Anyone able to share insight on reaction to long acting pain medication?

[WestCoastKitties]

Hi all,
I recently brought in a stray by the name of “Rux”. Yesterday he had his castration surgery and the vet administered a long acting opioid pain med.
Ling story short, Rux is really scattered. I’m certain that the stress of the vet visit was a lot, but I’ve never had a cat show such signs of going between states of anxiety and euphoria. Last night he had diarrhea on my bed - I’m sure stress induced.
I put him in his bathroom for the night to keep him as quiet and “stimulation free” as possible, even though he does not like it.
Today he is very hyper and then quiet -
going to the door and growling and then being quiet and “normal“. I put normal in quotes bc I have only had him inside a few weeks and he normally is quite quiet and shy. I don’t mind him being active, I just feel badly for him bc his startle response is so high and I can tell that he’s definitely “in another space” from either the long acting pain medication and/or the anesthesia. They did give him fluids at the office so he would stay hydrated post procedure depending on how he feels. They did say he would “feel great“ and likely be “all loving and all over me and pretty chill“ bc of the pain medication.
i would say he’s definitely “not chill”.
I really wish I had been given the option to Medicate for pain bc this guy is probably having some “kitty high” and not necessarily the good kind.

I am not sure if anything can be done - I can put him back in the small bathroom, but he absolutely acts petrified (maybe because that’s where I put him the night I took him in and he associates it with that stressful incident?).

Anyway, I don’t feel like he’s in any harm, I just have never had a cat react to meds in such a dramatic fashion. Any advice would be appreciate.

He’s in between agitated and flighty. Right now he’s sitting at our front door looking outside and once in a while he will growl and swish his tail, sit up put his paws on the door, paw on the glass, then make a chirpy sounds, walk around and go back to the door.

I sincerely hope this wears off sooner than three days for his sake.

thank you for reading!

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Hi all,
I recently brought in a stray by the name of “Rux”. Yesterday he had his castration surgery and the vet administered a long acting opioid pain med.
...
I sincerely hope this wears off sooner than three days for his sake.

thank you for reading!

Poor Rux! Do you know the med which the vet gave him? Maybe buprenorpine, sustained release (72-hr)? Normally these things are itemized on the vet bill, so if you were emailed, or given a hard copy of, your vet bill for the visit, you can check there to find out what med it is. Otherwise, you can call the vet to verify what he was given and make sure you find out of any adverse reactions he might have for you watch out for which would make the vet want to see him.

My experience with the sustained release version of buprenorphine, or the 24-hr version of it (Simbadol, with a concentration of 1.8 mg/ml), is limited as I've only given my cats the doses/concentrations of bupe which are to be given once or twice daily. Some cats really react badly to the long acting versions - as you might see with Rux.

 

[daftcat75]

It can be difficult to watch our little ones not acting normally. But you'd also be concerned if he was lethargic, hiding, and in pain during this time. He just had a procedure done. With or without the medicine, he's not going to be "normal" and "chill" for a few days. Rather than isolating him in the bathroom, I would provide him company and support during this time. As much company as he desires right now anyway. The diarrhea was likely an anesthetic effect and probably won't happen again. It may be hard to witness him like this, but the medicine will wear off. Better this than pain.

 

[Kieka]

My boy does not handle opioids well either. I refuse them at this point unless he is in serious pain and there isn't a good alternative. It doesn't matter if I do the long release or daily dose; he gets extremely agitated and very out of it. I have tried non-opiods and he gets either super sleepy or jumpy.

In my opinion it isn't better then dealing with the pain because the last time (a non-opiod) he was so sleepy that I physically had to put him in the litter box and put food right under his nose to get him to eat. But opioids make him so grumpy/jumpy he hisses at shadows and hides. He honestly seems more relaxed just dealing with the pain 99% of the time. I do always get a pain killer to give it to him when he needs it. But I've seen him running and jumping on a broken leg so his pain tolerance is pretty high without medications.

 

[WestCoastKitties]

It can be difficult to watch our little ones not acting normally. But you'd also be concerned if he was lethargic, hiding, and in pain during this time. He just had a procedure done. With or without the medicine, he's not going to be "normal" and "chill" for a few days. Rather than isolating him in the bathroom, I would provide him company and support during this time. As much company as he desires right now anyway. The diarrhea was likely an anesthetic effect and probably won't happen again. It may be hard to witness him like this, but the medicine will wear off. Better this than pain.

Thank you - I noticed that when I went upstairs he came up and relaxed as much as he could in the floor next to me. I’m just going to take your advice and keep with him as much as he is comfortable with.
I don’t want him painful either, I just wish the vet would have told me there may be some cats who have a “mixed“ reaction to it, rather than the “he will be so chill and loving you” which I did honestly think a bit odd - bc in my past experiences, my cats come home a bit stressed and a bit dazed. Not normally hyped up and anxious.

I don’t like the idea of keeping him in the bathroom either - my vets suggested it - it really never feels right now that he has been so good in the main house.

thank you again!

 

[WestCoastKitties]

My boy does not handle opioids well either. I refuse them at this point unless he is in serious pain and there isn't a good alternative. It doesn't matter if I do the long release or daily dose; he gets extremely agitated and very out of it. I have tried non-opiods and he gets either super sleepy or jumpy.

In my opinion it isn't better then dealing with the pain because the last time (a non-opiod) he was so sleepy that I physically had to put him in the litter box and put food right under his nose to get him to eat. But opioids make him so grumpy/jumpy he hisses at shadows and hides. He honestly seems more relaxed just dealing with the pain 99% of the time. I do always get a pain killer to give it to him when he needs it. But I've seen him running and jumping on a broken leg so his pain tolerance is pretty high without medications.

I can see that response in Rux - jumpy - the growling is not bothering me - its just different. He’s been eating and using the box, but his pupils are rather large, which isn’t his normal on a bright day and compared to my other two boys in the house.

thank you for your respons!

 

[WestCoastKitties]

Poor Rux! Do you know the med which the vet gave him? Maybe buprenorpine, sustained release (72-hr)? Normally these things are itemized on the vet bill, so if you were emailed, or given a hard copy of, your vet bill for the visit, you can check there to find out what med it is. Otherwise, you can call the vet to verify what he was given and make sure you find out of any adverse reactions he might have for you watch out for which would make the vet want to see him.

My experience with the sustained release version of buprenorphine, or the 24-hr version of it (Simbadol, with a concentration of 1.8 mg/ml), is limited as I've only given my cats the doses/concentrations of bupe which are to be given once or twice daily. Some cats really react badly to the long acting versions - as you might see with Rux.

I know! I feel bad for him!

Yes, it was Simbadol .55mg (concentration of 1.8 mg/ml). Really hoping that it wears off by tomorrow-
I have only given my kitties bupe short acting and not had reactions like this one. I’m happy to at least now going forward that at least I know there are hopefully choices - i.e.: no on the long acting meds.

thank you for your response to me and Rux!

 

[daftcat75]

I would caution against skipping the long lasting pain relief depending on the procedure being performed. Sometimes it’s the best option despite the alarming reactions.

This is my Krista after dental extractions when I declined the long lasting bupe and asked for a shorter acting version instead. I ended up with an angry and in pain Krista who no-one at the vet staff wanted to handle. In the end, I had to throw a towel over her and push her into a box to take her home. I have transdermal bupe. So when she calmed down enough to let me near an ear, I was finally able to get her back on pain medicine. I’d rather have a restless and agitated cat who is feeling no pain than one who is in so much pain as to make an angry feral out of my normally very loving lap cat.
https://thecatsite.com/media/my-little-lion.422562/