Conference misery::feline_v1

3112.0. "ISOFLORANE, NEW GAS ANESTHESIA" by WR2FOR::CORDESBRO_JO (set home/cat_max=infinity) Tue Dec 05 1989 13:40

    I thought I would share this article with you cat types, this could
    help all of us.  It was taken without permission from The Sacred
    Cat of Burma newsletter.
    
    BIRMAN MEDICAL ISSUES
    
    Ariana, The Aching Jaw, And A New Anesthesia       By Hilde Schone
    
    This tale starts in mid-March, 1989.  Ariana (one of my spay queens)
    was then 11 1/2 years old.  She likes to eat and is usually the
    first to check out the menu at dinner time.  On this particular
    day, however, she was nowhere to be seen so I went looking for her
    and found her in the back room, sitting that sick sternal sit, one
    side of her face slightly swollen, drooling a little from the left
    side of her mouth.  It was, of course, after veterinary hours, so
    I immediately started Amoxicillin and took her in the next morning.
    
    The vet looked her over, said her teeth were badly in need of cleaning
    and set up an appointment for the next day, telling me to continue
    the antibiotics and gave her some subcutaneous fluids.  Ariana was
    obviously feeling better by that evening and ate a bit.  The next
    day I took her in, knowing it was necessary but worried about the
    anesthesia.  The vet informed me that he had a NEW anesthetic agent
    - Isoflorane - a gas anesthesia with much quicker recovery time
    and a safer track record.  He gave Ariane a shot of atropine, then
    zipped her up in a kitty bag, telling me some cat go through a
    thrashing around stage before the shot takes effect.  Ariana did
    indeed do some vigorous kicking, lasted about 30 seconds, then she
    went limp.  The vet put the ventilation tube down her trachea, hooked
    it up to the gas and cleaned her teeth, finding a small premolar
    that was the cause of her distress as it was loose and needed removal,
    which he accomplished forthwith.  So far, so good.  
    
    The remarkable thing is what happened next.  He disengaged the
    anesthesia from Ariana's tube and within 30 seconds she was sticking 
    out her tongue.  He then removed the tube and had me immediately take 
    her to her carrier, advising me to keep her quiet and dark.  She
    started raising her head within 3 minutes, thrashed about just a bit, 
    then got up, though a little groggily - all this within 7-10 minutes
    of finishing the surgery.  Because of her age, we watched her for 
    about 15 minutes then I took her home which is 5 minutes away.  (My
    vet and I have the understanding that I will let him do all the
    surgery but I will watch the surgery and will take my cats home 
    immediately afterwards.  I do have medical training so he goes along 
    with this.  Probably because I am an excellent customer!) When we got 
    home, I opened the door of the carrier and she didn't walk out, she 
    RAN out!  Just a wee bit drunk, but running.  She jumped up onto the 
    cat post and within an hour was eating.  Boy, was I impressed.  I'd 
    been told my cats needed dental care but had not had it done, feeling 
    the risk of anesthesia too great.  I'd rather have a live cat with bad
    teeth than a dead one with clean teeth.  Well, since then I've had
    4 of my other cat's teeth cleaned - ages 9 - 13, all as successful
    with very rapid recovery from anesthesia.  
    
    So if any of you are concerned about anesthesia ask you vet to use 
    Isoflorane - it's great!  Not all vets have this as the initial cost 
    of the system is $1000-$1500 and the gas itself (refills) is
    expensive.  My vet charges $10-$15 more for anesthesia with this agent 
    but has had such great success with it that he now uses it almost 
    exclusively.  Isoflorane is primarily excreted (gotten rid of) through 
    the lungs, rather than the slower riskier route of liver and kidneys so it
    can be more safely used in very young or very old animals and those
    with poor kidney or liver functions - after all, they all still
    breathe and that breathing is how the drug is excreted from the
    body.  Only about 2% of the drug goes through the kidney/liver route.
                                                           
    
    
    (paragraph breaks were not in the original text but were added by
    me to help ease the reading of the story)
    
    So, I know what I will be asking my vet next time I see her!  This
    sounds like a breakthrough in anesthesia.   If any of you have had
    similar experiences with Isoflorane, we would all like to hear about
    it.  Anytime one of my babies has to go "under", I worry the whole
    day.  This sounds like a safer alternative when our cats have to
    have surgery.
    
    Jo
                                                           

    
    Sounds really wonderful, Jo.  Thank you very much for entering
    all that.  I can believe the speed of recovery because I have
    had surgery 22 times and most times I have had either Halothane
    or Fluothane (sp?).  Almost immediate recovery, no headache, no
    nausea, but I do feel pain sooner because I don't sleep as long
    after the surgery.  I much prefer gas to anything else.
    
    E.T.

      Is this just for occassions where the animal does not need to be
    totally out, such as dental work?  Or can it be used for more serious
    surgery like spaying, other internal work?  It sure sounds great!
    
                                          Denise

    Most gas puts you out.  It exchanges in the lungs and leaves 
    your system faster than other anesthesia.  You just wake up
    faster and less groggy.  I kinda like it.  Wonder if the cats
    like the trip down !!

    Well, after watching the effects of the alternative I wish my
    vet did have Isoflorane.  We picked Bumpy and Mao up last night
    with the warning from the vet that they were still very groggy.
    "very" is right.  The front end seemed to be fine, but the back
    end wouldn't work right. Poor Bumpy ... she figured that if she
    stayed closer to the ground it would be easier so she tried
    walking around with her tummy 1 inch off the floor :-) didn't
    help.  I finally brought her upstairs and put her on the waterbed.
    She settled down to sleep.  
      Mao was equally uncoordinated, but seemed quite aggitated.  She
    growled at Jack and hissed at any of the cats who came near her.
    She kept her head in constant motion bobbing it up and down while
    she scanned right and left and right again.  I was a bit concerned
    with her.  Jack brought her upstairs and the three of us spent
    the next two hours on the bed where I could keep a close eye on
    them.
      We ended up confining them to the two larger cat carriers for
    the night.  I was really afraid they'd hurt themselves.  They were
    fine this morning.
      Nancy DC
    

    A general rule of whisker I use for cats that have anesthesia is:
    
    If they are done before 10 am and I pick them up after 6 or 7,
    crate them until at least 10 pm - then let them out and see
    how they manage.
    
    If they are done after 10 am and I have to pick them up before
    5 or 6, crate them, maybe let them out to box them and let them
    have a small drink of water (usually they want nothing) and then
    crate them for the night or confine them to a bathroom (small area)
    (with the door closed) until the next day and they have their land
    legs back.
    
    Usually they think they want things, but most of them including
    their brains are not working properly - crating holds them in
    check until they can function.

    Fortunately my vet does non-emergency surgery in the am, so by the 
    time I pick them up at the end of the day, they are tired, and slightly
    wobbly, but basically things are working.  Occasionally he has had an
    emergency which resulted in the non-emergency stuff being shifted
    later in the day, and then they really are in a non-functioning state.
    i think it is much better for them to be caged until they are pretty
    much functional again.  They will probably sleep anyway, instead of
    being worried and maybe hurting themselves.