# Cat died at the vet today, question about anesthesia



## fireweed farm (Dec 31, 2010)

Went to the animal dermatologist just to update a long term prescription for a chronic kitty skin problem. She (adult spayed)was overall healthy, eating well etc etc. Vet suggested he take a sample of skin and send it to the lab. 

When I went to see her at pickup she was gasping/wheezing and I was concerned. Vet etc said fine. That she was just waking up. Nope. 

Then he said may be laryngeal spasms. Then got worse. She was pretty much suffocating and it was horrible to watch. They put her under again and tubed her, when she came out it was not better again. Just worse and worse. She developed hypothermia, ended up on IV, heat pad and repeated tubes with linocane(?) they said shed be fine just to leave her with them overnight. 20 mins after leaving she died. I knew she wasn't going to make it. 

Basically she wasn't waking up from the drugs. But gasping a bit for breath. 

Anyways at one point the vet said that I didn't mention she had lost weight. Seems he dosed her with her fat winter weight not summer weight. 1kg difference on a small cat. Didn't weight her before surgery. 

Does it sound like she was overdosed? Not that there's anything that can be done. It just sucks. Thanks for listening.


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## katydidagain (Jun 11, 2004)

A responsible vet would not rely on old records for dosage; they would weigh the animal before administering weight based drugs. If he didn't weigh her, you shouldn't pay for the services whether she lives or not. I hope she pulls through.


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

The first question anyone should ask any medical professional, in any field, who wants to do any work on you, or anyone you love.........is "Why?".
The second question is, "Is this absolutely necessary?" With a followup on the second of "Why?" again.

If the answers aren't immediate, clear, concise and convincing, run..... don't walk away.

I'm sorry you lost your pet, but a unless he was planning to send half her hide to lab, why in the world would anesthesia ever enter the picture? And why send anything to lab if it's already being treated successfully?
I'm sorry to say that in some cases, "Let's do some lab work" = "I need to make a car payment".
Sometimes it's harmless, sometimes it isn't.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Part( loss of weight,cold,problem breathing) of what you are discribeing what my Sasha went thru. We found out after all of her problems she had cancer. Her intestines got wrapped around a cancer lump, is what she died from, but she also had cancer in her lungs. I am very sorry about Your Kitty, this kind of loss is very hard. You will probably question yourself forever, Please be easy on Yourself.


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## wendle (Feb 22, 2006)

He should have weighed your cat. It seems weird that he put her under again when she couldn't breath. Maybe she had an allergic reaction to the drugs. That could cause the throat to close up so she couldn't breath.


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## Belfrybat (Feb 21, 2003)

I am so sorry for your loss. The vet should have weighed her. That being said, complications can arise in any medical procedure where the animal is put under.


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## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

I am really sorry for your loss!


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## fireweed farm (Dec 31, 2010)

Thanks. She went under because I agreed it worth taking a sample, the drugs shes on weren't likely to work much longer before resistance and this test would list off what else would work. It did make sense to do, somewhat being proactive but also I live several hours drive from the vet and figured on just getting it over with and not going back in 6 weeks kinda thing. My local "regular" vets don't have a clue about this condition and this guy seemed to be on the ball.


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## Minelson (Oct 16, 2007)

I am so sorry this happened to you. I don't think that 1 kg off would normally be a big deal. At the clinic where I work we have sedated wild cats without weighing them because they are impossible to handle while awake. So the vet guesses the weight ( his accuracy is really good) 
I can't believe he said that to you...like it was your fault?? The cat should have been weighed before given anything. This is such a sad story in so many ways. I really feel for you and hope you are not blaming yourself. You were just trying to take the best care of your cat and things went way wrong  ((((hugs))))


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

fireweed farm said:


> Thanks. She went under because I agreed it worth taking a sample, the drugs shes on weren't likely to work much longer before resistance and this test would list off what else would work. It did make sense to do, somewhat being proactive but also I live several hours drive from the vet and figured on just getting it over with and not going back in 6 weeks kinda thing. My local "regular" vets don't have a clue about this condition and this guy seemed to be on the ball.



