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At Perth Cat Hospital we take your cat’s safety and welfare very seriously. There are many things that we do to ensure that your kitty’s anaesthetic is performed in the safest, most gentle and comfortable manner to allow them to have a smooth and pain-free recovery. If your cat has been scheduled for a procedure requiring an anaesthetic, we recommend you read the following.

Pre-surgical preparation

It is important that your cat is fasted prior to their procedure to ensure that their stomach is empty. However, given the cat’s fast metabolism, it is also important that we do not fast them for too long as this can predipose them to low blood sugars and hypothermia.

Please refer to our pre-surgical information that will be emailled to you prior to your cat’s procedure.

Admission

On the day of your cat’s surgery, they will need to be admitted into hospital for the day. This process generally takes about 10-15 minutes and is done by one of our nursing staff. We do require a consent form to be filled out and signed for each surgical procedure. It is vital that the correct contact details for the day are checked and filled in. The nurse will also take some time to go through some optional/recommended procedures that may accompany your cat’s surgery. These procedures may include:

• Vaccination / deworming
• Microchipping
• Sterilisation, tattoo placement
• Intra-operative intravenous Fluids
• Pre-anaesthetic blood tests

All our anaesthetics are accompanied with a high level of monitoring with a dedicated nurse patient side as our anaesthetist for each procedure. The surgical nurse will care for your cat from the very beginning of their procedure right through until they are completely recovered. They will even make arrangement for you cat to have a small post-surgery snack if they are well enough to eat. We use the top end model of the Surgivet Vital Signs monitor which measures multiple parameters including heart rate, respiratory rate and strength, pulse, body temperature, ECG, oxygen saturation, blood pressure and expired CO2 gases.

Cats are also prone to hypothermia (drop in body temperature) when they are under anesthesia. Our hospital is equipped with  a number of devices to help minimise this potential complication for our patients. We have a Bair hugger machine which is one of the most effective ways to raise core body temperature. It does this by providing warm circulating in a blanket that is wrapped around the cat. In addition to this we also have a heated water blanket to use during surgeries where we want to restrict moving air in the theatre. We have a fluid warmer which is used to warm intravenous fluids such as saline prior to being infused into the patient, and finally our stainless steel surgical table is heated with a precise temperature control.

One of our team’s core values is excellence, and in following true to this value we were one of the first hospitals in Australia to invest in the innovative v-gel airway devices designed specifically for use in cats. These devices are very similar to those used in human medicine. We are now using these devices in place of the older styled endotracheal (ET) tubes in most of our patients. The benefits of v-gels are many including:

• They are made from a very soft gel-like material meaning they are much more comfortable for the patient and easy to place
• They do not have to enter the trachea (windpipe) therefore they do not cause any damage or inflammation like traditional ET tubes tend to do
• They do not cause laryngeal spasm, coughing, gagging as seen in many cats with ET tube use
• They provide a greatly improved rate of flow of oxygen due to the wide diameter of the tube, what we call “less dead space”
• We have noted much better parameters on our anaesthetic monitoring equipment in patients with v-gels; such as better breath depth, oxygen saturation and more reliable anaesthetic delivery
• There is a notable improvement in recovery with most cats waking up more relaxed, less disorientated and comfortable.

For more information about v-gel devices head to their website: www.docsinnovent.com

Pre-anaesthetic blood testing

Once your cat has been admitted into the hospital, one of our vets will perform a thorough physical examination. We recommend that you remain available by phone in case the vet needs to discuss their findings with you. However, cats are masters at hiding signs of disease and a physical examination does not always detect underlying illnesses.

We recommend performing a pre-anaesthetic blood test on all cats prior to anaesthesia. Our on-site laboratory allows us to run these blood tests on the morning of your cat’s procedure which gives us real time results on their health status. These blood tests are very similar to what your own doctor would run if you were to undergo anaesthesia yourself.

Benefit of pre-anaesthetic blood testing:

1. To assure proper kidney and liver function; as they are primarily responsible for anaesthetic metabolism in the body
2. To assure adequate oxygen carrying capacity of the red blood cells
3. To ensure adequate platelet levels for blood clotting
4. To identify “early warning” signs of major blood and organ dysfunction
5. To establish base line parameters for your cat.

It is important to understand that a pre-anaesthetic blood test does not guarantee the absence of anaesthetic complications.  It will however reduce the risk of complications as well as identify medical conditions at an earlier stage.

Intra-operative intravenous fluid therapy

All cat’s undergoing an anaesthetic in our hospital will have an intravenous catheter placed prior to induction of anaesthesia. Because cats are small animals, they have an increased susceptibility to develop a drop in blood pressure (hypotension) in association with administration of an anaesthetic. This can be quite severe in some cats especially those who are very thin, old or unwell. We also see an increased risk of hypotension during longer procedures. Many patients undergoing a general anaesthetic can benefit from administration of intra-operative intravenous fluids for the duration of their procedure.

Reasons for intravenous fluid therapy

1. Supports the liver and the kidneys by preventing a fall in regular blood pressure, this can be more common in an older patient
2. Maintains blood pressure throughout the anaesthetic. Up to 80% of all patients undergoing a general anaesthetic will experience a significant drop in blood pressure that could be detrimental to organ function.

Discharge from Hospital

For updates on your cat’s progress, please be reassured that you are welcome to call us anytime. Our surgical nurse will call you in the afternoon after 3pm once your cat’s procedure is finished and they are in the recovery ward. If not already arranged they will also schedule a discharge appointment time for you to collect them. These appointments are usually made from 3 pm, and we are open later so it is possible to collect your cat at a time up to 5.30 pm if required. At your discharge appointment one of our team members will discuss your cat’s aftercare including medications dispensed, care of any wounds, sutures or bandages, as well as when to return to have these changed or removed.

Most surgical patients can go home on the same day of their surgery, however this will depend on their procedure and anaesthetic recovery. Some cats benefit from staying overnight in hospital to recover, and for more critical cases we may recommend transfer for overnight monitoring at Perth Veterinary Emergency. Please don’t hesitate to discuss these options with your vet.