High Fever After Surgery

[bonniegirl80]

Wondering if anyone knows about this. My 5 year old cat had surgery yesterday and is still in recovery at the hospital. He had a mass taken out of his chest in a surgery requiring them to cut his sternum to get to it. He is now running a fever of 105 degrees. Is this a normal complication? He had been running a fever before the surgery due to the abcess that they removed.

 

[abyeb]

High fever can indicate infection. It’s good that they are still monitoring him. I hope he starts to feel better soon.

 

[mservant]

If there was a fever before the surgery and the reason for the surgery was removing an abcess then it may well be that he is still fighting the infection. It is good that your cat is at the vet surgery and being monitored - do you know if they are giving him antibiotics to help his body fight the infection as well? It sounds likely.
I hope he makes a speedy recovery and returns home to you soon.

 

[bonniegirl80]

Thanks everyone. Sorry I'm so late to reply. By 10 that evening his fever had broken and he was able to return home the next day. We are still unsure of the nature of the mass. They do not think it is cancer but more likely bacterial or fungal in nature. They are still perplexed as to how he got it behind his chest wall. Some lymph nodes were inflamed as well. They believe he maybe inhaled something that made its way into his bloodstream and then out into his body somehow. He is on three antibiotics...veraflox, clavamox, and doxycyclone. He was taking buprenorphine for pain but its been a week and we are tapering off on that.
The new stressor now is that the other kitty does not recognize him and is hissing and batting at him. He is safe in a large dog kennel because he has to be confined for a couple of weeks. I am worried she will never recognize him again. They are both five and have been together since kittens.

 

[mservant]

My previous two female litter sister cats used to be like that after either of them had been out to the vet. It could go on for a few hours to a day and then settle down. Some people help it along a little by using something to mask the vet scent and even things up a bit, or scent swapping by rubbing each of them with the same towel.
How are things going today? Are you managing to get the medication in to him?

 

[bonniegirl80]

I have been able to get meds on him. He's a pretty calm kitty. The other one is an anxious type. I hope the diffuser works. This has been going on for a week. I was even thinking of asking the vet to prescribe something to help calm the other kittty.