My 4 month old cat had a stroke after neutered

I have never heard of this before, I've had cats all my life and never had one have a stroke after surgery before.  Thursday I dropped my babies Nestle and his sister Brownie off at the vet for what should have been routine surgery to be neutered, I called that afternoon they were both fine.  Yesterday I went to pick them up and was informed that Nestle had a stroke overnight!  His eyes were twitching rapidly side to side, but so suttle you have to really look to notice.  He head tilted to the side and when I put him on the floor so they could show me how he barely is able to walk he vomited all over the place I was so scared for him, but I took him home when they told me that they could keep him overnight, but nobody is at the office all night long.  I did as told, put him in a warm and quiet, dark room, checking on him every couple of hours as briefly as possible.  Last night I was delighted when he actually turned to me when I came in and started purring for a few minutes when I pet him.  But he has no interest in eating or drinking.  I know he can go a few days with no food, but he needs water.  I have an eye dropper and tried gently puting it in his mouth and squeezing a few drops in, but after the first couple times now as soon as he sees the dropper he gets all upset and his eyes start twitching more and he turns his back to me and won't even acknowledge me, I can't bring myself to force it on him and make him hate me, he was always such a sweet boy and I don't want to traumatize him.  He did pee twice yesterday, but the last time was about 3pm.  I plan to call the vet this morning at 8:30 when they get in and hopefully they'll give him some IV fluids or something.  Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this??  Any suggestions?  I have 4 cats and they are all my babies, I have 5 kids too and as silly as it sounds I can't be anymore upset if it were them instead of my cats.  On a good note his sister had no complications other than being a little sore.  I even put her in with him for a little while which he seemed to enjoy, but then she wanted up on the bed and of course with his uncoordination he can't go up with her.

Does anybody have any advice at all????  It's killing me waiting for the vets office to open.  Although on a good note the last few times I checked on him, he purrs when I stroke his head, this last time he even stretched his neck for a chin rub.  This is all good signs, right??  But seriously how long can he go without water??

I am sorry this has happened. I don't know anything about it to give you advice. As far as the water goes he will probably be fine waiting till morning and the vet can give you sub-q fluids. They are very easy to do at home too so you could ask your vet to show you how. To test for dehydration just pinch the back of his neck and pull the skin up. If it stays up or sinks back really slow when you let go he is dehydrated, if it snaps back into place he is well hydrated.

Thanks for the reassurance.  It's hard to tell about the skin, he's long haired and lying in the back of his crate.  I think the light hurts his eyes because if I bring him out, he quickly seeks a dark area to lay.  It seems like it went right back down, but again hard to say and I don't want to disturb him more than necessary.  I was wandering if I could do subq fluids at home.......glad you mentioned that, I am a nurse and yeah animals are different than humans, but the basics are still there.

Poor baby. I would just wait till the vet opens and get sub-q for him. I wouldn't let him go too long without food. Ask the vet about a/d food. It is very mushy and can be syringe fed. I know he probably won't like it, but after a day of not eating his body is going to need it.

Any updates?  You really need to find a 24/hour vet. There are 2 places where I live that treat pets after hours. One is the emergency vet and the other is the local university.

The next time you go to the vet make sure they give you a phone number/contact information for emergency vet service.

I would also find a different vet ASAP. It is possible they over dosed him when they put him under for surgery.

 During anesthesia, the cat's blood pressure may have gotten too low, reducing blood flow to the brain. This can cause blindness, ataxia,  circling, seizures, and paralysis.  Again, it is the vet's job to monitor bp and make sure it doesn't get too low.

Either way this is something that needs immediate treatment. They were wrong to tell you to take him home. He should have been placed on IV fluids, with blood pressure monitoring, O2 monitoring and medication.

That's so sad.
please keep us updated.
wishing for the best -fingers crossed-

Thank you everyone, I did end up taking him in to the vet for fluids and another anti-nausea shot, plus they gave me some nutri-cal.  I am very excited to report that he is doing great!  Yesterday afternoon he finally started to eat and drink on his own and has been making amazing improvements.  This morning was the first time he went into the litter box without help and didn't do a faceplant when he got out.  His walking has improved greatly, it seems his back legs don't work quite right yet and are wobbly, or if he is sitting and tries to look up he will fall over, but he is so good now compared to a few days ago.  The vet told me they usually recover within a week, but he was so bad I just didn't believe it was possible.  What's more is his cat pride seems to be back, now if he falls or stumbles while walking he will quickly sit or lie down for a few minutes like as if he meant to do that........lol.  Just a little bit ago he came in here to say hello with his tail held high and I felt like crying from joy that my baby is well on his way to recovery.  I don't care if he is a little clumsy from now on or if he completely recovers, I'm just glad I didn't lose him

That's great news! that you see even more improvement soon!

Sarah Ann said:

Any updates?  You really need to find a 24/hour vet. There are 2 places where I live that treat pets after hours. One is the emergency vet and the other is the local university.

The next time you go to the vet make sure they give you a phone number/contact information for emergency vet service.

I would also find a different vet ASAP. It is possible they over dosed him when they put him under for surgery.

 During anesthesia, the cat's blood pressure may have gotten too low, reducing blood flow to the brain. This can cause blindness, ataxia,  circling, seizures, and paralysis.  Again, it is the vet's job to monitor bp and make sure it doesn't get too low.

Either way this is something that needs immediate treatment. They were wrong to tell you to take him home. He should have been placed on IV fluids, with blood pressure monitoring, O2 monitoring and medication.

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I did call the closest animal hospital which is about an hour away that first night (my vet has the number on there answering service to call for emergencies) and they advised me to call my vet in the morning unless he began to worsen or show signs of dehydration.  Believe me I was thinking the same things you said that they must have overdosed him with the anesthesia, not to mention I was not happy to find out that nobody is with the animals through the night.  So when he had the stroke he was all alone until they came in that morning and found him, they did say they gave him fluids, but I'm pretty sure that's all they did.  I think I will be switching back to my old vet, I feel stupid that I switched because of a pretty heft price difference.......I've always heard good things about this particular vet, but after this experience I think I'll pay the higher charges for my pets' safety.

I wouldn't go back to that vet. There should be someone there all night and if my cat came back like that I would have lost my mind and demanded them to take care of it for free. That night when you called a vet should have been willing to meet you there. I can call my vet any time day or night of any day and have a person answer and have an emergency vet call me back with in 10 minutes and there's after hour emergency visits. Some vets don't I would suggest looking for one that does.

So glad to hear your kitty is improving! That's great news!