Neutering A Cat With Brain Damage

[Pixxelated]

So... one of my cats, our boy to be exact, didn’t have the smoothest start in life. Due to hypothermia (and a very bad cold) at birth he has an acquired brain injury, it is mild and he had been followed up by a vet regularly. It seems to mostly manifest itself into him being a bit clumsy and uncoordinated. If you didn’t know his history, you would honestly struggle to notice the brain injury.

He does have an involuntary head wobble sometimes, but the vet isn’t too worried. However, because of this we agreed to neuter him once he rounded the 6 month mark.

I’m a bit worried though about the neutering... Like I’m not sure about the anesthetic and with his injury. Especially so since the last two days. I’m 90% sure he has been experiencing a sudden onset of localised seizures. It’s mostly been a lot of (seemingly) involuntary blinking in rapid succession and he is still responsive when it happens. He only has had one suspected seizure where it was more noticable, when his muscles seemed to seize up. Although, admittedly, that may just have been an attempt at him trying to bat at something, he doesn’t always move the way he *intends* to.

But yes, does anyone have any experience with neutering a young male with a brain injury?

 

[white shadow]

I’m a bit worried though about the neutering...Especially so since the last two days. I’m 90% sure he has been experiencing a sudden onset of localised seizures.....

Hi Pixelatexd !
Personally, I'd put the brakes on anything requiring sedation/anesthesia until this symptom is identified and assessed.....if I thought it might be a type of epilepsy, I'd copy that entire post and pose it to the specialized online Feline Epilepsy community for their comments/recommendations. You'll find them here: Cats with Epilepsy or Seizures - Yahoo Groups

Hope that will help !

(and, btw, when things get complicated in feline medicine, 'regular' general practice Vets most often fail miserably.....this stuff requires well-experienced, consummate Vets...preferably cat-only)

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Is there by any chance a GOOD vet school near you? They are working with the latest knowledge, equipment, procedures and drugs. They will NOT be cheaper, and may actually be more expensive, but they are on the cutting edge of feline health care.

 

[Pixxelated]

Thank you, White Shadow and Mamanyt! I will definitely check that group out and see what they say. I was going to take him for a full check up next week, to get his brain checked out again. So hopefully, it won’t be epilepsy.

As for a vet school... well, there is a vet school near us. But it’s not that great Unfortunately. I did find a feline specialist vet about an hour away though. So I’ve sent them an email as well.

 

[di and bob]

Since the brain injury is known, I would definitely check into the types of anesthesia available. When my 16 year old cat had to have surgery, they elected to use a method and type that worked differently from putting them so deep under. He came through it fine, despite his age and a heart condition. Young male cats usually come through neutering exceptionally easy, much easier than major spaying on females. Maybe they can concentrate on a more local anesthesia instead of a all encompassing body one, like they use in performing a colonoscopy on a human?

 

[Pixxelated]

I was thinking about that... I will definitely ask the vet when we take him in for his check up.

I know there are a few anesthetics amd painkillers we can’t use on him due to his condition... but I don’t know if local anesthetics would be any good or if they can be used.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I know with more major surgeries, there is usually a combination of sedatives and analgesics and the like that are used for both pre-op and post-op. I'm definitely no vet nor anesthesiologist, but I think there are also varying ways of giving the meds, like IM, CRI or intermittant IV, which have different effects, and/or are easier for the cat's body to process etc. I just don't know the intensity of anesthesia drug(s) needed for neutering. I agree with di and bob, checking on this with your vet when you bring him in for that check-up. When my cat had her two knee surgeries, each a year apart, we had learned from the first surgery that while one of the stronger drugs given to her via CRI during the op was okay, but she did not do well on that same drug (albeit given in a different form) post-op. So for her second surgery, we used a different strong analgesic/sedative post-op and she did great.

 

[Pixxelated]

Well, I’ve emailed the vets in the meantime. As suspected they want a full exam to determine the severity and nature of the injury, before any further steps might be taken. Which I fully agree with, especially since the shelter’s vet didn’t have a lot of info on his brain injury.

