Need info about spaying please

I called the animal hospital today and got all the info. They said they
prefer to use injectable anaesthetic as opposed to isoflourane, because they
feel they can manage pain better. They said it's rare that they use iso...
and that kinda worries me. I've read that iso is much safer and leaves the
system more quickly. I hate the thought of all this so much but I know it
has to be done. 8-(


"Cathy Friedmann" wrote in message
...
Ah, that cute & pretty calico Brio kitty! :-)

Nope, a couple of times a year She'll probably be in heat for a
few-several days. Then go back out. Then come back into heat. IME (I
didn't have my first cat - in the early 70's - spayed till she was a year
old - d'uh! Now, I'd have it done by around 4 - 5 months old) the longer a
female cat remains intact, the closer & closer the heats come together.
Then it becomes more & more difficult to schedule a spay op between heats.

I've only had the one cat spayed. My other 2 female cats were already
spayed when I adopted them - at 1 to 2 years old, & my other cat's a male,
whom I had neutered. But w/ the first cat, the vet said to keep her quiet
&
from jumping around for a few days post-op. Ha!!!! Yeah, right. After
maybe a day, she was acting perfectly normally, & aside from caging her -
which I didn't do, there was no way I could keep her relatively inactive.
No probs. Healed fine.

Anesthetic - there's a newer relative (IIRC) of Isoflorane, whose name is
now escaping me. I did ask one of my vets about it once - shortly after
it
first became available. At that point she didn't seem to think it was
head
& shoulders about the Isoflorane.

Cathy

--
"Staccato signals of constant information..."
("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon

"Kim" wrote in message
. cable.rogers.com...
Not the whys, just the how's. Brio came into heat today and although I'm
terrified of putting my girl through surgery I know it has to be done.
Just
thinking about it makes me feel so sad and worried.

Even though she's young (7 months) I'll be getting pre-anaesthetic
testing
done as I want to minimize risk as much as possible.

What I'd like to know is the safest anaesthetic. I heard that there's
one
even safer than isoflorane. Any info, recommendations would really be
appreciated.

Also, how long will she be in heat? I've read that cats generally go
into
heat a couple times a year... is that true?

And, after spaying, how long is the healing process? I was thinking of
getting it done on a Wed a.m. then picking her up after work and taking
thurs and fri off work to monitor her... in addition to the weekend of
course. I

Please reply to the group as I'm using a spam-protecting email address.

Thanks so much for any info you can provide me with.

Thanks for the info...


"Dennis Carr" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 01 Jan 2004 19:38:33 +0000, Kim wrote:

Not the whys, just the how's. Brio came into heat today and although I'm
terrified of putting my girl through surgery I know it has to be done.
Just thinking about it makes me feel so sad and worried.

Even so, it's pretty safe, Kim. The odds of her having complications post
alteration, that I recall, are only slightly better than winning the
California lottery.

Also, how long will she be in heat? I've read that cats generally go
into heat a couple times a year... is that true?

If they are open for breeding and are bred on heat, on average they will
go into heat maybe twice or three times per year. If you leave them
unfixed and unmated, however, they will go into heat about once a month.


--
Dennis Carr - | I may be out of my mind,
http://www.dennis.furtopia.org | But I have more fun that way.
------------------------------------+-------------------------------

Thanks for the info...


"Dennis Carr" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 01 Jan 2004 19:38:33 +0000, Kim wrote:

Not the whys, just the how's. Brio came into heat today and although I'm
terrified of putting my girl through surgery I know it has to be done.
Just thinking about it makes me feel so sad and worried.

Even so, it's pretty safe, Kim. The odds of her having complications post
alteration, that I recall, are only slightly better than winning the
California lottery.

Also, how long will she be in heat? I've read that cats generally go
into heat a couple times a year... is that true?

If they are open for breeding and are bred on heat, on average they will
go into heat maybe twice or three times per year. If you leave them
unfixed and unmated, however, they will go into heat about once a month.


--
Dennis Carr - | I may be out of my mind,
http://www.dennis.furtopia.org | But I have more fun that way.
------------------------------------+-------------------------------

They let her go home the day they did the surgery? I'm pretty sure when I
got Pandora spayed years ago, she came home on the day she was spayed as
well. Our local animal hospital keeps spays overnight and that bothers me
cus they don't have staff on duty overnight. Apparently staff go home at
7:30, then a nurse checks at 11 and then alone all night. Does that seem
right? What if something happens during the night and there's nobody there
to help.


"MacCandace" wrote in message
...
Not the whys, just the how's. Brio came into heat today and although
I'm
terrified of putting my girl through surgery I know it has to be done.
Just
thinking about it makes me feel so sad and worried.

