Neutering/Spaying How long should they be separated after surgery?

I think having her next to her cage mates in a separate cage will help her feel less lonely! She really needs to be in a clean and easily manageable space while she heals to avoid any infection or stressing the wound. Placing her where she can see and hear her cage mates will probably help, but I definitely would not put her back in with them until she has healed!

If you can, put her hospital cage in the cage with the others, or section off one end for her. Failing that, put it right next to their cage.

She needs to be confined in a small space for 10-14 days, but if you do it by sectioning off the end of the cage, you can gradually increase the size as the incision heals.

Be forewarned -- you'll have to do full reintroductions again when you put them back together.

Thanks guys. I just needed some reassurance that I'm doing the right thing for her.
She's currently in a 2x1 cage on top of the regular cage, so she can hear and smell the others but isn't frustrated enough to chew the bars or attempt to climb over any dividers. The incision is healing beautifully and she's off the metacam now and shows no signs of pain or discomfort.

The morphine she was given on the day of her surgery made her believe her mouth was to the left of her head and she tried to drink with her nose..

spy9doc said:

HL.........where have you been?? Even though we don't always agree, I miss seeing you on the forum. You always have an interesting perspective to add to the discussions.

Sorry to hear about Moa....how old is she? Maya is a little over 3 y.o. and is having an ultrasound on Tuesday to determine if she has a mass in her uterus, so I may be looking at another high Vet bill as well.

You've received some excellent advice even though you apparently just needed some confirmation. I have only dealt with post-op neuters thusfar, so don't have anything to add. Good to see you!

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Hi.
I was stupid enough to cram in 1.5 years worth of biology & biochemistry lessons into a 7 week online course in order to apply to vet tech school in the fall. I've had to keep myself away from any distractions such as forums and youtube or I would have failed miserably.

We believe Moa is 3-4 years old, but this is her third home so we're not really sure of her age. Is Maya displaying any symptoms?

spy9doc said:

Sounds like you're both smart and focused! I walked the same path before applying to professional school. I think the only piece of chemistry that I have used to any degree since then is acid-base chemistry. They are just hoops that you have to jump through in order to reach your goal.

I probably wouldn't have know that Maya has the issue except that she recently had a UTI and stopped eating, had massive gas, and was obviously in a good bit of pain. From what the Vet(s) tell me, a UTI is generally secondary to another problem. The x-ray revealed a stone that thankfully was already out of the kidney/bladder and appeared to be moving through the urethra. She has apparently passed the stone. An incidental finding was something that appeared to be a mass in her uterus. I will be taking her for an ultrasound tomorrow morning. As of right now, she isn't exhibiting any symptoms.

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I'm really looking forward to taking classes without constantly questioning "why am I doing this? When will I ever use it?". To actually study subjects I will need & use professionally down the line.

Sounds like there's a lot going on with poor Maya. :\ She hasn't had any uterine bleeding at all? Does she still display signs of pain? Hopefully it's "just" a benign leiomyoma.