# Personality change after spaying.



## Feefee (Dec 15, 2013)

My lovely tortie Lucky was spayed earlier this year. She'd had a couple of litters and we'd had no problem rehoming her babies she was such a loving and is so beautiful we literally had a waiting list for kittens. As a responsible cat owner I wanted her spayed ASAP but appreciated that a so many people wanted one of her kittens and b she absolutely loved being pregnant and a mother. She was a completely ott loving cat when either carrying or nursing babies and was a normal loving cat other times. When the last litter went we took her to be spayed and she became a complete mess in the carry box hissing, yowling, screaming, and weeing everywhere. When she came home after the op in her 'lampshade' she went face first into the corner of the hallway growling and hissing at anyone who came near. Whilst recuperating indoors she clawed up carpets, weed and messed everywhere and continued hissing and growling and went doolally when we put her back in the carrier to have stitches out! As soon as she came home again she went out and didn't come in for three days other than to eat and since then she's continued to trash our carpets! Her personality has changed from a loving contented cat to a distrustful, distant wary cat we rarely get near. She won't let us cuddle her anymore, she won't sit on or near us or come to us chirruping and purring? Help! Is this purely down to fact we've stopped her from being a mother ever again? We're heartbroken over the loss of our lucky and worried about the sour puss left in her place. Any ideas/suggestions?


----------



## HoneyFern (Aug 27, 2009)

So while she was unspayed you let her roam and only kept her in while she was getting over her spay? Has she been tested for FIV and FeLV? 

What's done is done, you may have had a waiting list for her kittens but what about the kittens these people could have taken in from rescues? By letting her have litters you have contributed to the overpopulation in rescue centres.

To answer your question, the spaying wouldn't have changed her but the fact she was restricted while she was recovering could have caused a change in her. If she had been spayed by six months she would still be the loving cat you knew before.


----------



## Jannor (Oct 26, 2013)

Give her time and space - she sounds very stressed.

Maybe think about a Feliway plug in until she calms down again.

Are you saying she went out before? and only wet the carpets while she was kept in? Does she have a litter tray?


----------



## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Hi FeeFee, welcome to the forum 

I am sorry to hear of the sudden personality change Lucky has had. My feeling is it is far more likely to be due to her experience of going to the vet for the operation, how she coped at the vet and after the op that has upset her, not the loss of her ability to be a mother.

Lucky wouldn't know she has lost the ability to be a mother. Cats behave instinctively when it comes to procreation - they don't get pregnant from choice. It is also instinct (and good genetic inheritance) that drives them to be good mothers to their kittens. I am sure, if she were able to choose, Lucky would not particularly have wanted to carry on having litters of kittens for much longer.

I am not suggesting your cat was treated badly at the vet, or the vet did anything wrong during the surgery, but perhaps for Lucky the whole experience from start to finish was very traumatic for her, and she has not got over it yet.

You mention her upset behaviour started in the carrier on the way to vet. This suggests she had never (or very rarely) been in a carrier before, and had never been to the vet? Otherwise I see no reason for her to so upset at that point when she was not even at the vets.

After the op she was sent home in a "lampshade" (cone) collar, which no doubt terrified the life out of her and frustrated her. (those cone collars are completely unnecessary as most UK vets these days use internal stitches 
which the cat cannot get at to chew).

She went back to have her stitches out, and again went mad in the carrier from fear and stress. Then having got back home she disappeared for 3 days. Who can blame her?! After what she'd been through, she must have lost all faith in the very human beings she thought would protect her.

Of course I am not blaming you - I am just describing it from Lucky's point of view. 

However, cats are resilient and adaptable creatures and as the traumatic event was earlier this year I would have expected her to have gotten over it by now to a large extent. Though perhaps she may always be more wary than she used to be.

The fact you say she is still distant, wary and distrustful with you suggests a cat who may be in pain or physical discomfort. Complications after a spay are uncommon, but the fact is that spaying involves major surgery for the cat, with all the potential inherent risks this could entail. If it were my cat I would want reassurance that she is not in any physical pain. And I would probably take her to a different vet practice for an opinion on this.

