Emergency --Please Respond Immediately

[lorie d.]

HI

I have a serious problem. I took a perfectly healthy cat to the vet yesterday to have his teeth cleaned. After I got the cat home and let him out of his carrier, the cat was slow at moving and was walking very low to the ground. The cat found his bowl of dry cat food and tried to take a bite and then seemed to choke. I immediately called the veterinary clinic and let the vet know about this. The vet thought the cat was fine, that he just had a sore mouth. After that the cat continued to seem slow and didn't move around a lot. I thoought the cat might be still suffering from the effects of the anesthesia, and I decided to see how he was in the morning.

I got up early to check on the cat,(it is 4 o'clock in the morning where I am now--Central Standard Tine), the cat is lying under a chair and he is not very responsive. I have just called the vet's emergency number and I talked to a vet who was using a cell phone. This vet wasn't very helpful, and his voice kept breaking up. He mainly told me to bring the cat in when the office opened at 8 a.m. Since I can't get any local help for a while, I am trying to get some on-line help. I would like to know if anyone has any idea of what is happening to the cat. Is this an allergic reaction to the anesthesia? I am very worried.

Thank you in advance

 

[Anne]

I would be very worried too. Isn't there an emergency clinic somewhere near you that works nights? Some cats can take a long time to recover from anasthesia and all may be well, but you should see some progress with the cat's level of well being.

It could be a reaction to the anasthesia. Cats are quite sensitive to anasthetics and the doses need to be evaluated quite precisely by the vet. Also, the drugs are removed out of the system by the cat's liver, lungs and kidneys, so if the cat has any medical problem there (possibly undiagnosed until then) he could become overdosed as well.

Please let us know how he's doing!

 

[lorie d.]

Anne

Thank you so much for seeing my post!!! Blood work was done on the cat just before the anesthesia was administered. When I picked the cat up I was shown the results. The two results shown for the liver were both normal. For the kidneys, one result was normal and one result was very slightly elevated, it should have been 2.4 and it was 2.5. I was told this might be the early sign of developing kidney disease.

The clinic that I took the cat to does have a 24 hour emergency service. The very unhelpful vet with the cell phone is the person who is supposed to be handling emergencies. This vet has done more to scare me than to be helpful and his boss will hear about it.

If I pet the cat he does seem fully alert but he doesn't move around. Does that mean he is likely to be overdosed? Right now it is 6 a.m. where I live and I still can't get any help for my cat.

Anne, I want to tell you again how much I appreciate you seeing my post.

 

[Anne]

If he seems mentally alert that's good. He may be in pain and may be taking more thim to recover from the whole procedure. I do hope the vet will be able to put your mind at ease in the morning!

 

[alexnell]

I said a prayer for your furbaby. Hope everything turns out okay.

 

[lorie d.]

Alexnell

Thank you. I am taking my cat back to the vet very soon now. I will let you know what happens.

 

[lorie d.]

My cat, Snowball, has been seen by the vet now. The vet found that Snowball had become dehydrated, which was causing him to feel really unwell. Snowball has been given 300 cc of fluids under his skin, and an injection of vitamin B. The receptionist said that Pedialite would also be good if he seemed to be dehydrating again.

On Thursday evening I had to remove Snowball's food and water so he would be ready to go under anesthesia on Friday. Snowball never ate or drank since then, and the vet thinks that is the cause of the current problem, and that he needs to be built back up again. I have to call the vet with a progress report on Monday morning.

Snowball is 10 years old, please keep him in your thoughts.

 

[suzerq98]

I will be thinking about you and Snowball, hope he's doing much better. GatorAde is good also, maybe a little bit sweeter then the Pedialyte and some cats like the sweet taste.

smiles,
sue

 

[missycat]

Poor baby! I'm going through a tough time with my Missy right now, so I fully understand how worried you are. But it sounds like Snowball is improving. Missy also had to go without food and water for almost a day before her last ultrasound, and that's the last thing I wanted to do to a sick, skinny kitty - deprive her of nutrition. But Snowball could very well be reacting to the stress, anaesthesia, and lack of food and water. Cats sort of lose their appetite after anaesthesia, so I bet that's why he got dehydrated. Keep us posted. I'll be thinking of him.

 

[vjoy]

I am no expert, but it does sound like Snowball will be okay. He will just take a few days to feel back to his old self

 

[lorie d.]

Everyone

Thank you for your concerns about Snowball. He does seem to be getting back to normal very very slowly. He is walking normally but he still isn't moving around a lot, and he will eat and drink if I force feed very tiny amounts. His mouth seems to be really sore right now.

I hope Snowball won't have to be put under such heavy anesthesia again. There is some good news---

he still has all his teeth!!

 

[Anne]

Thanks for the update! I'm glad he's doing better!

 

[vjoy]

YAAAAAAAAAAY! Snowball!!!!!!!

:blubturq:

 

[lorie d.]

Thank you Anne and Vjoy

I am very happy to be able to say Snowball is now completely back to normal!!

I had to call the vet with a progress report this morning. He did say that the anesthesia and the stress were just too much for Snowball. Hopefully, if Snowball ever has to go under anesthesia again it will be kept as light as possible.