# My cat hit her face and now her eye looks a bit swollen and red, help?



## raquelmaria15 (Jun 26, 2012)

So as some of you may know, because I've been posting a lot (sorry), Cookie just got spayed today. She has been struggling a bit. Her appetite is low so she barely ate, can't go to the bathroom because she didn't eat, and generally looks unhappy.  

To make matters worse, she bumped into the leg of a chair pretty hard. Now her eye looks red around the rim and the area is a bit swollen. It's not shut, though. 

I don't know if I should let her heal, so she doesn't feel stressed by more physical activity, or if I should try to do something about her eye even though it will probably stress her out a bit.

Help?


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

If it were one of my guys I would leave the eye alone and watch it for serious swelling, cloudiness, wateriness...etc.

I would also try to keep them as quiet as possible. Giving them lots of soft places to sleep, quiet, and not a whole lot of handling. If she'll eat wet food you could try adding some water to it and feeding her that. The more water she gets in her the quicker the drugs will flush out (imo).


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## raquelmaria15 (Jun 26, 2012)

Yeah she's was really active when she first got out for some reason even though she was really unstable. Which caused the whole bumping into chair issue. For the past few hours though she has been quiet, sleeping, resting. Which I'm glad about. She seems to have realized she needs to rest. Also why I'm reluctant to do anything about the eye yet. She needs to rest and relax. 

I'm actually pretty worried about her lack of eating. I know it was expected because of the meds, but I'm just worried. She hasn't gone to the bathroom or anything yet. 

Of course I know I probably have to wait until tomorrow to see if any of her issues are serious


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## Mom of 4 (Jul 29, 2006)

After the girls were spayed, they basically lived in the dog crate (the larger one) for 4 days after they got home. It kept them quiet and safe.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Don't worry about her not eating, that's normal for the first day. In fact, she shouldn't really have access to food if you're not around. Sometimes being kind of out of it from the anesthesia could be a choking hazard.


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## raquelmaria15 (Jun 26, 2012)

Oh don't worry I've had someone, if I'm not with her, by her side all the time since she got home.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Good Mommy!


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## laurief (Jun 22, 2008)

The sedative and anesthetic drugs can also make them nauseous, which is why vets generally tell you not to feed them anything - or only a very light meal - until the day after the procedure. So not eating is a good thing until tomorrow, and not using the litterbox is just fine, too.

Some sedatives can make cats hallucinate, and in some cases, perhaps even go temporarily blind until they wear off, which may explain your cat's excitement and running into furniture. Keep her off of high furniture and completely away from stairs until she is acting fully herself again.

If the eye looks worse tomorrow, give your vet a call. Tonight, put your little girl in a safe room without hard objects to run into or things to fall off of. She'll be fine once the drugs are out of her system.

Laurie


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## raquelmaria15 (Jun 26, 2012)

hey guys cookie has been occasionally licking at the stitches. I've been trying to distract her. she gets mad at me when i tell her to stop or anything like that. it's hard to distract her because once she starts licking she doesn't want to stop. should i be worried about this or is some licking ok. should i get a cone?


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## laurief (Jun 22, 2008)

Yes, you should definitely get a cone. In fact, it would be a good idea to make one tonight, if possible, out of light cardboard and yarn or string until you can get a more sturdy one tomorrow morning from your vet. Cats can do serious damage to themselves if they remove spay sutures.

Laurie


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Do you have any pieces of clothing like a baby's onesie? Some piece of clothing you can lightly wrap around the area she's licking?


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## raquelmaria15 (Jun 26, 2012)

I was thinking about taping some gauze on.. is that a bad idea? although she's doing better now. she's sleeping.


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## laurief (Jun 22, 2008)

She'll just tear the gauze off. You need a cone or something like a baby t-shirt or onesie to prevent her from getting to the incision.


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## Arianwen (Jun 3, 2012)

Minor licking is normal but, if it is more than that, then baby clothing or a cone may be essential. Different cats recover at different rates from the op. The stray mother cat had her stitches out yesterday. When we picked her up after her op, she was already very steady and fully alert. Although her feeding was limited and monitored that day, she had plenty of appetite. What you describe in your cat, however, is exactly what the vet warned us about with her een though it didn't occur.!


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