Cat is a Nightmare after surgery

[spac]

I wanted to create a new thread for this, hope that's ok. My other thread related to this is here - Two Lumps Under Skin - Possible Mammary Cancer

My 11 y/o cat came home the same day she had a lumpectomy (today) and she has been a nightmare. When I went to pick her up, I was told that she was behaving, was very restful and calm. 15 minutes later as I'm arriving home she started going nuts. She managed to rip off her e-collar and the little bandage that had been on her paw (was ok to remove).

Once I let her out of the carrier, she was going crazy. She's not supposed to jump on anything but every room has furniture. The clinic was closed so I called the ER and two other clinics. They didn't know what to do because none of them can do anything without knowing what meds she received during surgery. She was also given transdermal Buprenex that lasts for 4 days (I didn't authorize that - I wanted syringes).

I took her e-collar off and released her in a room and she jumped on a table, then hid under the chair for nearly 3 hrs. Then she came back out and now she's crazy again. She's not bothering her sutures, hasn't even noticed them. I'll put the e-collar on when she starts to bother them or when I go to bed (assuming she lets me sleep).

I'm afraid she's going to hurt herself. That's why I brought her home. I thought she'd behave like this if I left her overnight at the clinic, especially since no one is there. I'm not sure I did the right thing by bringing her home. I tried putting her in the dog crate (Labrador sized for air travel) but she starts freaking out and panting. It's safer for her NOT to put her in it.

Any ideas as to why she's behaving like this? I've gotten tons of stray cats spayed/neutered and none of them acted like this. She's still affected by something (anesthesia, Buprenex?) but I don't know what or why.

At the time of this posting, she's been home for only 4 hours.

 

[Furballsmom]

Do you have a way to take as much as possible out of a room and let her into that?

 

[arr]

I think certain cats are just extra sensitive to the drugs. When one of our cats came home from her spay, she was absolutely crazy. We were told to keep her in a small room so we put her in the mud room and she would not settle down. She somehow scaled the walls and ended up in the rafters of the house, climbing, jumping, leaping. We had no way to reach her. After what seemed like forever, she jumped down into the room and I decided then and there that I wouldn’t lock her up again. We let her go where she wanted in the house and she went straight to the recliner and went to sleep. I was so upset with myself that I locked her up in the first place, I feel it made her crazier to be confined. Thankfully no harm was done and she healed up perfectly fine, even with all her gymnastics she performed getting into the rafters.

 

[spac]

Do you have a way to take as much as possible out of a room and let her into that?

Nope. I was planning on putting her in the dog crate for 1-2 weeks. I had no idea until the night before the surgery that she would freak out in there. When they said she was all doped up, I thought I'd try again. Nope, not any better.

They said the surgery is not as bad as a spay. We were never told to restrict cats after a spay until some time after 2005 or so. I also remember that I had a cat 10+ years ago that had a worse surgery in the same area of the body. I was not told to restrict him and he was fine.

I think I'm just gonna have to restrict her to my bedroom. She likes that room the best and my bed isn't that high, about the height of a chair.

I think certain cats are just extra sensitive to the drugs.

Could be. I did the math and only 6% of my cats (strays included) have had a bad reaction like this after surgery. It's super upsetting to witness this though. Especially when she stressed herself out and started making weird gurgly respiratory sounds. Once she settled down, the noises stopped. But I wasn't sure she was gonna settle down. When I called the ER, the only advice they could offer was to put her in a dog crate - the very thing that stresses her out.

I wonder what would've happened if I left her at the clinic overnight. I still think it would've been a bad idea.

She's settling down now, but I'm worried about putting the e-collar back on for when I go to bed.

 

[Furballsmom]

Your bedroom sounds good. About the ecollar, hopefully it doesn't stress her out

 

[spac]

Morning now.
She was restless the ENTIRE night. She paced back and forth, kept jumping on/off the bed. This morning after I woke up she must have sensed something was off (we have to go back to the vet for a checkup this morning) because she managed to take her e-collar off and hid under a chair.

I'm 90% certain that the e-collar is stressing her out. I tested it on her several times a few days prior to the surgery so she would be used to it, but she's reacting differently to it now. I've got a wifi camera pointed at her and I can watch her all day to make sure she's not licking at the sutures.

I haven't decided if I want to put the e-collar on to go back to the vet or not. I'm sure they'll have something negative to say about it. Like I said, I can watch her on camera all day from the same room. I'll be home with her. The problem is when I'm sleeping.

The weird thing is that I had put the e-collar on the snuggest setting. I don't how she got it off. I had it attached to a breakaway collar but she got that off too. Interestingly, she only made a forceful attempt to get it off once she realized something was off (going back to the vet). She recognized my morning pattern had changed and associated it with going to the vet, lol.

I repeatedly told the clinic she was going to be a problem. She's highly intelligent. She's a master at figuring people out, pushing their buttons, and manipulating them. Doing anything with her is a constant battle of wits and she often comes out on top. In 30 years and 50+ stray cats, I've never come across one as intelligent, obnoxious, and devilish as she is. The vet clinic must've thought I was exaggerating because they haven't been helpful.

 

[heatherwillard0614]

Something we had to do with our cat was using a collar. Put the cone on first then on the inside put the regular collar this way if she pushes the cone to try to push it off it stops on the regular collar. The collar just acts as a stopper if she tries to pull out of the cone. another thing u can try is turn the cone around backwards like in the picture if neither of these work then u can get a surgical suit for her like 1 of these hope 1 of these work for u
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B1HTTTJK/?tag=thecatsite

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I wanted to create a new thread for this, hope that's ok. ...

Once I let her out of the carrier, she was going crazy. She's not supposed to jump on anything but every room has furniture. The clinic was closed so I called the ER and two other clinics. They didn't know what to do because none of them can do anything without knowing what meds she received during surgery. She was also given transdermal Buprenex that lasts for 4 days (I didn't authorize that - I wanted syringes).
...
Any ideas as to why she's behaving like this? I've gotten tons of stray cats spayed/neutered and none of them acted like this. She's still affected by something (anesthesia, Buprenex?) but I don't know what or why.
...

I'm sorry you are going through that! Are things better this morning?

About not knowing what meds she received during surgery, the clinic should have given you an itemized billing at checkout, with all the things that were given to her before, during and after surgery, etc., since these things cost money and you pay for that. That's been the best way I myself have "known" what was done during my cat's surgeries. You can also request this type of billing and/or copies of her records while in the clinic. This might be something you could follow up on with them, so that you know (for future information). Some cats do NOT react well to certain meds, and it's good to know this for potential future surgeries! For example, my vet is not allowed to give my cat fentanyl skin patches, as she does not do well at all with that med.

 

[fionasmom]

Depending on how your vet does billing, you may need to ask for "all medical records including medications, test results, etc." Some vets just do an itemized statement that really shows only terms like "anesthesia", "surgery", "boarding cat". It does not mean that they are not above board, but that they don't routinely furnish all the records. I agree that you need the entire account of what was done or used.

E collars can drive cats nuts and I have a couple who can't wear them no matter what...any style. Having said that, there are alternative styles and types of those collars available usually online.

Buprenex can cause excitability in dogs, but less is documented about that with cats. I have used the syringes with my cats with no problem, but it is very true that you never know what reaction is around the corner.

I don't allow fentanyl patches either as one caused way too much CNS depression in a dog.