Pets and Surgery

This has been nagging at me, so please bear with me. I have seven cats, they are very important in my life, and I've rescued most of them from abusive situations.
One of which is a 6 mo. old male and he *loves* to cuddle. Snickers is a great comfort to me, and I don't know how he'll react when I have surgery and can't have him
sleep across my chest and tummy as he does, once I sit or lay down.
Not sure how to deal with this; I'd planned on staying downstairs during the days and sleeping upstairs at night.
He seems to know when I am ill and is more gentle, but I'm worried his weight is not good for lying across the incision sight.
Any suggestions?

hi!

I have two cats, and they are my babies! I never was able to have children and my cats are my babies! I also worried about them jumping on my tummy after my surgery. Somehow they knew! When I first got home, they came and layed next to me, curled up and slept! I just layed there and was petting them. I did keep a small pillow on my tummy in case, but I really didn't need it. They knew and it was like having two personal heating pads. They would wait for me to get comfortable and then they would curl up next to me and we would all take a nap.

I have two kitties whom I love with all my heart. One of them, the really big one naturally, practically grew up on my chest and stomach. This will be interesting. I'm going to try to sleep with a pillow on top just in case.

Love and Kitty Hugs from Florida,

Hi, Linda, I know just what you mean. I have a houseful of pets, but the cats are my babies, only. I have one who sleeps w/ me and even sits at the top of the stairs to "call" me to bed, by whining, not too great, when I'm not tired! I would let him lie beside me, if he's willing, those of us who own cats, know how stubborn they can be, and see if that appeases him. They're smart. He may just sense, by how you smell that something ain't quite right. See how it goes. Is there someone else that he can get extra TLC from? That may help too. Love to You and the Kittys. Roz

I had such a good giggle Roz! Snickers has always chosen me, I think because when he came home from surgery, I held him like a baby and soothed his kitty nightmares. (Plus I am a stay at home mom and business)
I guess I'm afraid I'll hurt his feelings and our relationship. He doesn't know it's temporary. I'm so glad you all said something in reply, my little fur people thank you!!

Hi Linda,
I don't have any kitties but I do have a chihuahua, Fred is truly a lap dog and obviously missed me terribly when I was at the castle. After a full week home I can happily report that he has only stepped on my tummy once, and that was when he got over excited at a squirrel in the back yard. Instead of sleeping on my tummy as he usually would, he seemed to sense I had tummy issues and has curled up next to me.
I wouldn't worry to much, pets that are very close to us seem to know when we have a problem holding or carrying them around.

Hi Linda,

I went straight to bed when I came home from the hospital and within 30 seconds, my cat was in the bed and wanted to be on my tummy (her favorite spot). I had to "shoo" her several times before she finally got the message to keep off. I'm not 5 weeks post-op, and I'm still shooing her away from my belly. She glares at me some days like she just can't understand why I won't let her on board!

The biggest of our three cats is 18 pounds, and tramples right across us in bed (the others go carefully around, or jump over). After my first surgery (laparoscopy) I slept for a while with a "pillow" on my tummy - I made it by folding 3-4 bath towels and putting them in a pillow case. It helped protect me from moving covers, stray arms and legs, and that big cat.

You might find that you can let your cats sleep on you OK. I was surprised to find after my TAH that it was fine if they laid on my chest/upper abdomen, or on my lap. As long as they don't do that happy-kneading thing. I did wear an abdominal binder for the first few days, and that was a big help, too.

One night shortly after I got home I was sleeping on the couch, on my back, with a big heating pad on my belly. Another cat, a hefty young former tomcat, discovered I was a great place to sleep. When I woke up he was lying on me, on his back, with paws going off in all directions. He didn't want to get down, either, and I found it very hard to move him. He finally left on his own, thank goodness.


It's not the cats I have to worry about, it's the donkeys, who head-butt me if they think they aren't getting the attention they deserve.

I'd prefer the kneading to the drooling..maybe the towel pillow is a great idea for that alone!
All of you, thanks, I hesitated to say anything, but it's bothered me greatly.
I won't be able to bend down to feed them, so after three weeks, when no one is home, I'm not sure what to do. Some can eat from their bowls off the counter..don't tell DH!! LOL

You'll be able to feed them just fine after 3 weeks. I was feeding ours just a couple of days after getting home. For the first few days I could get down to the floor (squatting) fine, but needed to grab something to help me up. Crawling was easy, so if I sat down in the middle of a room I could crawl over to a doorknob or chair to get back up.

Of course, if you do have trouble, I'm sure you're cats would be thrilled to have countertop priveleges for a while.

You'll be fine.