Various Issues After Spay And Microchip

[BlueJay]

Hello, my 6 month old kitten, Firefly, has surgery for spay and microchip last Friday. She seemed to be recovering normally until Sunday morning when she had diarrhea and vomited. I called the vet, they said it might be after effects of anesthesia or from pain meds, metacam. They said to stop pain meds, if it doesn't happen again and there are no other symptoms, don't worry about it. Later Sunday, she started shaking her legs around frequently, like there was something stuck on them, but I checked and they looked fine. Monday morning I took her into the regular vet. She said everything looked good, we did bloodwork and it was all fine. I mentioned I had put coconut oil on her for fleas a little more than 24 hours before the surgery, and wasn't sure if she still had them. So they put revolution topical treatment on her to make sure that was clearing up, and said possibly the coconut oil was causing the weird movements, her fur still looked a little funny from it. Tuesday morning, more vomitting and diarrhea, so I called the vet and brought in stool sample. They said she had some bacteria in it, I can't remember what, and gave me antibiotics for her and she has been taking them. Now today is Wednesday, and she ate breakfast fine, but has been eating less at each meal throughout the day, finally just licking off a little gravy.

I will call the vet again tomorrow, but does anyone have any ideas what might be going on? Has anyone else's kitty experienced anything similar? Her appetite was so good up until today, and I thought we had finally figured out what was going on! I'm just so worried about her. She is still playing and acting fine.

 

[TobiDaDog]

My 4 month old kitten is also doing the leg shaking thing since her spay last Thursday. It's baffling. It is like she has to shake water droplets off that aren't there. That's all I've got to relate and I'm going to talk to my vet about it when she goes to get her Staples out. I'm sorry your baby isn't feeling well and I hope she comes out of this quickly!

 

[jen]

A side effect to coconut oil is diarrhea. She had to lick it all off. How does it help with fleas? It is usually use for dry skin or hairballs. Never heard of it for fleas as there is nothing in it to repel or kill fleas that I am aware of. I would also worry about the high fat and calorie content of coconut oil.

I don't know maybe someone else can chime in on that....

I am sure her incision is a bit itchy as it is healing, maybe the leg shaking has to do with that since she can't easily scratch at the incision.

 

[tinydestroyer]

I was going to say the same thing: if she's shaking her legs, it could be because she feels itchy or sore or because she's wearing an e collar and doesn't understand what's going on. The diarrhea could either be from coconut oil or the bacteria found in the stool sample. If your vet checked her out, I'd just keep an eye on things and make sure she's staying hydrated and follow any instructions with her meds. Especially since she's still playful and acting normally. If the diarrhea doesn't stop, or she starts to get lethargic, take her back in.

 

[chromecat]

I use coconut oil for the fleas too because the hair gets sticky and they slow down and it's easier to catch them, but you have to use it with a good comb as it doesn't work on itself I am afraid. If she is taking antibiotics she might be nauseated and thus eating less but if her behavior changes just take her back in!

 

[jen]

I am so curious because fleas go all over the body, so if you are lathering up the cat in coconut oil, it not only is going to be one greasy cat, but stressed at the amount of grooming it will have to do to get rid of the coconut oil, and then the amount of coconut oil they will be consuming.

 

[chromecat]

I am so curious because fleas go all over the body, so if you are lathering up the cat in coconut oil, it not only is going to be one greasy cat, but stressed at the amount of grooming it will have to do to get rid of the coconut oil, and then the amount of coconut oil they will be consuming.

You don't need to lather up the cat in oil, you use a few drops here and there and comb. If you see the fleas but cannot comb them out then you put a bit more oil on a cotton ball and press slightly where you see the flea. The flea will slow down or stop, and that's when you pinch it or comb it off. I use this method together with baths from the neck down, to isolate the fleas in the body and avoid having them on the cat's head. None of my cats has ever been stressed by it and we got rid of fleas in a few days The amount of oil used is not enough to create any concern. All approved by two differents vets

 

[jen]

Ohhhhhh I see, I get it now.

 

[BlueJay]

I called the vet today and she said it is probably just the medicine. She has a few more days of it, I hope she will be back to her normal self then! She was eating a bite or too every hour or so this morning when I offered her favorite wet food, and she's still drinking.

I was home with her all morning and supervised her with the cone off, and she seems to be doing less shaking of legs and head, so maybe that was it! We'll see. Thank you for the suggestion!

I read that coconut oil has lauric acid, I think it was, and that it kills fleas. Other things I've read just said it slows them down and makes it easier to comb them out. I did use a flea comb with it. I know most people who use this method do it a few times to be sure they are all gone, but I didn't want to end up infecting her incision. When I noticed more flea dirt, I decided that it would be best to use a different treatment this time. Its the first time I've dealt with fleas, so I have no idea how effective it is, but I just don't feel comfortable putting chemicals in her every month. Just a little bit of coconut oil goes a long way!

Thank you everyone for your suggestions, I'll let you know how it works out!

 

[BlueJay]

I believe she's all better now! Her eating decreased while she was in the medicine so much that she was eating only a bite or two per day, with coaxing, and she started having some vomitting and diarrhea again part way through. The last two days of her medicine she started eating more and had no more symptoms, and she's been eating normally since! She's stopped doing the leg shaking thing too. Thank you everyone for your suggestions!

 

[BlueJay]