With cats being the second most commonly kept type of pet in the western world where the majority of our readers live, we see huge numbers of questions relating to caring for a pet cat every month.
One of the more common questions that we have seen more and more people asking from the cat keeping community recently is about cat diarrhea after spaying their cat so we wanted to publish this article to try and help as many of our readers as possible.
In some cases, a cat can have problems with diarrhea after a spay due to side effects from either the anesthesia or the pain medication used for the operation and in some cases, both can cause diarrhea.
We would recommend that you double check with the veterinarian who conducted the procedure but most of the time, they will recommend you wait a week and then contact them again if the diarrhea persists in your cat.
There are multiple variables at play with a cat having diarrhea after a spay and the diet of your cat can come into play too.
Some types of food can be more prone to resulting in diarrhea when the cat has anesthesia or pain medication in their system where as other types of food tend not to have issues.
This is why most veterinarians will recommend that you just wait to see if the diarrhea symptoms fade naturally as the anesthesia or pain medication work their way out of your cat before they try to find potential causes of the diarrhea.
Is It Normal For A Cat To Have Diarrhea After Being Spayed?
It is not considered normal for a cat to have diarrhea after being spayed and diarrhea is not expected but it is one of the more common side effects that can affect a small number of cats due to the anesthesia and pain medication used.
The majority of cats will make a full recovery after a few days as the anesthesia and pain medication works their way out of your cats system.
Younger and senior cats can be more prone to having problems with diarrhea when they have recently been under the effects of anesthesia or are on pain medication too.
If you do have a younger cat or a senior cat then the chances of your cat having issues with diarrhea after being spayed can be slightly higher but it is still not to be expected and considered normal in all cases.
The vast majority of veterinarians will pass on this type of information after they spay your cat and often offer you a leaflet on the side effects that your cat may experience too.
Many cat owners don’t read these leaflets that explain that their cat may experience diarrhea though resulting in people getting worried about their pets.
If the diarrhea does persist for more than a week then we would highly recommend you see professional advice from a veterinarian on the situation though!
Can Anesthesia Cause Diarrhea In Cats?
There are a number of different types of anesthesia that can be used on cats for operations such as a spay and some of them can cause diarrhea in cats in some situations.
Diarrhea is still a less common side effect though and is not to be expected but a small number of cats can have problems with diarrhea after being spayed or having an operation.
We do see people asking why a veterinarian would choose an anesthesia that has a chance of causing diarrhea in a cat after an operation when there may be alternative anesthesia products available that have minimal risk of diarrhea but it’s not as simple as that.
The majority of anesthesia products on the market are not interchangeable with each other and factors such as the age of your cat as well as any existing health problems will all come into play with the anesthesia that the veterinarian uses.
In addition to that, the sensitivity of your cat to the anesthesia will also come into play. You can take ten cats that are the same age and of a similar health condition, use the same anesthesia on them all to spay then and one or two of the cats will probably have problems with diarrhea after the operation.
This is similar to humans where different types of anesthesia will affect us in totally different ways due to the sensitivity of our body being different to each product.
Is There Anyway To Stop The Diarrhea In My Cat After A Spay?
As the diarrhea in a cat after a spay is due to the anesthesia, the best way to stop the diarrhea is to just to give the anesthesia enough time to work its way out of your cats system.
Some pain medication can also cause diarrhea in a cat after a spay too but we would not recommend that you stop giving your cat the pain medication as it will be in pain until the wound has healed.
Some veterinarians will offer you alternative pain medication for your cat after a spay if you suspect that it is having problems with diarrhea due to the pain medication that they offered.
If your cat does have diarrhea after a spay then contacting your veterinarian for alternative pain medication could be a way to stop the diarrhea sooner than you would otherwise be able to with out your cat having problems with the pain levels.
Unfortunately though, it can be difficult to work out if your cat is having problems with the diarrhea due to the anesthesia or the pain medication within the first couple of days after a spay operation.
This is why most people will just wait for the diarrhea in their cat to naturally fade and their poop to return to normal.
How Long Does Cat Diarrhea Last After A Spay?
The majority of problems with diarrhea in a cat after having the animal spayed will fade within two to three days.
In some cases, it may take between five and seven days though as some cats can be more sensitive to the anesthesia or pain medication that they are on after the operation but it is rare that diarrhea will last for longer than a week after a spay.
If the diarrhea does last for longer than a week then you really should be contacting your veterinarian as soon as possible to have them assess your pet cat and try to find the cause of the diarrhea.
In some cases, the diarrhea may not be related to the spay at all and it is just a coincidence that the diarrhea symptom has developed at the same time as the cat being spayed.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over cat diarrhea after a spay to an end and we hope that we have been able to help as many of our readers as possible who are having issues with their cat having diarrhea after being spayed as possible. We know that it is a pain to have to deal with all of the extra clean up but in most cases, it really will be better if you just wait for the diarrhea to pass naturally and this shouldn’t take more than a couple of days in most cases.
