Agitation after general anesthesia earlier today

[cmshap]

Vet just called me. Willy definitely had a bladder obstruction, but she was able to cath him easily, and the procedure went well. She drained his bladder, gave him SQ fluids, and is sending him home with pain and other meds (yet to find out what the other meds are). I will be picking him up in an hour.

If he is still having trouble peeing tomorrow, then I have to take him into emergency.

Moral of the story: I caught this problem EARLY and got him checked out right away, and it wasn't nearly as serious as it could have been. I'm glad I actually watched him go into the litter box like I did.

 

[Kris107]

Yes, kudos on being a good pet parent. Hopefully he stays nice and clear and is able to pee on his own!!!

 

[silent meowlook]

Very good that you had him checked out.
Just my opinion, but if he was my cat, I would have them leave the U cath in and transfer to emergency. The reason for this is because the backup of urine will cause damage to the kidneys. This is on top of already stressed kidneys from anesthesia. He should have IV fluids for a couple of days with the u cath in place monitoring his electrolytes to avoid permanent damage to the kidneys.

 

[cmshap]

Very good that you had him checked out.
Just my opinion, but if he was my cat, I would have them leave the U cath in and transfer to emergency. The reason for this is because the backup of urine will cause damage to the kidneys. This is on top of already stressed kidneys from anesthesia. He should have IV fluids for a couple of days with the u cath in place monitoring his electrolytes to avoid permanent damage to the kidneys.

I understand this would be the better course of action. However, money is becoming a factor.

I am currently waiting test results for what could very likely be cancer. He has masses that are continuing to grow, and I don't yet know what his prognosis is going to be until I get the results back.

I will be able to treat him to a degree, if it turns out he has cancer, and it's a treatable cancer. Or, if it's not cancer, but needs to be addressed anyway. But in this instance today, we were talking about another multi-thousand-dollar hospital stay before knowing anything about his future health outlook.

I can only do as much as I can do, and this was presented as an option that could work in the short term, but isn't guaranteed in the long-term. If tomorrow he is not peeing again, or showing signs of distress, I am going to take him to emergency.

I hope I am doing the right thing. It's so hard to know what to do. I want to be able to help him as much as I can, but I have so little information to go on right now, and limited funds for dealing with emergency costs like this. I am working on money for oncology or other future treatment, but in the meantime, I had to make a call.

Edit: I am starting to take this thread off-topic into territory that belongs in my main thread about Willy's health. I would ask that for discussing matters like cancer treatment, please visit my other thread and reply there.

 

[silent meowlook]

All we can do is what we can do. I get it.

 

[Kwik]

Vet just called me. Willy definitely had a bladder obstruction, but she was able to cath him easily, and the procedure went well. She drained his bladder, gave him SQ fluids, and is sending him home with pain and other meds (yet to find out what the other meds are). I will be picking him up in an hour.

If he is still having trouble peeing tomorrow, then I have to take him into emergency.

Moral of the story: I caught this problem EARLY and got him checked out right away, and it wasn't nearly as serious as it could have been. I'm glad I actually watched him go into the litter box like I did.

I'm glad he is okay and I sure do understand having your hands tied due to $,it's an awful position to be in-my heart goes out to you

There's alot of variables here so it's hard to know what reason is thst triggered the issue- could be stress,could be a few things and no doubt your Veterinarian discussed with you that cancer could be the culprit as well,she's a good Vet,she is really great at working around your financial limitation,someone like that is a gem- I'm going through something with 2 of my 5 ,hard to treat as we don't know the cause but only because I can't afford some very expensive tests- at this point it's non- emergency so my Vets helps by prioritizing and doing as much as I can afford- so I believe your Vet is a Blessing

I hope Willie doesn't need to go to ER and when he levels off from the stress of being confused from the anesthesia we can put thst to rest-

You are doing the very best you can do or I think anyone could so please don't second guess yourself - you are doing the right thing,you'll pay attention and you'll know if he needs to go to ER( I get the feeling you'll be up all night!!!!) Your a wonderful,loving Willie mama

I sent you a msg btw

 

[cmshap]

You are doing the very best you can do or I think anyone could so please don't second guess yourself - you are doing the right thing,you'll pay attention and you'll know if he needs to go to ER( I get the feeling you'll be up all night!!!!) Your a wonderful,loving Willie mama

Thanks, and yes, I'll be probably watching him all night. And probably following him to the bathroom whenever he goes (hopefully he does).

And FYI, I am a Willy-dad, actually

I was sent home with liquid buprenorphine syringes to squirt in his mouth for pain (1.8 mg/mL concentration, in 0.8-mL doses) every 12 hours, and Purina Hydra Care packets for hydration.

He's currently all wobbly, all over again, so he will probably go through the same process as last night. Although now I'm wondering if he was so agitated last night, in part because his bladder was painfully full.

 

[Kwik]

Thanks, and yes, I'll be probably watching him all night. And probably following him to the bathroom whenever he goes (hopefully he does).

And FYI, I am a Willy-dad, actually

I was sent home with liquid buprenorphine syringes to squirt in his mouth for pain (1.8 mg/mL concentration, in 0.8-mL doses) every 12 hours, and Purina Hydra Care packets for hydration.

