After surgery care

phoenician lady

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My friend's cat had surgery to repair a knee cap. It's been 24 hrs now and the cat won't eat or drink anything. She is shaking and crying on and off. My cats had never had such a surgery so I don't know how to advise her. Her vet office is pretty useless in helping with suggestions. Can anyone offer any advise on how long this should go on and/or what to expect? Thank you so much.
 

daftcat75

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That’s unacceptable! Your friend probably spent thousands of dollars on that surgery. She deserves clear post-surgery instructions. I got two or three pages worth of post-surgery care instructions for my Krista’s dental extractions and her ear surgery. Have your friend call the vet back and make a stink about it. Threaten them with a consumer report to the BBB (Better Business Bureau) if she can’t get the answers she deserves.

Did the cat receive a long acting pain shot? Vets often give buprenorphine SR (sustained release) or Simbadol (brand name for same drug formulation) because it’s long acting (up to three days) and frees the cat and guardian from medicine wrestling matches when the cat is least wanting to be handled. Have your friend check her vet receipt for buprenorphine. If the cat received this, some cats react better or worse than others to this drug. It can put a cat off food for as many as three days. Three days isn’t likely to cause fatty liver disease. But the longer a cat fasts, the less they feel like eating. She might need an appetite stimulant to restart the cat’s eating if he doesn’t resume on his own after the bupe wears off.

And if the cat wasn’t given bupe, the vet needs to clarify reasons why the cat might not be eating and at what point should she return to make sure something didn’t go wrong?

Also have your friend clarify whether the cat needs to be on activity restriction. I imagine s/he would. If so, I would get a portable pen like this to restrict the cat’s movements.
5E6C432B-5E70-4CCE-9E37-D3C19AEBD1E7.jpeg 914A0F98-E050-4255-AE33-74C393C92F3D.jpeg
My Krista had an ear surgery and was on activity restriction for two weeks. I kept her in the pen when I couldn’t 100% supervise her and make sure she wouldn’t run or jump or climb.
 

daftcat75

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In the short term, meat-only baby food, fried or rotisserie chicken with the skin (seasonings) removed, or tuna in water are all acceptable emergency foods (for a few days only) to tempt the cat into eating something.
 
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phoenician lady

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That’s unacceptable! Your friend probably spent thousands of dollars on that surgery. She deserves clear post-surgery instructions. I got two or three pages worth of post-surgery care instructions for my Krista’s dental extractions and her ear surgery. Have your friend call the vet back and make a stink about it. Threaten them with a consumer report to the BBB (Better Business Bureau) if she can’t get the answers she deserves.

Did the cat receive a long acting pain shot? Vets often give buprenorphine SR (sustained release) or Simbadol (brand name for same drug formulation) because it’s long acting (up to three days) and frees the cat and guardian from medicine wrestling matches when the cat is least wanting to be handled. Have your friend check her vet receipt for buprenorphine. If the cat received this, some cats react better or worse than others to this drug. It can put a cat off food for as many as three days. Three days isn’t likely to cause fatty liver disease. But the longer a cat fasts, the less they feel like eating. She might need an appetite stimulant to restart the cat’s eating if he doesn’t resume on his own after the bupe wears off.

And if the cat wasn’t given bupe, the vet needs to clarify reasons why the cat might not be eating and at what point should she return to make sure something didn’t go wrong?

Also have your friend clarify whether the cat needs to be on activity restriction. I imagine s/he would. If so, I would get a portable pen like this to restrict the cat’s movements.
View attachment 384429View attachment 384430
My Krista had an ear surgery and was on activity restriction for two weeks. I kept her in the pen when I couldn’t 100% supervise her and make sure she wouldn’t run or jump or climb.
Thank you so much for your reply. I am going to forward your response over to her right now. We appreciate your help
 
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phoenician lady

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Thank you so much for your reply. I am going to forward your response to her right now. We appreciate your help
 

silent meowlook

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Hi, cat needs pain medication ASAP. If they gave some, what is it? May be other things going on but the cat needs help
 

StanAndAlf

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Some great suggestions above, I have also used the playpen method when my cat was treated with antivenin, great for recovery. Yes, the cat should have received some form of pain medication, long lasting or otherwise, and also an antibiotic shot for an extensive surgery, so it might pay to check that was given as well. Nutrigel paste is a good appetite stimulant and can provide the cat with at least some of the essential nutrients while he/she isn't eating, can be smeared on the gums or watered down and syringe fed. Great of you to help your friend like this!
 

fionasmom

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You already have a lot of great advice, but I want to restate that this is entirely unacceptable and I hope that your friend does not think that this is standard operating practice and that she has to go along with it. This is a painful surgery and the cat should not be doing any of the things that you are describing.

If you are in the US, and if this continues or get worse, vets can be reported to the state licensing boards which will do a follow up call, at the least, to see what is going on. I believe that making the report immediately flags their license so that others can see that there is an outstanding complaint.
 
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