spaying a nursing mother cat

[Tina B and crew]

I've always thought that the milk would dry up if they were spayed while nursing....am I mistaken about this?? Someone told me they had their cat spayed a week after giving birth and the cat nursed the kittens fine...just curious because I've always waited until the kittens are weaned with my fosters...

[jason]

one of mine still had some milk after i picked her up off the street and took her into the vet. she was with me for about a month or so (off the street) before i went to the vet and it was to spay, however...she was already spayed.

so, i had her for roughly 45 days and she was already spayed *and* had some milk. i guess the milk can stick around for a while, not sure why or if its partially dependant on the cat in particular.

[Wanda]

Hi Tina,
I asked about the same question in my post dated Feb.14, 2004 "question about spaying" if you would like to read it. In it Traci told me that it could be done shortly after delivery, depending on her health status, ability to nurse etc. Also said I could put it off a couple of weeks if wanted to and everything going well. In my case, my vet prefers to wait until she has weaned them, but said it is just his personal preference, so I am waiting. Hope this helps, Wanda

[davet]

it aactually can be done any time because the sucking of the puppies is enough stimulation to keep the milk flowing...thats why they play soft music to cows...sooths themn enough to get more milk....

[davet]

forgot one thing. when i spayed a nursing mother i made a point of using subcutaneous stitches so the puppies could not pull on them...just a thought