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My feral cat needs spaying. How to safely sedate her for the vet?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Female | unspayed | 10 months and 19 days old | 1.5 lbs

Hello, Carolina is a feral cat between 1.5 and 2 kilos lives in my garden.She delivered 4 kittens 3 months ago. She is on hit and I am trying to bring her to the vet to spay her as soon as possible. I gave her half pill of Calmivet(sedative) today but she was still super alert and I did not succeed in putting her in the carrier. Can I give her an entire pill so that maybe she will calm down more?are there any risks?I am afraid of the side effects of the pill. How can I handle that? Thanks!!

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Ann Dion, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on August 20th, 2017

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It is very good that you want to get Carolina spayed. I would recommend giving a whole tablet to Carolina (12.5mg) and it is best to give this when Carolina is calm and relaxed. Sometimes it is best to set a 'trap' of sorts. If you get a large dog kennel, and put food inside this with the calmivet in the food, then you can close the door when she goes in to eat. There are risks with this pill, however the risks are small and the risk of her not being spayed are much higher than the risks of the pill. Side effects include severe sedation as well as low blood pressure. If you are monitoring her after she gets the tablet, you will notice she will be very sedate and you can bring her to the vet at that point where they can monitor her blood pressure. Best of luck with Carolina!

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