And I thought about that too, that you were just trying to do the best thing for your cat, so I didn't want what I said taken as criticism towards you, but rather the vet. Someone who went to school, has experience and should have known better.
A few years back, my Rottie was about 10 and limping on her hind leg. While at the vet for her shots, I requested an Xray to make sure she wasn't getting hip displacement or possibly a hairline fracture that was causing this.
The vet and I both examined the Xray and it looked fine, so I figured just let her soreness heal and get on with life.
She asked about putting my dog under anesthesia, and pull and push on her lower leg to see if there was anything loose in the tendons, etc.
:stars:
I didn't say anything but a polite "No, that's all right."
But I couldn't believe that she'd think I'd want to spend several hundred dollars, so she could aggravate a small injury, that was otherwise going to heal itself!
Not with MY dog, you ain't.
Needless to say, I've switched vets after that and haven't heard too many good things said about the old one.
I swear, some people......


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## Wolfy-hound (May 5, 2013)

It COULD have been too much anesthesia drugs, but there's no real way to know. Even a healthy cat given the low end of the proper amount of anesthesia drugs can have a unpredictable reaction and die. It's a risk when any animal is put under. Since almost every vet uses the least amount of drug that should be effective, a 1 kg weight difference SHOULDN'T have caused any issue.

Hard to know for sure, and that's the worst part, second guessing yourself about things and whys and hows. I did it when I had my VERY elderly cat put down, then realized afterwards(a couple days later) that her symptoms I took for the "end" could have been a reaction to new flea meds.

But we can't change the past, and at some point we do have to accept. If you really think the vet made a mistake, ask him point blank about if it could have been the amount of drugs. If you don't trust him afterwards, find a new vet that seems more trustworthy. If you feel it may have been just a freak accident or unpredictable reaction, you can move on.


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## Shygal (May 26, 2003)

katydidagain said:


> A responsible vet would not rely on old records for dosage; they would weigh the animal before administering weight based drugs. If he didn't weigh her, you shouldn't pay for the services whether she lives or not. I hope she pulls through.


Did you not read the title of the thread? The cat died.

Im sorry for your loss  I'm bringing my kitty in in the morning for a neuter and have worried about this happening


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

I am so very sorry you had to witness your kitty in such distress and then lost her. My heart goes out to you.


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## gapeach (Dec 23, 2011)

Hugs to you and I am so sorry for the loss too.


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## beccachow (Nov 8, 2008)

So very sorry.


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## Vydra (Jul 18, 2011)

I'm so sorry for your loss  The exact same thing happened to one of my cats when I took her to get spayed. It was definitely an overdose of anesthesia medication. The vet tried to tell me her lungs were underdeveloped or deformed. I took her to the university for a full autopsy and found out she was completely healthy prior to the surgery. Cause of death was pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs).


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## CathyGo (Apr 26, 2013)

Was this just a skin scraping? If so, a sedative should have been enough.

I'm sorry for your loss. That vet screwed up on top of the normal risk.


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## fireweed farm (Dec 31, 2010)

It was a tissue sample that required at least one stich. 
Vydra, I heard fluid rattling in her lungs and mentioned it to vet. He didn't do anything about that- though maybe it is a symptom of the laryngeal spasms I just don't know. But I heard rattling for sure.


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## SilverFlame819 (Aug 24, 2010)

My vet weighs my dog every time I walk into the clinic for something, in case he needs some drugs. His current weight is recorded onto file for every visit. They don't take any chances. I'm sorry about your cat.


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## Two Tracks (Jul 13, 2013)

So Sorry to hear this, that must have been awful for you to witness. Hope you didn't have to pay for this misfortune.


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

My vet is brutally honest, he will tell you straigh up if the animal is worth fixing...he will also tell you that he wont do unessary surgerys...great guy, actually a farm animal vet mostly...or used to be.

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk 4 Beta


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## troy n sarah tx (Dec 31, 2005)

The spams can because when the endotracheal tube is removed(same thing can happen in humans). They would sedate her again and put back in the tube to try to save the airway. There may have also been some respiratory depression that comes for many of the drugs used for sedation. Sounds like the cat had been hypoxic for a while which may have lead to her passing. I'm sorry for the loss of your cat.

Sarah RN


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## Homesteader (Jul 13, 2002)

I'm so sorry.....


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## TrainChaser (Nov 11, 2010)

I worked for a great vet for 12 years. When he put an animal under anesthesia, he gave them about half the usual dose first, then a little bit more at a time until they were under to the point where there was no reflex. You just don't guess at an animal's weight and pour the whole estimated dose into them.

Animals and people can have an allergic reaction to any type of med, including anesthesia. 

If you didn't know she was going under anesthesia beforehand, did you hold her off food and water that morning? Animals with food/water in their stomachs can vomit under anesthesia and inhale it. It almost sounds like that is what happened. If so, he knew better.

I'm sorry for you and the little cat.


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