24 hours post-op and I swear my cat hasn’t slept

[Jen0328]

My boy Otto (7) had a dental cleaning yesterday around 10:00am and he ended up having 4 teeth extracted. They gave him a fentanyl patch on his leg and then gave me Clindamycin (antibiotic) and Buprenorphine (pain). He got the Clindamycin last night but I panicked because I couldn’t remember if he should take the Buprenorphine on top of the Fentanyl or not. I am on edge due to the intensity of the narcotic. Anyway, he’s acting about 90% himself and eating and drinking but I swear he has not slept. I was up off and on all night and every time he was awake. Usually he sleeps right next to me all night and he wasn’t there. He was on the floor staring at the wall. Has anyone experienced this? I assumed Fentanyl would have him extremely fatigued.

 

[Mr. Meow]

My boy Otto (7) had a dental cleaning yesterday around 10:00am and he ended up having 4 teeth extracted. They gave him a fentanyl patch on his leg and then gave me Clindamycin (antibiotic) and Buprenorphine (pain). He got the Clindamycin last night but I panicked because I couldn’t remember if he should take the Buprenorphine on top of the Fentanyl or not. I am on edge due to the intensity of the narcotic. Anyway, he’s acting about 90% himself and eating and drinking but I swear he has not slept. I was up off and on all night and every time he was awake. Usually he sleeps right next to me all night and he wasn’t there. He was on the floor staring at the wall. Has anyone experienced this? I assumed Fentanyl would have him extremely fatigued.

Sounds like it's only been about 24 hours since the procedure was done. It's very possible that he's still feeling some of the effects of the anesthesia, or the patch could be making him a bit out of it. He's at least eating and drinking, so if all you're concerned about is him not sleeping (at least unnoticed) and that he's not back up in bed with you, I think you're going to be fine. I know he's on pain meds, but if he's in any pain at all, even a little bit, it can temporarily change his habits. As long as you stick to his schedule for his meds, he should be back to normal soon.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

My cat had a fentanyl patch for her first knee surgery (she had to have 2 knee surgeries). She was supposed to wear it through the weekend post-surgery. We were also given buprenorphine like you. She did not do well on the fentanyl patch AT ALL. Is your cat still wearing the fentanyl patch? If so, you might consider contacting the vet, describing the current behaviors of your cat, and deciding together whether or not to remove the patch (and use just bupe, if needed, instead).

Knowing her reactions to the first time a patch was used, I made sure that a fentanyl patch was NOT used for my cat's 2nd surgery, and she did well with just buprenorphine. All cats react differently to different meds (and different doses of meds), so only you along with your vet can really decide what's best in your particular situation.

 

[Jen0328]

Sounds like it's only been about 24 hours since the procedure was done. It's very possible that he's still feeling some of the effects of the anesthesia, or the patch could be making him a bit out of it. He's at least eating and drinking, so if all you're concerned about is him not sleeping (at least unnoticed) and that he's not back up in bed with you, I think you're going to be fine. I know he's on pain meds, but if he's in any pain at all, even a little bit, it can temporarily change his habits. As long as you stick to his schedule for his meds, he should be back to normal soon.

Th

Sounds like it's only been about 24 hours since the procedure was done. It's very possible that he's still feeling some of the effects of the anesthesia, or the patch could be making him a bit out of it. He's at least eating and drinking, so if all you're concerned about is him not sleeping (at least unnoticed) and that he's not back up in bed with you, I think you're going to be fine. I know he's on pain meds, but if he's in any pain at all, even a little bit, it can temporarily change his habits. As long as you stick to his schedule for his meds, he should be back to normal soon.

Thanks for your reply. I’m prone to overreacting a bit so I thought I’d reach out to some cat people. I actually just emailed our vet but I’m sure your response is pretty accurate. I think the patch just has him a bit zonked but the fact that it’s Fentanyl makes me a bit anxious.

 

[Jen0328]

My cat had a fentanyl patch for her first knee surgery (she had to have 2 knee surgeries). She was supposed to wear it through the weekend post-surgery. We were also given buprenorphine like you. She did not do well on the fentanyl patch AT ALL. Is your cat still wearing the fentanyl patch? If so, you might consider contacting the vet, describing the current behaviors of your cat, and deciding together whether or not to remove the patch (and use just bupe, if needed, instead).

Knowing her reactions to the first time a patch was used, I made sure that a fentanyl patch was NOT used for my cat's 2nd surgery, and she did well with just buprenorphine. All cats react differently to different meds (and different doses of meds), so only you along with your vet can really decide what's best in your particular situation.

I did just contact the vet after all. I think he is tolerating it well considering his other behaviors, I just want to make sure the blank staring is normal Thank you for your response. Honestly I think in the future I’d rather not have the patch because of how nervous it makes me!