pets and surgery

[Lorelei]

I wouldn''t worry too much at this stage, he has been through a lot and he should start to eat soon. If he doesn''t then there are things that can be done, but with luck, later on today he should take something. Or you could go to visit and sometimes if Mum feeds them, that can start them eating again.

 

[blushingbride]

It's tough - I just had our little yorkie, Harry neutered a month ago. He actually came through just fine w/ only the first night being the most difficult. I was shocked considering that not only was he neutered, but he had 4 teeth pulled (baby teeth which never came out because the roots were so long) and a small growth removed from his back leg. Since he had the growth removed, he had stiches which didn't desolve so, he had to wear one of those plastic collars around his head for a week. That was hard for him!

Good luck - he'll pull through just fine.

 

[Gypsy]

I''m glad to hear he is walking around now. Your probably right that nuetering is probably not routine there, so she did her best with what was a more complicated surgery than she was anticipating. Got prayers going for MC to start eating soon! ((HUGS))

 

[FireGoddess]

It''s common for them not to be hungry after the surgery - I suppose I''d not feel like eating if I had abdominal surgery either. They say to give them something really, *really* yummy - I''m sure if MC doesn''t eat something soon they''ll do whatever they need to do to get him feeling better at the vet. Keep us posted...

 

[Lorelei]

Any news today?

 

[Lorelei]

Bump - RT, is everything ok?

 

[rainbowtrout]

I picked him up today--he's lost quite a bit of weight & he's still tired, but he's walking around and is lucid, knows who we are. Still doesn't want to eat hardly anything, but he's only been home about an hour, maybe when he relaxes a bit more. For food, I cooked his raw diet in the microwave just to kill any stray bacteria since his immune system is probably busy at the moment.
He's drinking a lot of water, so that's something.

He does seem to still have a little trouble using his hind legs every once in awhile...I think this may just be that the incision is right where his leg brushes over his tummy? He is probably also just weak. Also, he's very dirty from not being able to clean himself (elizabethan collar)---I've tried to wipe him off with some damp paper towels and he seemed to like it, but he's still a mess.


He just plopped down on my lap to sleep ...guess I'm stuck @ the computer for a bit!

 

[Lorelei]

Oh bless him. He should pick up now he is home, he might want something to eat later on, keep trying little and often and hopefully that will do the trick. I am very surprised the vet didn''t clean him up as he needed it....

 

[rainbowtrout]

I don''t know, it''s a different standard. The tech didn''t put out a litter tray for him, and as far as I can tell I don''t think they talked/pet him at all. But they did at least try to feed him and give him his meds, so. They think it''s a bit odd I adopted a street cat anyway...purebred dogs and horses seems to be the only "real pets" accepted.

 

[Lorelei]

Perhaps they do things differently as you say, is he still asleep on your lap? That is the best thing for him right now!

 

[rainbowtrout]

Naw, he woke up and I took the collar off so he could groom a little, until he started poking at the stiches. He''s got two incisions...one in the middle of his tummy between his legs and another on his side. I have no idea why he has two..but I''m not a vet.

He licked a little bit of food off my finger and then toddled off...to have diahhrea. I''m not actually sure it''s a problem in itself, it''s more like he just hasn''t eaten, so there''s nothing solid there...yech.


Heh, I just looked behind me...he concked out again.

 

[rainbowtrout]

So, I put a can of tuna in front of him....NO interest, zip, nothing. So I syringe fed him some yogurt, sigh.


He NEEDS to start eating again...this is bad.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/27/2007 2:27:07 PM
Author: rainbowtrout
So, I put a can of tuna in front of him....NO interest, zip, nothing. So I syringe fed him some yogurt, sigh.


He NEEDS to start eating again...this is bad.

You might have to start making him eat, if he hasn't eaten anything soon, then you may have to pulp up some tuna or wet cat food in a blender if you have one, or use a sieve to puree it and start feeding him that way with a syringe. My feeling is once he gets some food inside him, then he should start eating again, but you may have to intervene. If this continues, then you may have to get him back to the vets, I am so sorry you are having to go through this, I know how worrying and frustrating it is.

I wish ecf was here, we could really use her advice, maybe she will see this and chime in.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Oh, poor little guy!! I'm so sorry you're dealing with this RT - I can only imagine the stress and worry. Can you try heating up the tuna to get it to be smellier. Mashing it up and putting a little on his nose/in his mouth/letting him lick it off your finger?? I'll look around and see if I can find any other tips. I know baby food (chicken or turkey but no onions) is supposed to be good, but not sure if you can get that where you are.

ETA: two websites I've seen so far suggest goat's milk, possibly with some baby food mashed in to make a paste, or on its own is OK too, or chicken, plain, cooked, and rolled up into tiny balls to tempt the kitten. Everything I've seen so far agrees with Lorelei's suggestion that you may have to MAKE him eat to get him started.

 

[Lorelei]

Just had a thought - do you have any tinned spaghetti in tomato sauce? A vet tech I used to know would use these to tempt a cat which was off it's food, strangely enough it often worked!

You could also try scrambled egg, a little cheese, sardines, packet or tinned ham, chicken or turkey, you could broil a piece of chicken for him, let it cool then break it apart with your fingers - every bite counts even if he takes only a little. Also offer him some dry food, it doesn't matter what it is, as long as he eats.

 

[rainbowtrout]

I called the vet, she said that he was eating a little bit with them, but that it should get better and that the diarrhea is bc of the antibiotics and not to worry. She seems to think I am being silly, I am getting tired of them thinking I am being silly

I don''t know...everything I have read seems to indicate that he SHOULD be eating by now. I''m going to syringe feed him 24 cc''s or so of plain yogurt in about an hour and see if that helps. I gave him about 8-12 ccs earlier.