Even though she's young (7 months) I'll be getting pre-anaesthetic testing
done as I want to minimize risk as much as possible.

What I'd like to know is the safest anaesthetic. I heard that there's one
even safer than isoflorane. Any info, recommendations would really be
appreciated.

I know it's scary and I never look forward to it either but it's a
necessity,
unfortunately. When I had my last cat spayed (a little over 2 years ago),
she
was almost 6 mos. old and she went into heat, too, before I did it. That
heat
lasted about 5-6 days and I had her done right after that. I also had the
pre-anesthesia blood work and everything was fine but, yes, I was worried
but
I'm a worrier anyway. I waited in the waiting while they did it and then
left
once I knew the surgery was over and picked her up later that afternoon to
come
home. It made me feel a little better being right there in the building
while
she had it done. Of course, I had to take the day off from work and I
knew
they probably thought I was crazy at the vet's office but I didn't care.

I think the newer anesthesia you are thinking of might be sevoflourane.
My cat
had iso and she was fine but I also requested they use propofol as the
induction agent which cost a little more and I requested IV fluids during
her
surgery, too, which they did.

I know it's a drag but, with the tests beforehand, she should be just fine
and
recover very quickly.

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye
other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

They let her go home the day they did the surgery? I'm pretty sure when I
got Pandora spayed years ago, she came home on the day she was spayed as
well. Our local animal hospital keeps spays overnight and that bothers me
cus they don't have staff on duty overnight. Apparently staff go home at
7:30, then a nurse checks at 11 and then alone all night. Does that seem
right? What if something happens during the night and there's nobody there
to help.


"MacCandace" wrote in message
...
Not the whys, just the how's. Brio came into heat today and although
I'm
terrified of putting my girl through surgery I know it has to be done.
Just
thinking about it makes me feel so sad and worried.

Even though she's young (7 months) I'll be getting pre-anaesthetic testing
done as I want to minimize risk as much as possible.

What I'd like to know is the safest anaesthetic. I heard that there's one
even safer than isoflorane. Any info, recommendations would really be
appreciated.

I know it's scary and I never look forward to it either but it's a
necessity,
unfortunately. When I had my last cat spayed (a little over 2 years ago),
she
was almost 6 mos. old and she went into heat, too, before I did it. That
heat
lasted about 5-6 days and I had her done right after that. I also had the
pre-anesthesia blood work and everything was fine but, yes, I was worried
but
I'm a worrier anyway. I waited in the waiting while they did it and then
left
once I knew the surgery was over and picked her up later that afternoon to
come
home. It made me feel a little better being right there in the building
while
she had it done. Of course, I had to take the day off from work and I
knew
they probably thought I was crazy at the vet's office but I didn't care.

I think the newer anesthesia you are thinking of might be sevoflourane.
My cat
had iso and she was fine but I also requested they use propofol as the
induction agent which cost a little more and I requested IV fluids during
her
surgery, too, which they did.

I know it's a drag but, with the tests beforehand, she should be just fine
and
recover very quickly.

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye
other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

Was there a technician on duty all night where you had your cat spayed?

"William Hamblen" wrote in message
ink.net...
On 2004-01-01, Kim wrote:

And, after spaying, how long is the healing process? I was thinking of
getting it done on a Wed a.m. then picking her up after work and taking
thurs and fri off work to monitor her... in addition to the weekend of
course.

The vet who spayed Jo kept her over night. The cat was in no apparent
distress after the surgery. You do need to keep the animal quiet until
the stitches come out about 10 days after the operation. Keep her in
one room with food, water and the litter box. Cats get over it pretty
quickly.

Was there a technician on duty all night where you had your cat spayed?

"William Hamblen" wrote in message
ink.net...
On 2004-01-01, Kim wrote:

And, after spaying, how long is the healing process? I was thinking of
getting it done on a Wed a.m. then picking her up after work and taking
thurs and fri off work to monitor her... in addition to the weekend of
course.

The vet who spayed Jo kept her over night. The cat was in no apparent
distress after the surgery. You do need to keep the animal quiet until
the stitches come out about 10 days after the operation. Keep her in
one room with food, water and the litter box. Cats get over it pretty
quickly.

From: "Kim"

I called the animal hospital today and got all the info. They said they
prefer to use injectable anaesthetic as opposed to isoflourane, because they
feel they can manage pain better. They said it's rare that they use iso...
and that kinda worries me. I've read that iso is much safer and leaves the
system more quickly.

