Dear Cat Guardian,

This is to confirm that your cat is booked in for surgery. Please read the following information carefully:

At Home Before Surgery

  • The day before surgery, your cat can have their normal evening meal PRIOR TO MIDNIGHT.
  • At midnight, please take away all food, treats or snacks they may have access to overnight.
  • In the morning BEFORE 6:00 AM, you can feed a very small meal of 1 tablespoon of wet food – pate, broth or puree style is acceptable. **DO NOT FEED ANY DRY FOOD**
  • **DO NOT FEED ANY FOOD AT ALL AFTER 6AM.**
  • Any food given in addition or after this time may complicate or delay your cat’s anaesthetic, please contact us if you are concerned.

FOR DIABETIC CATS ONLY: (Disregard below advice if your cat is not a diabetic)

If your cat is a diabetic who receives insulin twice daily, please feed your cat normally the night before and give their normal insulin dose. In the morning of surgery, they can have half of their usual meal and half of their insulin dose 2 hours before their procedure. If they will be in hospital for the usual dosing time, please bring your insulin and their breakfast and discuss this with our nursing staff on admission.

Medications:

If your cat is on daily medication, please contact one of our staff to advise which should be given before a surgery. If your cat takes aspirin, clopidogrel, steroids (Redipred or prednisolone) or any medication that affects the immune system, it is critical you discuss this with a vet well in advance of any surgical procedure as these may require a wash-out or weaning off period prior to surgery.

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 surgical 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 nurses will also ask about pre-anaesthetic blood testing if it has been included in your estimate. These blood tests are very similar to what your own doctor would run if you were to undergo anaesthesia yourself. 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 earlier.

Benefits of pre-anaesthetic blood testing:

  1. To assure proper kidney and liver function (they are responsible for anaesthetic metabolism)
  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 values for your cat

Discharge

A member of our team will contact you when your cat is recovering from their procedure to discuss discharge. 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 may benefit from staying overnight in hospital to recover and facilitate administration of intravenous fluids therapy and pain relief. For these and more critical cases we may recommend transfer in the evening for overnight monitoring at Perth Veterinary Emergency.

Additional information regarding our care of your cat under anaesthesia can be found on our website at: http://www.perthcathospital.com.au/anaesthesia-and-your-cat/