after surgery questions

Okay, maybe I'm worrying too much, but Simon's acting kind of weird.
He's the cat who swallowed needle and thread the other day ("cat
swallowed needle" post).
I haven't called the vet because the weird stuff is admittedly slight,
and for the most part he seems to be doing well. He sleeps/rests about
2-4 hours, then gets up, walks around, eats and drinks, uses the pan,
etc. He likes to be pet and does his happy tail vibrating thing and he
purrs.
Yesterday he wouldn't jump anywhere, but today he's jumping short
distances. I noticed today when he jumped up onto a favorite sleepy
spot he seemed uncomfortable laying down, but he does have a huge long
incision on his torso, so I didn't think about it. But then he seemed
to be breathing kind of shallow and even trembling a bit, and his back
legs seemed a little restless.
I kept checking on him and he was sleeping, and he's since gotten up
and walked around a bit.
Do you think it was just because he jumped a bit, or maybe is cold?
Or am I worrying too much?
He goes back to the vet in the morning for another checkup but I'll
take him to the ER again without hesitation, I just don't want to if
it's not necessary.

Stacia

on Sat, 02 Dec 2006 22:28:25 GMT, (Stacia) wrote:

But then he seemed
to be breathing kind of shallow and even trembling a bit, and his back
legs seemed a little restless.

Pain can and does cause shallow breathing, though with the trembling, I
wonder if his fever is still high.

He goes back to the vet in the morning for another checkup but I'll
take him to the ER again without hesitation, I just don't want to if
it's not necessary.

Can you take his temperature? If not, I'd take him back in tonight. Right
now, in fact. If his temperature is normal or low grade, then he is
probably in pain. Is he taking pain meds? If not, he probably should be.
You could also be dealing with a cat who is both in pain and has a high
fever. He will need relief from either or both. And if he still has a
fever, he really should be checked out thoroughly as he may have an
infection.

--
Lynne

http://picasaweb.google.com/what.the.hell.is.it/

Lynne writes:

Can you take his temperature? If not, I'd take him back in tonight. Right
now, in fact. If his temperature is normal or low grade, then he is
probably in pain. Is he taking pain meds? If not, he probably should be.
You could also be dealing with a cat who is both in pain and has a high
fever. He will need relief from either or both. And if he still has a
fever, he really should be checked out thoroughly as he may have an
infection.

They took him off the pain meds because they thought it might be
causing that low-grade fever that hasn't gone away. I don't know why
they didn't just give him antibiotics in the first place if they think
the fever might be infection.
I don't know how to take a cat's temp but I have a thermometer I can
use, I'll look it up online and try to take his temp.

Stacia

(Stacia) writes:

Lynne writes:

Can you take his temperature? If not, I'd take him back in tonight. Right
now, in fact. If his temperature is normal or low grade, then he is
probably in pain. Is he taking pain meds? If not, he probably should be.

Okay, well I took his temp, it's 102.2. When I found him napping he
was breathing normally and there was no trembling this time. He's very
perky right now, he just ate and drank and used the pans and even
trotted around for a bit. I think we'll keep an eye on him tonight, my
husband will be up all night until early morning, then Simon goes back
to the vet, and I'll have him tell the vet about the trembling. I do
wish he was still on the pain meds though.

Stacia

Stacia,

It sounds like you're keeping a good eye on him.

The trembling can be pain. I won't go into our cat's details -- but she
had megacolon surgery and had some complications. Her trembling got
increasingly worse and we knew she was in trouble.

Hopefully, this is just occasional for your cat and something that just
comes with the surgery. I'm glad he's getting a checkup tomorrow so you
can ask there.