I appreciate you're not going to be keen on the idea of taking her to vet as she reacts so badly in the carrier. There are two ways you could deal with this:

You could ask the vet to make a home visit to examine Lucky. It will be expensive, but you may feel it is worth it to limit the stress to Lucky.

Or, you can try and gradually desensitise Lucky to being in the carrier. For a start do not think of using a carrier that's dark inside, such as the usual plastic ones. Buy a large size wire carrier with a top opening, such as this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Carrier-Rec...d=1387125628&sr=1-3&keywords=wire+pet+carrier

(put a piece of carpet off-cut in the bottom to give it a firm base for her to sit on in the carrier)

Not only is it much easier to get an easily spooked cat into a top opening carrier, but once she is in she will be OK as she will be able to see out easily.

Leave the carrier out 24/7 with the top open, in an area of the house where she goes so she can explore it at will, and it becomes an ordinary object to her. Put some catnip in it to attract her to it.

When you feel she is no longer afraid of the carrier, pop her in it and close the lid. Leave her there for a few minutes and then open the lid so she can get out. Continue doing this for several weeks, up to 5 mins a time every day.

Next, progress to putting her in the carrier and taking the carrier to the car (assuming this is how you travel to the vet?). Sit in the car with her in the carrier for 5 mins and then take her back in the house. Continue with this plan for a week, then start the car engine, and perhaps move the car a few feet.

You get the idea -- it is slow and gradual exposure. Eventually you should be able to take Lucky in her carrier in the car for a short drive round the block say.

When it feels as though she is tolerating the carrier without getting very 
stressed by it, it would be time to take her for a pop-in visit to the vet. She would stay in her carrier at the vet's and not be examined at this stage. After 5 minutes you would leave and take her home.

It is well worth persevering with this "carrier tolerance" programme, as there will always be times in the future when Lucky will need to see a vet, even for routine exams such as vaccination boosters or dental check-ups.

I would also start Lucky now on a course of Zylkene, a supplement which is effective at calming cats who are stressed or anxious. Open the capsule and mix the powder with food. Give 75 mg daily for a month to see any benefit.

Zylkene Capsules - Priced Per Tablet - 75mg - Animed Direct

I assume Lucky is still a young cat as she has had only 2 litters. So I would start doing all you can to try and encourage interactive play with her, as this will be a way of rebuilding your bonds with her. Feather wands, fishing rod toys such as Da Bird, lengths of string, ping pong balls you throw for her, are all useful things to try. If she has got out of the habit of playing you may need to persevere and have lots of her favourite treats handy as rewards.

Please let us know how things go?


----------



## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

Feefee said:


> Is this purely down to fact we've stopped her from being a mother ever again?


No, quite the opposite - I'm afraid to say if she had never had kittens and was spayed by 6 months old you wouldn't have this problem.
She has lost trust in you and this may take a long time and masses of patience to build this back up. If she has never been to the vet before and/or gone in a carrier then she has found this absolutely terrifying. Some cats are fine others freak out. Also she has been used to free roaming so having to keep her in to recover from op has also confused and annoyed her (presumably you had trays for her).
She probably associates humans as causing her distress and possibly pain at the moment and will take a while to move on from this experience, bless her - as said previously she needs time and space.
Good luck with her


----------



## Jannor (Oct 26, 2013)

Great advice CM - I have one of those wire baskets and my cats do use it as a bed sometimes. They last forever too - I must've had it 20 years already.

I'd just add that I use a beach towel to cover it if we have to cross the busy road opposite the vets so the cat doesn't see all the traffic.

Is Lucky a full tortie? I've always found them to be more highly strung than other colours so I'd def try the Zylkene.


----------



## fords (Oct 21, 2013)

I second the carrier training; it's absolutely worth doing. My kitten is still fairly young (five months old) but I get the carrier out every other day and let her explore it. She'll have the odd nap in it and then wander off happily or survey her surroundings while on top of it. When it's vet time she now only complains at being shut in, but we've noticed a vast improvement from her initial distress and constant crying to the occasional chirrup of annoyance if there's a bumpy bit in the road.


----------

