virus that is making her feel bad. Continue to do broth or you can try tuna or the juice to encourage her to keep fluids in until you get her seen. I would also try to keep the other cats away from her so she can rest.

You should let your vet know that he is not eating. Your vet can prescribe pain medications and/or an appetite stimulant to help get him eating again. Offer him a variety of canned food and see if he will eat something.

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.