Fasting for Dental Surgery with IBD Grazer

[lanerich]

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation and has any tips or tricks they could share with me. I have an IBD cat who is on a special rabbit diet. He is very much a grazer and eats sporadically throughout the day and night. His IBD flares and he has vomiting if he goes a long period without eating and he gets very hungry. He also tends to scarf and barf at that point.

He is having a dental cleaning and probably at least one tooth extraction tomorrow morning. The vet wants me to fast him starting at 7pm (!) tonight, this is his usual dinner time where I put out the plate but he doesn't eat everything immediately.

Our other cat had a dental cleaning, 3 teeth extractions and lump removal surgery that lasted 3 hours under anesthesia a few months ago and their fasting instructions were no food after midnight. Granted that cat is about 4lbs heavier and does not have IBD.

Are we just in for a night of torture, screaming and starvation tonight or does anyone have any suggestions how I can get him to fill up earlier in the day so he isn't so hungry? The vet office says I could give him a teaspoon of food if he is truly starving between 7pm-midnight but then nothing after that. He will also get a dose of gabapentin in the morning which makes him even hungrier. I guess I just don't understand why he has to be fasted so early.

He's on budesonide and transdermal prozac and he also has cerenia available.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Ours is 6 p.m., so at least you have that extra hour. And yes, it causes for a fitful night because they are out of their routine, but he won't starve, and tomorrow when you drop him off, he'll probably be wondering what the heck is happening and then with all that IS happening he also won't be hungry. And be aware, he probably won't be able to eat again until the following morning, so that will be a very long time without food. But he'll be ok with it. Tomorrow night he probably will not be hungry because of the anesthesia.

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. Are these instructions from your vet or his staff? I would try to contact the vet himself and ask him. Where I worked, we just asked that cats not have breakfast. If they are honestly wanting you to fast an IBD cat for that length of time, I would be questioning them about the anesthetic they are planning to use and monitoring under anesthesia. But that’s me. I think it is an excessive amount of time. Although your vet is the one who knows your cat and is a vet. So, talk to him or her

 

[lanerich]

I think these are standard instructions from the staff and not taking into account that he is IBD. Their normal drop off time is around 7:30am and I read online that they usually want 12 hours of fasting. So I think that there is where the 7pm time is coming from. I did question it and asked to have the doctor review it but didn't manage to get past the front desk people. We are actually having an all in 1 exam and dental that was arranged by our mobile vet, so he is a bit of a special case and he isn't required to be there until 8:30AM. I'm thinking I should be OK to let him eat until 8:30PM in that case.

 

[FeebysOwner]

If you are good with 8:30P, then go with it! There are some tests that prefer 12-hour fasting, but as far as I am concerned, that doesn't necessarily apply across the board for everything. You can restrict how much he eats, but I would not completely deprive him of any food until midnight. Most cats that have med schedules to follow are given exemption, in that they can have a bit of food for those meds. I have always taken advantage of that exemption. I think the whole point is to not let them eat entire meals within a given period of time before sedation occurs.

I agree about asking specifics about the anesthetic as well.

 

[lisahe]

We had midnight for our deadlines before our cat had surgery last year. She also has stomach issues so I made sure to give her a little more food at about 11:58. She got Cerenia so at least I felt confident she wouldn't barf.

Good luck!

 

[lanerich]

We survived the night, I managed to sleep until 5am before I got woken up. He got his gabapentin shortly after that which triggered lots of anxiety and hiding because that means we are going to the vet. He's at the vet now and hopefully they will get everything squared away with his dental. His last meal was around 8:45pm which was exactly 12 hours before they started his exam. And they decided to do more bloodwork so it's going to be even longer until they start the surgery.

 

[lisahe]

I hope it went well!, lanerich !

 

[lanerich]

Yes thank you everything went great! He didn't need any extractions after all, so it was just a routine dental cleaning in the end. He let me know on the way home this afternoon that he was *very* unhappy about not eating for 18 hours. He immediately shoved his entire face in vacuum mode into a plate of old food he would never deign to touch under normal circumstances

 

[lisahe]

Yes thank you everything went great! He didn't need any extractions after all, so it was just a routine dental cleaning in the end. He let me know on the way home this afternoon that he was *very* unhappy about not eating for 18 hours. He immediately shoved his entire face in vacuum mode into a plate of old food he would never deign to touch under normal circumstances

That's great to hear on all counts!

 

[AGDonmez]

We survived the night, I managed to sleep until 5am before I got woken up. He got his gabapentin shortly after that which triggered lots of anxiety and hiding because that means we are going to the vet. He's at the vet now and hopefully they will get everything squared away with his dental. His last meal was around 8:45pm which was exactly 12 hours before they started his exam. And they decided to do more bloodwork so it's going to be even longer until they start the surgery.

Hi, I am curious if you have found any tricks to calm your cat and how you achieved to fast your cat? I am in the exact same situation as you. I need to fast my IBD cat who LOVES eating at 3:00 am and 5:00 am even after I feed her around 11 pm. I need to fast her for blood work and have to give her Gabapentin 3 hrs prior to the vet appointment. I have done this once before where I fasted her and given gabapentin and it was a disaster, because she gets very very loud if she is not given food waking up neighbors, then I have to inject the gabapentin in her mouth with a syringe on an empty stomach, she then throws up the medication within 20 minutes and wants to eat more food. (whenever I give her gabapentin with food prior to vet, she never throws it up, so I am 100% sure it is when she takes the medication on an empty stomach, it bothers her stomach.)

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi, I am curious if you have found any tricks to calm your cat and how you achieved to fast your cat?

Check with your vets, but medications are generally allowed with a 'bite' of food. If that can be done with the gabapentin, which I think would be OK, that might be your answer.

P.S. I also give my cat food at the very last moment possible when in these situations.

 

[lanerich]

Yes I ended up giving him a full fresh meal serving at 9pm the evening before because the appointment time wasn't until 8:40am and then of course they were doing all their prep things and didn't even start working on him until at least an hour later. I figured 12 hours before the actual anesthesia was sufficient and I also read that online. He actually slept through the night and I gave him a few licks of tube treat with his gabapentin at 6am. This only worked because his drop-off time wasn't super early.