The good news is that they have experience with special needs, and there are a few alternatives we can pursue depending on his needs.

Vet said basically if he has cerebellar hypoplasia, then general anesthesia should be fine. Which is great... but if it turns out to be a “true” hypoxic injury with seizures, then he will be at risk no matter what procedure they use. They can use “safe” anesthetics with anti epilepsy agents, which basically means he is safe during the procedure - but might still experience episodes during the recovery period.

The vet also said that in the second case, he personally thinks the procedure would/could be too risky. He said there might be a chance its in his best interest to perhaps leave him intact, which if it’s best for our boy, we would pursue. But I’m certainly not keen on living with an intact male at all. And it’s definitely not my first choice. On the plus side, the vet also admitted he wouldn’t advocate it unless absolutely necessary. So we will see how his check up goes before doing anything major. Thanks everyone!

 

[PumpkinsMum]

I don't have any advice, but just wanted to drop by and say good luck and I hope the full exam helps you get some answers. Poor kitty :/ You are a good mom doing the best for him.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Sounds like you have good, caring and informed vets to work with now. This is excellent!

Here's a thought...years ago, my family dog was not spayed, but was on shots that suppressed the heat cycle due to heart abnormalities. I wonder if there is an equivalent for male animals. Something to ask about.

 

[Pixxelated]

Thank you two! I’m confident we will be able to sort something out...

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Keep us up-dated on how things are going. It's stories like yours that give us good information for others down the line, but ONLY if we know the outcomes. And even more importantly, we just wanna know that GOOD HEAVENS! WHAT IS HIS NAME? is happy and doing well!

 

[Pixxelated]

Sorry for the late reply! But his name is Jamie and this is the best picture of him I could get;

 

[Mamanyt1953]

What a sweetie! HI JAMIE!

 

[nansiludie]

He's adorable.

 

[Pixxelated]

And here he is post-operation. Everything went super smooth, he came round very quickly... and he seems not to have noticed a thing. They pre-emptively gave him a catheter, just in case. He didnt really need it in the end.

He seems more annoyed they shaved his leg for the catheter than with the actual operation. He was supposed to be all calm and sleepy, but he is just a little bundle of energy. We came home and he hasn’t stopped playing. Keeping a close eye on him though.

 

[Kieka]

Medications are a funny thing. My girl was the same, bouncy and hyper, after her spay. My boy, he was a grumpy gus and I was tempted to toss him in a room by himself until the medications wore off.

 

[KittyChaos]

First off- definitely inform your vet and try to get a video when these episodes happen to show them prior to anything.

On a side note- I did neuter my brain damaged kitty at 1 year of age. We waited longer on him only to see if he would finally grow a little while. He had been bitten at 4 weeks of age through his skull and had meningitis and an abscess (luckily outside of his skull or he would have died). He now operates fairly well and you can't tell other than the physical abnormalities and his gait that he has permanent brain damage. It did take him longer to recover from the anesthesia but he recovered well other than the length of it- and that could be completely unrelated to his brain damage. Most places wouldn't use acepromazine but voice concerns about medications that may lower the seizure threshold. Spookie's blind in one eye from the original injury and his ears had to be sewn up due to his skin necrosis and so they are now crooked and one sits more forward on his head than the other but otherwise he did great with his procedure. Luckily feline neuters take a total of 15 minutes when done right from induction to recovery, the actual procedure can be completed in as little as 5 minutes and probably even faster by experienced vet once he's been prepped.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Well, that answers the question I posted on Clawdia's thread! I'm thrilled that Jamie is doing so well!

 

[lalagimp]

Tommy had a "bad" reaction to the anesthesia from his teeth cleaning. He was wired and aggressive and it didn't wear off until he got a full night's sleep. He was so distractable that it took him twice as long to eat his dinner. He's actually had general anesthesia 5 times in the past year, and that was the only one where he kind freaked, or at least his other medical providers should have told me. I was familiar with it though. Different people and animals can have opposite reaction of the intended use of a painkiller or sedative. We got bit, and just had to wait for it to run it's course.