Good luck,

Rhonda

Stacia wrote:
Okay, maybe I'm worrying too much, but Simon's acting kind of weird.
He's the cat who swallowed needle and thread the other day ("cat
swallowed needle" post).
I haven't called the vet because the weird stuff is admittedly slight,
and for the most part he seems to be doing well. He sleeps/rests about
2-4 hours, then gets up, walks around, eats and drinks, uses the pan,
etc. He likes to be pet and does his happy tail vibrating thing and he
purrs.
Yesterday he wouldn't jump anywhere, but today he's jumping short
distances. I noticed today when he jumped up onto a favorite sleepy
spot he seemed uncomfortable laying down, but he does have a huge long
incision on his torso, so I didn't think about it. But then he seemed
to be breathing kind of shallow and even trembling a bit, and his back
legs seemed a little restless.
I kept checking on him and he was sleeping, and he's since gotten up
and walked around a bit.
Do you think it was just because he jumped a bit, or maybe is cold?
Or am I worrying too much?
He goes back to the vet in the morning for another checkup but I'll
take him to the ER again without hesitation, I just don't want to if
it's not necessary.

Stacia

In my experience, the trembling is usually pain/fever - ie not a good
thing. I am glad that is subsided, but also glad that you are going
into the vet tomorrow.
Good luck!

Rhonda wrote:
Stacia,

It sounds like you're keeping a good eye on him.

The trembling can be pain. I won't go into our cat's details -- but she
had megacolon surgery and had some complications. Her trembling got
increasingly worse and we knew she was in trouble.

Hopefully, this is just occasional for your cat and something that just
comes with the surgery. I'm glad he's getting a checkup tomorrow so you
can ask there.

Good luck,

Rhonda

Stacia wrote:
Okay, maybe I'm worrying too much, but Simon's acting kind of weird.
He's the cat who swallowed needle and thread the other day ("cat
swallowed needle" post).
I haven't called the vet because the weird stuff is admittedly slight,
and for the most part he seems to be doing well. He sleeps/rests about
2-4 hours, then gets up, walks around, eats and drinks, uses the pan,
etc. He likes to be pet and does his happy tail vibrating thing and he
purrs.
Yesterday he wouldn't jump anywhere, but today he's jumping short
distances. I noticed today when he jumped up onto a favorite sleepy
spot he seemed uncomfortable laying down, but he does have a huge long
incision on his torso, so I didn't think about it. But then he seemed
to be breathing kind of shallow and even trembling a bit, and his back
legs seemed a little restless.
I kept checking on him and he was sleeping, and he's since gotten up
and walked around a bit.
Do you think it was just because he jumped a bit, or maybe is cold?
Or am I worrying too much?
He goes back to the vet in the morning for another checkup but I'll
take him to the ER again without hesitation, I just don't want to if
it's not necessary.

Stacia

"Buddy's Mom" writes:

In my experience, the trembling is usually pain/fever - ie not a good
thing. I am glad that is subsided, but also glad that you are going
into the vet tomorrow.

I'm glad, too. We haven't seen any trembling since what I saw, and I
wonder if it wasn't from discomfort in the sleeping position he was in.
Because he's got that huge suture on his tummy, he gets really
uncomfortable easily. As the night's gone on he's felt better, and
we've taken his temp again and it's gone down another half a degree.

Stacia

On Dec 3, 2:40 am, (Stacia) wrote:

I'm glad, too. We haven't seen any trembling since what I saw, and I
wonder if it wasn't from discomfort in the sleeping position he was in.
Because he's got that huge suture on his tummy, he gets really
uncomfortable easily. As the night's gone on he's felt better, and
we've taken his temp again and it's gone down another half a degree.

Stacia

How's he doing tonight? What did the vet say?

-- Lynne, posting from google groups hell

"Lynne" writes:

How's he doing tonight? What did the vet say?

His temp was down at the vet, and we've taken it since then and it
remains down, so they think he had a bit of a reaction to the pain meds.
He's doing better, steadily getting perkier and more ornery, so I think
he's fine. The trembling hasn't come back, either.

Stacia

Stacia wrote:

His temp was down at the vet, and we've taken it since then and it
remains down, so they think he had a bit of a reaction to the pain meds.
He's doing better, steadily getting perkier and more ornery, so I think
he's fine. The trembling hasn't come back, either.

Stacia

That's wonderful news!