What type of anesthesia do the majority of vets use when neutering cats (adult)?

Question

I'm getting scared from reading about the injectable kind or valium, as opposed to Isoflourine- i think that's it, which seems harmless, fast acting, & leaves their system quickly with no side effects. Do all vets have options or do some use just one. I don't want to worry. Please help!- esp. any vets or vet techs out there!
Thank you!
Please

Answer 1

call your vet and ask them what they use. tell them what you have found out.

Answer 2

This is something for you to discuss with your vet once you make the appointment to get your cat neutered! Different vets may have different preferences on what they use, so depending on what vet you use, it could be a different anesthesia.

When talking to your vet, you can discuss your concerns about the neutering process. You seem to be knowledgeable already on the different types of anesthesia and the different effects, so at this point in time, you just need to find the vet that will use the anesthesia of your choice. Like a human doctor, a vet will only use what has been approved by the one going under surgery (or in this case, the owner). They wouldn't use anything without your consent...especially something as trivial as the anesthesia.

At this point, the best thing to do is to bring your cat to a vet to either be evaluated or to make an appointment and get a pre-op check-up. There's nothing to be worried about. So many cats get neutered every day! Don't just talk about getting your cat neutered...just DO IT! =)

Answer 3

The isofluorine is now the anesthesia of choice with vets. It is safer than the things used in the past and does not have any long-lasting aftereffects.

When my male kitties were neutered fourteen years ago I am sure they were injected with ketamine which stays in the system for a long time. I remember that one had trouble controling his limbs in the evening after a morning surgery. Ketamine can also make the cat have hallucinations after surgery.

Check with the vet. I would suggest you find a vet who will use the gas even if it costs you more.

Answer 4

I worked for as a vet assistant for more than two years, this is what we did: For cat neuters (routine, no undescended testicles or other issues) the vet admnistered an injectable anesthetic, a mixture of ketamine and valium. Neutering a cat takes an experienced vet about three minutes to do (sometimes less), and it would take longer than that to get them intubated and sedated with a gas anesthetic.

For spays and other more involved surgery, they are intubated and put on iso gas. These animals are often given a bit of ketamine/valium in their IVs prior to intubation to relax them and make the process easier.

Ask you vet what anesthetic protocol they use and why they chose that. Make sure your'e comfortable with the whole process before decided to take your cat in.

Answer 5

We use propofol anesthesia when doing surgery. Usually our patients go home same day from spaying/neutering and dental cleanings.

There's always concerns when putting animals or people under anesthesia for surgery. Try not to worry, Im sure it will work out just fine. If you're concerned, speak to your veterinarian.

Answer 6

Please don't be so nervous! Anesthetic drugs today are so much more safe than even 5 years ago! While the vet is legally obligated to tell you that anesthesia always carries some small chance of risk with any animal (including humans) these incidents are very rare!

It will vary a bit according to vet and region, but this is a general guideline: your cat will be given an injection of "pre-anesthetic" drugs: most vets use some combination of a cocktail of two or three drugs in small amounts.

This pre-anesthetic injection does the following: it relaxes your kitty and and makes her less fearful. This lessons the chance of her blood pressure and heart rate rising to dangerous levels from fear. It also counteracts side effect of the general anesthetic, so it is easier on her system. The shot may also contain some pain killer so that she will have its full effect in her when she wakes up. (I want to mention Ketamine here since someone here gave some bad info - it is a very useful drug for relaxing a fearful animal, and helps other things too. Given IV it wears off 1-2 hours. Given muscularly (IM) it takes up to 8-10. Very safe. Sometimes an animal can 'wake up rough' from it, which can look alarming to the owner, but the animal has no memory of this! It's used in cats and smaller mammals, mostly, and sometimes wildlife)

Depending on the cocktail, she may or may not be given a dose of Propofol (an injection). Some vets use it and some don't. More do all the time. It can be dangerous in the wrong hands, but having gone through school/training and working with vets, I can tell you that people are really trained in it pretty hard! I have never seen any problem with it. The upside of it is that it wears off and out of your kitty's system fast and with few side effects. The propofol, in fact, doesn't last but a few minutes, so what most vets use it for is to knock the animal out for like 3 minutes, so they can be "intubated" - that is, the breathing tube can be put in place without the animal fighting and causing injury to itself. (Note: Human medicine uses Propofol almost exclusively - you are given it before intubation, and given doses of it intermittently throughout surgery to keep you under. Again, after surgery it leaves your body very soon, and leaves no side effects.)

Once the tube is in place, it is connected to the oxygen machine, from which your kitty is given oxygen throughoutt the surgery. The oxygen machine breathes for her while she is unconscious. There is a gas given for her to breath along with the air and oxygen to keep her under (the alternative would be repeated doses of Propofol through an IV.) The gas is usually Isofluorane (techs/vets refer to it as "iso"). It is very safe. Something just as safe, and for cardiac risk patients or very old cats, even safer is another gas called "Sevoflurane". Some vets use one or the other, some have the option of both.

After surgery, and when the techs unhook the breathing tube from the machine, it is only a few minutes before the cat wakes up. The techs will be watching closely, and checking her closely, until this happens. They are checking her heart, breathing, reflexes, temp, etc. as they were during the entire surgery, to make sure there were no problems.

As soon as she is awake, the tech waits for a swallow to show the animal can swallow and won't throw up - then the tube is quickly slid out (the cat hardly notices!). She will be talked to, coaxed into alertness, and monitored for signs of any complication or suffering from pain.

Generally, as surgery ends, if the kitty hasn't received a pain killer before in the preanesthetic, she will now get a pain shot before she wakes up, to keep her comfortable. She may also receive an antibiotic injection. After she is awake, if she seems to be painful, she'll be given another shot or a little med by mouth.

When you see her, she will be groggy, tired, but shouldn't be in pain or very worried about it all. . .. she'll be stoned. LOL

I really need to tell you - vets and tech know what they are doing, and your kitty received only those drugs which will make the surgery SAFER and easier for her! They are not meant to put her at unneccessary risk, ever. Your kitty will not be given more drug than she absolutely needs. In my experience, the vast majority of vets go out of their way to not give unneccessary drugs, or too much if it's not needed. The only type of drug they may be generous with is a painkiller, so your kitty isn't suffering.

Common PA cocktails consist of a morphine (opiate) - derived painkiller, an anti-seizure drug (like a Valium derivative, but they are less powerful than human Valium like you're thinking of. .. ), and a relaxant.

Post surgical drugs consist of an antibiotic to prevent infection of the wound, and a morphine-type drug.

It is likely the pain drug and not the anesthesia which leaves your kitty groggy and 'out of it' for a day. This will not hurt her - she actually will be less nervous about the whole thing. By the time she is out of the drug haze totally, she feels better and pain has subsided.

It's all very very safe. People who work with animals in even routine surgeries are people who really care about animals, and watch closely for any problems. . . they are absolutely sick with grief in the rare times when something goes wrong (usually an allergic reaction by the animal, or a genetic heart or lung defect that causes trouble during surgery).

Getting your cat spayed or neutered lengthens his or her life span on average, prevents certain reproductive cancers, and prevents other dangerous medical conditions. The tiny risk in anesthesia is nothing compared to all that.