I had a cat that had a very bad reaction from Ketamine, so my present cats get
Iso only. Drugs like Torbagesic (sp?) can be given for pain. Personally, if
this was my cat, I would be finding a vet that regularly uses Iso. My cats
that have had Iso seemed to come out of it really quickly whereas with previous
cats who were given injectibles seemed drugged for a day or two. Also, I
wanted to mention that my vet has surgeries come in at 8:00 a.m. and the spays
are done before 1:00 p.m. The cats are allowed to go home late afternoon so
long as they are ready, and since my vet uses Iso, my cats went home the same
day and were just fine.

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

From: "Kim"

I called the animal hospital today and got all the info. They said they
prefer to use injectable anaesthetic as opposed to isoflourane, because they
feel they can manage pain better. They said it's rare that they use iso...
and that kinda worries me. I've read that iso is much safer and leaves the
system more quickly.

I had a cat that had a very bad reaction from Ketamine, so my present cats get
Iso only. Drugs like Torbagesic (sp?) can be given for pain. Personally, if
this was my cat, I would be finding a vet that regularly uses Iso. My cats
that have had Iso seemed to come out of it really quickly whereas with previous
cats who were given injectibles seemed drugged for a day or two. Also, I
wanted to mention that my vet has surgeries come in at 8:00 a.m. and the spays
are done before 1:00 p.m. The cats are allowed to go home late afternoon so
long as they are ready, and since my vet uses Iso, my cats went home the same
day and were just fine.

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

Thanks for the info...

Kim, are there other vets in your area? I agree with Lauren, iso is really the
best. I don't mean to further alarm you when you are feeling worried anyway
and, yes, odds are your cat will be fine even if injectable anesthesia is used
but one of the main reasons why iso and other newer gases like sevo are
superior to injectable anesthesia is that, if problems develop, the gas can be
shut off but, with injections, it's already in the system and there isn't much
that can be done other than to use some other medication to counteract the
problem.

There used to be a very nice and helpful vet, Dr. Martin, who posted to this
newsgroup. Unfortunately, I haven't seen him lately but this is a post he
wrote in Sept. 2001 when I was getting ready to have my Abbey spayed:

I have read countless times in this newsgroup that the ideal anesthesia in
cats is isoflurane only. When the topic of anesthesia is brought up people
are encouraged to request their cats be anesthetized with nothing but
isoflurane. This has bugged me for a long time so I've decided to comment
on it.

Isoflurane only anesthesia involves placing a completely alert cat in a gas
box and running isoflurane gas at maximum concentration for about 5 minutes
until the cat is unconscious, then the cat is intubated and surgery begins.
Isoflurane smells very bad and this procedure is extremely stressful for the
cat. It's not uncommon for the terrified cats to flail around inside the
small box trying to escape the noxious fumes. Not only is this disturbing
to witness, it places the cat at risk of self inflicted trauma. It is this
kind of prolonged intense stress that can cause a cat with asymptomatic
heart disease to decompensate and go into heart failure. Isoflurane is a
very safe anesthetic at regular concentrations but the high concentrations
used for tank inductions can cause profound, life threatening hypotension
(low blood pressure). Being in a sealed box the cat cannot be monitored
closely enough during this critical period. The induction phase of
anesthesia (before securing an airway with intubation) is the most
dangerous. With gas induction we prolong what could be a 30 second induction
to a 5 minute highly stressful induction. Also isoflurane provides no pain
control.

In my opinion ideal anesthesia consists of 3 stages.
1) sedation - an intramuscular or subcutaneous injection tha contains a
sedative, an analgesic and sometimes a anticholinergic to maintain heart
rate. Sedation allows for decreased doses of induction agent (safer). It
also calms the patient to reduce stress and provides preemptive pain
control.
2) induction - an intravenous agent that rapidly anesthetizes the patient so
that an endotracheal tube can be rapidly placed so that we can breathe for
the patient if the patient stops breathing. These agents act so fast that
they can be dosed to effect - we only need to give as much as needed to make
the patient fall asleep. In a high risk cardiac patient I may give a small
amount of induction agent to calm and restrain the animal and finish with a
short period of mask induction.
3) maintenance - I agree isoflurane is a desirable agent for maintenace.

I hate the thought of many cats going through the stress and increased risk
of gas induction because people are insisting on this form of anesthesia.

J. Martin DVM

He further wrote:

,,If you want safe anesthesia for your cat I would suggest requesting
intraoperative IV fluids. Intra-op fluids allow for instantaneous venous
access for IV injections of emergency drugs if needed. Fluids keep the
kidneys perfused and can help maintain blood pressure even in the face of
excessive blood loss.

Proper monitoring is probably the most important aspect of safe anesthesia.
A technician should keep track of anesthetic depth, heart rate and
respiratory rate. Monitoring equipment such as respiratory, blood
pressure, ECG and oxygen saturation monitors can also increase safety.

Hope this helps,

J.

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)