Post Op Care - Tips? Bulla Osteotomy Surgery On Blind Cat

Hi everyone.

I wanted to start off saying that I have never cared for a post-op cat before, but I have done some reading on how to care for a cat post-op. 

My blind cat has just returned home about 12 hours ago from the vet hospital. He had a bulla osteotomy to remove a bunch of polyps and flush out a chronic middle ear infection that has been bothering him for years. The surgery went well.  

He is about five years old and was born completely blind. No worries though, he gets around the house just fine!

I suppose I am just worried about the stitching coming undone. The incision is just under his jaw, and is about an inch long. A lot of what I was reading says that pets are usually very sleepy after surgery... but not this cat. He is VERY active and I doubt I will be sleeping as much winks and I'd like over the next couple days. He is of course confined to my room, however, to keep his activity level as minimal as possible.

I periodically check the stitching, and it looks pretty okay. 

He has not drank any water yet though - is that normal? He has eaten small amounts of dry food here and there, but no water yet. He has peed three times through the span of the day since I've had him home though. 

If anyone has any tips on how to keep a very active cat calm, I'd love to know. A large crate would not be an option as that'd only make him more upset. Confinement is the last thing he wants at the moment!

Thanks!

I would expect he would neeed pain medicatio and buprenex (buprenorphine) often makes cats sleepy.  However, there are the few exceptions who get stimulated by it, so no promises there.  You might ask your vet about it, though.  Usually you only use it for a few days after a surgery.  Alternatively you can use a tranquilizer, once he has cleared the anesthetic from his system.  We use lorazepam and it works very well.  Again, cats react differently to it, but most are relaxed and sleepy.  A few get overly cuddly and affectionate, but nothing negative.  It's also an excellent appetite stimulant.

Thank you for your reply! I apologize for taking some time to get back to you.

The vet did make sure to give him one weeks worth of buprenex to take every 8 hours for pain. I do notice that he does in fact get quite affectionate while on the medication, but that's totally fine!

He is now on day 5 of the recovery process and he is managing to do well. He is eating and drinking daily, urinating, etc. His incision is looks pretty good from what I can tell. I do believe it is beginning to scab over.

His only issue lies with the dreaded e collar. I had to take it off of him permanently because he almost ended hurting himself terribly today. Since he's blind, the e collar pretty much made his hearing and touch senses very restricted. Something that he relies on to get around. He got so freaked out today, trying to get it out, that I thought he was having a seizure!

So, I cut the ankle part off of a tube sock and slipped it over his neck. It doesn't cover his incision, but it prevents him from licking his neck... which I think is good enough for the remainder of his recovery phase! 

I truly hate e-collars fr cats and think in many instances they are used unnecessarily (like one person wrote the vet wanted the cat to wear an e-collar for 10 days after a NEUTER!)  Your idea about the tube sock was very creative.  I know people who have used baby onesies to cover spay incisions when needed.  With the appropriate dose of buprenex to keep the tummy fron hurting, I have NEVER used an e-collar on the literally hundreds of spays I've had done over the years, and nobody has bothered their incision with the exception of one Siamese, and for her a Onesie plus some vet wrap took care of the problem.

I totally agree with red top rescue about e - collars. There are much better alternatives out there. If you find that the tube bandage doesn't work, it would be well worth considering an alternative style. You can get donut type ones that look very similar to a neck brace, and won't impede sensory perception. Another option for this situation is a Bite-Not collar - a much thinner foam collar that fits rather like your bandage setup, but has a stabilising strap around the chest/torso to help keep it where it needs to be.

I hope your boy is fully recovered and healed up soon