He's currently all wobbly, all over again, so he will probably go through the same process as last night. Although now I'm wondering if he was so agitated last night, in part because his bladder was painfully full.

Very possible,,poor baby
Sorry Willie Daddy and now I'm very impressed- I mean Dads are wonderful but sooooo nurturing -you're quite a guy

You're well equipped to keep Willie comfy tonight- I really hope he gets a good night sleep -I already know what you'll be doing all night & sleep probably isn't one of those things---- we'll keep you conpany

 

[silent meowlook]

Glad he is home. Be sure to give the pain medication as there is always some discomfort associated with a urinary catheter being placed, even when it is removed. So, the pain meds will help with that. Please keep us posted on how he is doing.

 

[Kwik]

Just think of you and Willie-3am in case you're up,I hope tye night has been uneventful

 

[cmshap]

It's 7:15am here, and Willy actually slept through the night last night. He hadn't peed at all last night, and around midnight he was starting to go in and out of the litter box, so I was getting worried again, and starting to make plans for where to take him to emergency this morning.

Then, he woke up, went into the litter box, and I waited silently so as not to disturb him... finally, I hear his unmistakable box-scratching sounds (when he's done, rather than covering it up with litter, he scrapes at the sides of the litter box in his attempt to "bury" it).

I went to check, and we have the first successful pee on his own since Wednesday night, before his surgery.

I've never been happier to see urine in my life.

 

[Kwik]

It's 7:15am here, and Willy actually slept through the night last night. He hadn't peed at all last night, and around midnight he was starting to go in and out of the litter box, so I was getting worried again, and starting to make plans for where to take him to emergency this morning.

Then, he woke up, went into the litter box, and I waited silently so as not to disturb him... finally, I hear his unmistakable box-scratching sounds (when he's done, rather than covering it up with litter, he scrapes at the sides of the litter box in his attempt to "bury" it).

I went to check, and we have the first successful pee on his own since Wednesday night, before his surgery.

I've never been happier to see urine in my life.

Awwwww-,great news ! Yay Willie

 

[cmshap]

Awwwww-,great news ! Yay Willie

His mood instantly returned back to normal, too. He sprinted from the litter box to go attack a toy, scattering litter everywhere, but he gets a pass on that for today. He can scatter litter however much he wants and I will happily clean it up later.

 

[silent meowlook]

That’s great news!!!

 

[Caspers Human]

He sprinted from the litter box to go attack a toy,

Ah! The "Victory Lap!" This time, well deserved!

Casper does victory laps when he uses the box. Elliot, not so much.

 

[white shadow]

Hi cmshap !

Sorry to be late arriving to the party gathering........

Buprenorphine is well, well-known to cause urine retention as a side effect.

Given his unrest and excitation during his post-op recovery, I suspect he was given one of the new-fangled long-acting forms of buprenorphine.........and the result is what's been witnessed.

If that's the case, sorry we didn't pick up on it sooner.

It will be easy to find out if that was the pain med used.........if it were, then you can decide whether/not it should be given in future and, if it is, whether/not it should be accompanied by a sedative (as S silent meowlook mentioned earlier).

 

[Kwik]

cmshap
I know you must be DOG tired and taking a CAT nap after the long night watching over Willie( as he was sleeping peacefully!lol )
Hope you and Willie are cuddled up catching some Z's -look forward to hearing more good news later

 

[cmshap]

Buprenorphine is well, well-known to cause urine retention as a side effect.

Given his unrest and excitation during his post-op recovery, I suspect he was given one of the new-fangled long-acting forms of buprenorphine.........and the result is what's been witnessed.

You may be onto something.

First of all, I don't have detailed records yet of everything that was done, but I am going to get them next week. But I do know that the vet specifically said she gave him a "24-hour injection" for post-surgical pain.

Also, I'm not entirely clear on what was causing his blockage. She explained to me what causes urinary blockages in male cats, which can be a variety of physical blockages such as crystals or mucus plugs, and that they can spontaneously develop. But when she examined him, as I described in an above post, she said she couldn't 100% conclude if he actually had a blockage, as his bladder was full, but not hard like it would typically be.

However, after she cathed him and gave him fluids, she then told me over the phone that the cather went in very easily. Prior to the procedure, she explained that it can sometimes be difficult to get in in cases of more severe blockages. So this makes me wonder if there wasn't actually anything physically blocking his urethra at all.

I do trust this vet, but she was kind of rushed when dealing with this issue. Her hours on Fridays only go to 1pm, but this issue came up at like 12:30pm yesterday, and she stayed later as a favor to me to help Willy (as she knew that the cost of taking him to a hospital was going to be a hardship for me). So I can't say if she was able to fully investigate the cause of this, and I wasn't able to ask many questions.

I will check for what he was injected with, because if it was a 24-hour buprenorphine injection, I'd rather not have him get one again in the future.

 

[cmshap]

Ah! The "Victory Lap!" This time, well deserved!

Willy always had post-poop zoomies throughout his life (which always start IN the box, as if there are sprinter's starting blocks buried in the litter), but I've never seen him do that after just peeing.

It must have felt so good to finally relieve himself, he couldn't help it.

 

[cmshap]

Hope you and Willie are cuddled up catching some Z's -look forward to hearing more good news later

He's been asleep on my lap for hours and won't move. But I have to move soon.

I'm glad he is finally resting so comfortably.