Loreli, I don''t have a blender...if I have to I can go buy one, but for the moment the plain yogurt should be OK for a feeding or two.


Heee...I didn''t even know they made tinned spaghetti! No, I don''t have any, but I could make him a little pasta later...

 

[Lorelei]

Basically with cats, it is the sense of smell that is the most important thing to get them to eat, apparently the smell of spaghetti hoops etc is strong and tempting to cats, so it is the tomato sauce that sometimes gets them to eat! I would get a sieve out and mash some tinned cat food through it, get that into the syringe and feed him that way, a sieve works well for this ( done it myself!)

 

[AmberGretchen]

just make sure there''s no onions in whatever you''re feeding - they are toxic to kitties! Lorelei is totally right though - the smell is what gets them going, so I would just keep trying to tempt him with different smelly things.

 

[Lorelei]

How is he RT?

 

[rainbowtrout]

Sleeps all day, listless, doesn't want to play. He's STILL not eating on his own. Still has diarrhea. The vet gave me a 2nd antibiotic in case he has a gut infection caused by the antibiotic, but it hasn't helped much.

What is keeping me from going nuts is the fact that I *know* his primary antibiotic (amoxicillan) is notorious for causing diarrhea in cats, and the last time he had diarrhea, he went off his feed as well.

But the vet is insisting I MUST keep him on the amoxi--and since normally you don't even give antibiotics for a neuter or spay, this raises my eyebrows a little--what does this say about her sanitation?? To be fair, Morocco is just sort of--well, dirtier--and I might give a course too.

This is his schedule until Wend, it is sort of comical how complicated it is:
10AM--amoxi 1.5 ml
10:15--12 syringes of food+3 water
11AM--stomach antibiotic 2ml
2:15--12 syringes of food +3 water
3PM--stomach antibiotic 2ml
6:15--12 syringes of food+3 water
7PM--stomach antibiotic 2ml
10PM-amoxi 1.5 ml
10:15--12 syringes of food+3 water
if you're up--2:15--12 of food+3 water


The "food" is plain yogurt spiked with acidophilus, olive oil, and mushed up kitten food. Highlight of the day yesterday was that he at least batted at a ribbon for a minute and ate 8 chunks of food by himself.

He goes to the vet on Wend. to have his stitches out--I'm going to grill her about what EXACTLY went wrong because this is NOT normal, even for a complicated cryptochird neuter. If he's going to die I want to know *now* rather than later.

 

[Lorelei]

RT - I think that he ate some food on his own yesterday is a MAJOR leap towards improvement, so that is really good progress!!! I too am wondering what happened here and I hope she is honest with you, I don''t think you will lose him as I think it would have happened by now, he is showing improvement, and this might take time if he had an infection of some sort.

 

[rainbowtrout]

I think you''re right about something seriously wrong in the surgery would have killed him by now--if she''d nicked the intestine he''d have gone septic, if there was bleeding he''d have bled out, if there was an obstruction that would have caused vomiting....

So, I don''t know...unless she just couldn''t find the undescended testes and had to poke around in his abdomen for an extended period of time. That might have been major enough to cause this long a recovery, I *think*

 

[Lorelei]

It is likely that as the operation turned into major surgery, there are a few possibilties. Perhaps the testes took a while to find, her technique was off, the type of anaesthetic used could have taken longer for his body to excrete ( maybe she used an injection technique all the way through instead of fast knockdown then gas to keep him under). Also he is still very young and it is a lot for him to cope with, she might have cut through various muscles which need to heal and he is sore, probably lots of things here adding up to make him very miserable, poor little soul. Keep on with lots of TLC and nursing as you are doing, and grill her like heck when you see her!!!

 

[rainbowtrout]

So the vet has no idea what is wrong with him. Zip. None. Nada. He has a high fever and she has no idea what is causing it, or what to do about it. She changed his antibiotic to tetracycline. Doesn''t think it is salmonella, doesn''t know if it could be a fungal infection...

 

[Lorelei]

Has she taken some blood for testing? Is he been readmitted? Is he eating or shown any more improvement? The high fever suggests an infection somewhere, a change of antibiotic may help - I wish ecf were here, she would be able to offer great advice as she is a cat specialist vet.

 

[rainbowtrout]

She has no way to test him for anything as far as I can tell--there aren''t labs set up for it and she doesn''t personally own the equipment.

There isn''t a "readmitted" really, but she''s picking him up and taking him to her house to take care of herself, she apparently rustled up a cat-specific antibiotic she thinks will help.

 

[Lorelei]

That is good news that she is prepared to really go out of her way to help him, poor little chap. How are you holding up? Hang in there, sometimes it just takes a while for Mother Nature to do her stuff too, he is a young cat and that will help. Also antibiotic injections may be better instead of oral, this may help the diarrhoea by bypassing the stomach a bit more and allow things to settle down.

 

[rainbowtrout]

She thinks it might be infectious peritonitis that the surgery released into his system when she opened his abdomen. Which, in short, means that she said "the treatment isn''t very effective," i.e., he might not make it. However, it might NOT be peritonitis, we''ll have to wait and see. She just picked him up.

 

[Lorelei]

It could be many things which are causing these symptoms, try and hope for the best, hopefully she will be able to help him.

 

[FireGoddess]

Hasn't MC already been vaccinated, which would have included the vaccine for FIPV?

This all seems...so odd and suspect. I hope MC pulls through because I think I'd go nutso if he didn't recover from such a routine procedure. Big kitty hugs and head bonks and licks to you guys.