Four year old cat died 6 days after neuter - low body temp & pneumonia

roflcopterrr

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Hi all, I'm new to this community but I had a question about the recent loss of my beloved 4 year old cat. He received a neuter operation, and rabies shot 6 days ago (yes, I waited quite a while but he was not spraying and was indoor only. He received FeLV shot and some others when I got him at 8 weeks), and before that was given a physical and a clean bill of health.

Four days after the neuter, I noticed he was under my bed for the whole day, refusing his treats, water, and was breathing in a strange way. I called the vet and they said to just watch him. The next morning I see him resting his head on his water bowl and realized something was seriously amiss. I took him to the same vet, and they discovered his body temp to be 90, far below the 102 he was at the physical a few days prior. An x ray revealed widespread fluid in his lungs, and they started him on aggressive antibiotics immediately. He died the next morning.

Does anybody here think that the procedures had anything to do with this? He wore a cone for a few days to prevent any licking of the wound, which was healing fine when I brought him back into the vet.
 

denice

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I am so sorry  this happened.  I am not a vet or vet tech.  If it had anything to  do with the procedure my guess would be it was some kind of reaction to the anesthetic.  Hopefully someone who has either worked for a vet or done rescue has seen this and can answer your questions.
 

greypaws

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I am so very sorry this happened, you have my most sincere and heartfelt condolences. I don't have any answers as to why, there are so many variables that could have caused this, some beyond anyone's including your vets control. Godspeed to your little one  
 

cindycrna

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I am so very sorry. I think usually for male neuters, they don't use a breathing tube. It sounds like he aspirated under anesthesia. 
 

maddies momma

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Was he fasted before the procedure? Yes it is possible that he regurgitated and then aspirated it into his lungs while under anesthesia. However that doesn't seem likely for a couple of reasons. Patients are very closely monitored while under anesthesia and it's highly unlikely that this would have gone unnoticed. Also a neuter literally takes only 2-3 minutes, he would have been under for such a short amount of time, and it's not likely for patients to aspirate so quickly. They need to be under for a while for their muscles to relax long enough to allow stomach contents to travel back up. Also if he did aspirate under anesthesia he would probably have had problems right away, not four days later. And then the vets put him on antibiotics when they saw the fluids. Antibiotics fight infection. Aspiration is not an infection, if they suspected Aspiration they would have given him medication to draw fluids from his body.
What's more likely is that he contracted some illness or infection. Where and when is unknown. It could have been before or after. It's also possible that he picked up something from his stay at the clinic because he wasn't fully vaccinated going into his surgery.
I am so sorry for your loss!it is always heartbreaking to loose a furry friend. Please don't beat yourself up over this. Terrible things happen and no one knows why, and it's not your fault.
 

Ladyrosee

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Hi all, I'm new to this community but I had a question about the recent loss of my beloved 4 year old cat. He received a neuter operation, and rabies shot 6 days ago (yes, I waited quite a while but he was not spraying and was indoor only. He received FeLV shot and some others when I got him at 8 weeks), and before that was given a physical and a clean bill of health.

Four days after the neuter, I noticed he was under my bed for the whole day, refusing his treats, water, and was breathing in a strange way. I called the vet and they said to just watch him. The next morning I see him resting his head on his water bowl and realized something was seriously amiss. I took him to the same vet, and they discovered his body temp to be 90, far below the 102 he was at the physical a few days prior. An x ray revealed widespread fluid in his lungs, and they started him on aggressive antibiotics immediately. He died the next morning.

Does anybody here think that the procedures had anything to do with this? He wore a cone for a few days to prevent any licking of the wound, which was healing fine when I brought him back into the vet.
I'm so very sorry I know this is am old post but my kitten got neutered a couple days ago and is refusing food and I took him in for an xray and they found possible early pneumonia and he is starting clavamox today. It must have been for the neuter.. aspiration possibly for yours and mine? So sorry either way. Just wanted to chime in from a Google search your page popped up
 

kimberly1973

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I'm so very sorry I know this is am old post but my kitten got neutered a couple days ago and is refusing food and I took him in for an xray and they found possible early pneumonia and he is starting clavamox today. It must have been for the neuter.. aspiration possibly for yours and mine? So sorry either way. Just wanted to chime in from a Google search your page popped up
My 2 kitties were just spayed and neutered 3 days ago. The male started breathing rapidly yesterday, so I called vet and was told to bring him in in the morning is this continued. I was up all night with the poor little guy, so took him in and he was given an X-ray. There were some spots on his lungs that the vet thinks are pneumonia, but he is perplexed on how this happened as he was eating fine before he was sent home with me. He is being kept overnight for observation and was put on an antibiotic and they are also doing bloodwork on him to rule out any other conditions. I’m so worried. His sister did fine and is healing well, but now she’s yowling away because I came home without her brother. Fingers crossed that it’s nothing major and he has a speedy recovery.
 

fionasmom

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As was stated, this is an older post, although the previous member has been around in the last week. OP has not been around for about 4 years.

I am sorry that you are facing this with your cat and that this is what brought you to TCS. As others stated, if the vet saw what he believes in pneumonia I can only guess at aspiration as the cause. Please let us know how he does. Your vet responded to your concerns so hopefully there will be a speedy recovery.
 

Meowmee

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My 2 kitties were just spayed and neutered 3 days ago. The male started breathing rapidly yesterday, so I called vet and was told to bring him in in the morning is this continued. I was up all night with the poor little guy, so took him in and he was given an X-ray. There were some spots on his lungs that the vet thinks are pneumonia, but he is perplexed on how this happened as he was eating fine before he was sent home with me. He is being kept overnight for observation and was put on an antibiotic and they are also doing bloodwork on him to rule out any other conditions. I’m so worried. His sister did fine and is healing well, but now she’s yowling away because I came home without her brother. Fingers crossed that it’s nothing major and he has a speedy recovery.
So sorry, I hope he will be ok and please let us know. I always get so worried when my furries have their spay/ neuter surgeries.
 
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