I posted earlier how my boy Grigio had become ill two days after having his teeth cleaned, and was diagnosed as having a reaction to the Clavamox that had been prescribed.
However, a week later, he became ill again, and when I brought him in the vet was concerned that he had a lot of air under his skin. I had to bring him to another, more specialized, hospital for an endoscopy to discover the cause.
But the vet there diagnosed the problem without the endoscopy because it's seen often in cats that have been anesthetized (which is why I'm posting this to alert others to this issue). Apparently, when they placed the tube down his throat for the anesthesia for his teeth cleaning, they nicked his trachea. This allowed air to lead under his skin, and in the vet's opinion was the cause of all his ills after the teeth cleaning.
I had to leave him in critical care because the treatment is to confine the cat to allow natural healing--which happens in most cases. If he doesn't heal, they will have to repair the tear surgically. I had good news today that he seems to be doing well, and I'm hoping to bring him home on Monday.
Ironically, the vet that thought he was reacting to the Clavamox, noticed that there was some air under the skin on the back of his neck, but he had given him a shot of another antibiotic, and cats often get a slight swelling after the shot, so he never considered it further. Thus, it took another week, and more suffering for my cat, before the problem became acute enough for diagnosis.
So whenever your cats get anesthesia, watch them for any signs of swelling or even general lassitude because the sooner they're confined, the better for them.
However, a week later, he became ill again, and when I brought him in the vet was concerned that he had a lot of air under his skin. I had to bring him to another, more specialized, hospital for an endoscopy to discover the cause.
But the vet there diagnosed the problem without the endoscopy because it's seen often in cats that have been anesthetized (which is why I'm posting this to alert others to this issue). Apparently, when they placed the tube down his throat for the anesthesia for his teeth cleaning, they nicked his trachea. This allowed air to lead under his skin, and in the vet's opinion was the cause of all his ills after the teeth cleaning.
I had to leave him in critical care because the treatment is to confine the cat to allow natural healing--which happens in most cases. If he doesn't heal, they will have to repair the tear surgically. I had good news today that he seems to be doing well, and I'm hoping to bring him home on Monday.
Ironically, the vet that thought he was reacting to the Clavamox, noticed that there was some air under the skin on the back of his neck, but he had given him a shot of another antibiotic, and cats often get a slight swelling after the shot, so he never considered it further. Thus, it took another week, and more suffering for my cat, before the problem became acute enough for diagnosis.
So whenever your cats get anesthesia, watch them for any signs of swelling or even general lassitude because the sooner they're confined, the better for them.