Cat gets freaked out coming out of anesthesia

[david68]

One of my cats, a small calico girl, tends to react very badly when coming out of anesthesia. It's not that she is in medical danger, but when I get her home, she gets extremely freaked out, loopy, and disoriented. The more she stumbles around, the worse she gets, and I pretty much have to restrain her so that she doesn't hurt herself by thrashing around. She got some dental work done yesterday, so I had to spend the afternoon and early evening monitoring her to make sure she was OK. On a previous occasion, I think she was hallucinating, and I had to hold her in my lap for an hour.

I was just wondering how common this is. In the same situation, my other cats, who are related to her, just sleep it off.

 

[Jem]

I had a cat who didn't react well to anesthesia. He would be kind of aggressive and did not feel comfortable in his own skin. The best thing we could do for him was to leave him in a quiet cozy place, just tuck his carrier in a corner somewhere and leave him be. When he was not as agitated, then we would open the carrier and eventually, he would come out of it, on his own terms, and was fine...even if he was still a little shaky on his legs.
I would think in your case, she feels threatened and in danger because she knows she can't defend herself, so not providing her with the opportunity to walk around and feel vulnerable would probably be a good option for her. I would also think that restraining her might also contribute to her stress. Many cats don't like to be restrained, so if you find she gets even more agitated as she attempts to walk around and stumbles everywhere, perhaps what we did for our boy would be a good option for you in the future.

 

[carebearbaby1]

Ask your vet what drugs they used for induction. Some cats can't clear ketamine out of their system as well as others. Maybe they could try different pre anesthesia drugs next time.