RECOVERY INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMMUNITY CATS

Thank you for being a Community Cat Hero! You are making a difference for stray/feral cats in your community, and you should be very proud that you are saving lives through prevention to alleviate suffering!

1. Always bring extra trap covers to the clinic with you to ensure the trap is covered BEFORE walking outside to your car.  Do not transport cats in the open bed of a pick-up truck or the trunk of a car.

2. When picking up your community cat from the clinic, check the trap to make sure the cat is your community cat and ensure both doors are securely closed. If needed, use a clip or zip tie to ensure the door(s) will not open and the cat is safe and secure in his/her trap.  If your trap is not covered, please cover it now with a sheet or thin towel to provide security and reduce stress during the transport and recovery processes.

3. During pick up from the clinic, also ask if there were any health issues (injuries, lactation, pregnancy, in-heat, etc.) observed during surgery. If so, this could impact recovery time.

4. To protect your recovery space (and vehicle during transport), spread a plastic cloth (shower curtain liner, garbage bag, or tarp) directly on the bottom, then place puppy pads or print newspaper (not glossy ads) on top of the plastic cloth, and then place the humane trap with your covered community cat on top of all that. 

5. Leave the cat in the trap that the cat was placed in after surgery.  Do not allow the cat out of the trap during recovery and keep the trap covered at all times.  Do not stick your fingers through the bars of a trap or otherwise attempt to touch or handle the cat.  Community cats have lived on the fringe, removed from human kindness and are scared. For your safety and the cats, and to minimize their stress, limit your interactions to providing food and water and changing puppy pads/newspapers.

6. The cat must be kept indoors and monitored for bleeding, infection, illness, and/or appetite.  Place the trap in a temperature controlled spare bedroom, laundry room, bathroom (bathtub), garage, shed, or basement away from other animals and people.  Cats must not be recovered outside in extreme hot or cold temperatures. Cats are unable to regulate their body temperature when anesthesia is still present in their body so it is important the recovery area’s temperature can be controlled (preferably 68° to 70°). Pain medication also prevents a vulnerable community cat from protecting themselves after surgery.  

7. Kittens that are six months old or younger can be fed immediately after surgery.  Feed adult cats about 5-8 hours after their surgery.  A small amount of canned food (or hard food soaked in water) can be placed in the trap with a little water around it.  The cat may not have any appetite right away.  Be careful when opening the trap door (do so only a small amount) to be sure that the cat does not escape.  Place the food and water on a small plate or piece of cardboard and slide that into the trap, putting hands in the trap only as far as necessary, and then relock the trap door securely. 

8. Recovery Time:  Healthy male cats can be returned 24 hours/1 night after being neutered. Female cats, who have had a hysterectomy, can generally be returned 48 hours/2 nights after their surgery.  Female cats who were pregnant or in estrus (i.e. heat) or cats with injuries may need 72 hours/3 nights of recovery time.  Make sure all cats are fully conscious, clear-eyed, and alert before returning the cats to their original location.

1. If you learn a female cat was lactating during her spay surgery, you can return the female cat later the night of surgery as long as she’s bright and alert so she can find her kittens (or return her the following morning when she’s alert.)  If you don’t know where her kittens are, keep a close eye on her because she will most likely run to her kittens when returned.  

9. If you keep the cat longer than one night, provide both food and water twice a day.  Moist food is preferable because it is hydrating and more easily digested.  Feed small amounts of food at first.  Check the pee pad under the trap at each feeding and change as needed. 

1. If the cat was returned to you with a pee pad/newspaper in the trap, carefully remove the item by folding back the trap cover to reveal only half of the trap. Generally the cat will go to the back of the trap where the cover remains.  Once the item(s) inside the trap are removed, you do not need to replace the items inside the trap.  Both your safety and the cats are paramount so use caution.

10. Return the cat to the site where the cat was originally trapped.  It is best to return cats at the same time of day you trapped the cat, either dawn or dusk because the cats have more control of the area at these times and human activity (i.e. vehicles) is minimal. Do not return in inclement weather (i.e. rain or snow) - wait for a break in the weather. If it is cold, it is best to return during the warmest part of the day. Set the cat in their covered trap in a safe area for about 5 minutes to allow the cat to reacclimate to the sounds/smells of their home. While the cat is adjusting to their home territory, you can prepare some wet food in the area where the cat is accustomed to being fed and when you open the trap, position the cat to go in that direction. Be very mindful of unsafe areas and think of the return from the cat's vantage point - you want to ensure the cats do not dash into high-traffic areas. 

11. Continue to provide fresh water and food at the same location and time as you were doing before the cats were trapped.  The cats may disappear for a few hours or days but should return when they have calmed down.

12. Don’t forget to clean and sanitize the traps and trap covers.  Remove all waste inside the trap, use water and regular dish soap to scrub the trap.  Spray the trap with a hose to rinse off soap residue and allow the trap to dry completely.  Also, make sure to wipe down and disinfect the area where you recovered the cat.

After surgery you may see light spotting of blood on the puppy pad/paper or slight redness near the incision site - This is normal.  However, if you notice pooling or heavy bleeding, severe swelling and/or discharge you should contact the veterinarian who performed surgery right away.  If there is an emergency, take the cat to the nearest urgent/emergency veterinary clinic or hospital.

Revised 4.2.25