Anesthesia reaction?

I had my 6 month old male Balinese, Frankie, neutered on Friday. I took him home Sunday and he seemed ok. He slept ALL day on Monday other than when he ate breakfast and supper. He slept through the night, got up and had breakfast and has slept all day today. I have several cats and have owned a lot of cats and never had a cat act like this four days after surgery. You would swear he had it done yesterday. Frankie normally is a typical 6 month old oriental - off the walls most of the time. This lethargy is just not him.

I've just returned from the vets where they did blood work, looking for kidney or liver problems, from "an adverse reaction to the anesthesia". They said the fact that he is still eating is a good sign and "let's hope" it's nothing more. They also gave him a bolus of fluid - he must have been slightly dehydrated as they had a hard time getting blood. I've seem him drink, but only after he ate, which has only been in the morning and evening.

Has anyone had a cat react to anesthesia like this? I was afraid to ask what the prognosis is if he has kidney or liver damage. I have to call tomorrow morning for the lab results.

Frankie came here after I had to put down my cat Asparagus - my baby for 17 years. I don't know what I'll do if I'm going to lose this new one...

Anyone with similar stories?

Please refer to the post before this one, made by Sophie...(anesthesia information is included there)

In your case, it depends on the anesthetic given, I would guess it was a ketamine combination, in which ketamine can linger in the system and cause a slow recovery, but you are right to be concerned, your kitten should have responded with a good recovery within 24-36 hours post-op. Since he was in the clinic for two days, you should ask your vet about how he reacted at the clinic....ask about any unusual observations made by the techs or caretakers, ask about what was recorded in his chart concerning eating/drinking/urinating, attitude and of course, vitals. Having stayed in the clinic for two days, there should be vitals recorded and observations noted on kitten's health record.

I am assuming your vet has ruled out infection at the incision site? Did you notice the area at any time red, swollen, draining blood or pus? Was kitty licking at it excessively? (and on a totally different note, was an unassociated urinary tract infection ruled out?).......................Traci

Thanks for your quick response...I don't see a previous post from Sophie, but I'll look some more.

He's not running a temp and his incision is clean and dry. I think the vet was tactfully defending her clinic (there are 5 vets, the one I saw today is not who I usually deal with nor was she the surgeon on Friday) because she said, no one noticed anything while he was there - "the techs don't really know them well, so they don't know if they are acting unusual". The context of this conversation was when I was describing Frankie pre-surgery. To quote the vet on his very first visit, "what a pistol". My point was, this cat is nothing like him. In their defense though, I think he was more animated the night I took him home than he is now. That night, he did a lot of talking and he pestered my female cat in his usual manner - following her around. I mean he seemed ok - he had been boarded since Christmas Eve, neutered on the 26th and I picked him up on the 28th. I expected him to act a little strange. It wasn't until Monday morning that I realized how quiet he was.

The vet asked me about runny stools or was he urinating. I saw him in the litter box, but I didn't check it out. I would know if he had diarhea, but with three cats and five litter boxes, I can't say for sure he is urinating. I can say, he is not urinating excessively. He only gets up if we wake him and then it's really only to eat. That's when he will also use the box. I will pay closer attention next time.

Do you know: when the vet says kidney or liver damage from the anesthesia, is she talking life threatening damage?

My cat, Snowball, is 12 1/2 years old and he also had some difficulty recovering from anesthesia when his teeth were cleaned 2 1/2 years ago. He was still very lethargic and refusing to eat or drink the next morning, so I took him back to the veterinary clinic where he was found to be slightly dehydrated and was given fluids under the skin. Snowball improved only slightly after he was rehydrated and didn't really seem to be recovering from the effects of the anesthesia until the evening of the next day. One thing that the vet mentioned was that all the stress had just been too much for an older cat.

I was wondering if stress might also be a factor in Frankie's recovery???

Asparagus, Sophie's post is Here...keep in mind her kitten possibly has a heart condition, but we did talk about anesthesia, etc in that post.

You quoted that the techs don't know them well and don't know if the patient is acting unusual....was that your comment, or was that the vet's comment? If it was the vet's, I would be for never taking my pets to that clinic again. Techs are largely responsible for monitoring all the patients during recovery from a surgical procedure, treatment, etc.....if these techs don't have a clue, run from this clinic as fast as you can. Also, accurate daily record keeping on any patient is essential in the clinic, if vitals were not taken, again, what you have is a poorly-run clinic.

I would strongly suggest two things,...getting a urinalysis (perhaps my initial reaching comment is true, a potential urinary tract obstruction, unrelated to the neuter)...and A CBC to help in detecting bacterial infection (this will show elevated WBC's indicating a potential infection). I would also suggest this be done by a NEW vet.

It's possible that kidney and liver values may be altered directly after an anesthetic procedure....have you got the bloodwork results yet?.................Traci

Frankie is MUCH better today. He initiated play this morning and attacked Tzeital, my old female tortie. (I think Tzeital may have preferred the drugged Frankie!). I spoke with the vet this morning and his blood work is all normal. They said if he's not completely normal by Friday, they would do another round of fluids. It seems like he needed the extra fluids to flush out his system.

Thanks for all the postings!