Grooming, Vet, or Spay First? The Ideal Cat Care Timeline
What’s the ideal sequence for your cat’s grooming, vet checkup, and sterilization? Follow this timeline to minimize stress for your feline friend.
I work in a pet grooming store and customers often share their plans on spaying or neutering their cat. Some had even planned to go immediately after their grooming session and our groomers would often discourage them depending on the situation.
According to Arizal, our pet groomer with a total of 6 years of grooming experience and and additional 4 years as a Pet Stylist, shares that grooming sessions are stressful for cats.
Our other pet groomer, Ardan, with a total of 3.5 years of grooming experience and 8 months working as a Paramedic, explains that cats needs to be 2.5–3 months and 1kg before they can get into a full grooming session. They might be quiet and seem perfectly fine but the change of environment, loud sounds of the dryer, and strange hands touching their bodies undoubtedly has an effect on them.
If cat owners have plans to vaccinate or sterlize their cats it would need to be appropriately spaced out.
Vaccinations
Cats need to be at least 2.5 months and 1kg to be vaccinated. Double check with your vet.
A good rule of thumb:
- Vaccinate
- Consult your vet on when your pet is cleared for a full grooming session.
Our groomers recommend waiting 2 weeks to recover. A vaccination is another stressful event for the cat. They might show signs of stress immediately post-vaccination or even hours later. If it were subjected to another stressful event like a grooming session they might not have enough strength to deal with the situation, essentially going through a back-to-back stress fest with a low immunity.
3. Grooming session
OR
- Grooming session
- Wait 3 days and then ask the doctor if your pet is cleared for a vaccination.
- Vaccinate
Sterilization
Cats need to be 7 months and 2kg minimum to be sterilized, maximum 5 years for female cats and no more than 10 years for male cats.
If they are having their heat cycle, consult with your vet on whether to wait it out.
Once you have booked a sterilization appointment:
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You can give them food the night before the sterilization appointment.
On the day of the appointment, you are not allowed to give them any food or drink for 24 hours (even post-operation). They will feel sick and some might even vomit afterwards. Keep them comfortably in their cage/pet carrier or alternatively quarantined in one section of the room for the next 3 days (ideally).
Give them food and water the next morning. Water for half an hour followed by a canned food meal. In the afternoon, give them water and two spoonfuls of dry food. The cats can eat 4–5 times a day. However, if they refuse to drink or eat, syringe-feed them water and food. Worst case scenario you need to give them an infusion.
A good rule of thumb:
- Grooming session
- Wait 3 days and then consult your vet if they are cleared for a sterilization
- Sterilize
OR
- Sterilize
- Our groomers recommend waiting 2 weeks to recover (from this stressful event)
- Grooming session
Full Medical Checkups
A full medical checkup complete with blood tests.
A good rule of thumb:
- Grooming session
- Wait 3 days and then consult your vet if they’re cleared for a full medical checkup
- Full Medical Checkup
OR
- Full Medical Checkup
- Consult your vet on when your pet is cleared for a full grooming session.
- Grooming session
There are exceptions where the groomers recommend going to the vet immediately or later during the day. Some common instances where our groomers detected an ear infection, a yeast skin infection and/or fleas and ticks.
Our groomers suggest that when deciding between a grooming session or a health checkup it would be prudent to choose the health checkup first.
When in doubt consult with your vet and find the best suited plan for your cat.
