Our cat has been vomiting a lot so my husband took him today. He is supposed to go back on Monday for bloodwork but the vet said he would need to be sedated because he was uncooperative. Is that normal? I can understand how agitated he gets but I would guess most cats are like that.

Yah it's not unheard of. Usually it's just done on really fractious cats.

The main reason to sedate a cat for drawing blood would be that the cat was aggressive enough that the veterinarian was concerned about his staff getting bitten. Since a cat bite means an automatic 10-day rabies quarrantine for the cat, I understand his/ner concern.

However, a vomiting cat may mean either liver or kidney issues, which could affect how the cat metabolizes the sedative drugs. Make sure the vet informs you of the risks and potentisl complications of the drugs that will be administered.

Since the vet sent your cat home for the weekend, then the cat must be pretty stable - able to eat and drink OK, no dehydration?

What seems so odd about it?

If you have to perform a procedure to save an animal's life, and said animal is uncooperative, you do what you gotta do to get the job done.

Nothing wrong wit it IMO.

Wellborn Road Veterinary Medical Center will take care of you. We have three cats, one of which HATES the vet and will bite. One of the other cats hates the vet for other reasons. Either way, they will ensure that your pet is comfortable during whatever procedure is necessary. http://wrvmc.com

I was concerned 1. Sedation is always risky, 2. It's expensive, 3. Thought vets had physical ways to restrain (and he only hissed - did not snap) and 3. For the reason of undiagnosed issues that might make it hard to metabolize. Forgive me for being worried about my dear pet.

How is the cat doing today? I am with you, sedation is never without risk.

he is acting normally but vomited this a.m. before the vet (4x this week) and had "flung dung" litter box issues. Calmed down and gave me normal cat love after he got home. He weighed 8.8 lbs down from 11 at his last visit.

Did the vet give you any information about what he thinks may be wrong? Seems strange to send home a cat that has significant weight loss and vomiting frequently. He could become severely dehydrated by Monday. Not the best time to sedate.

I might call another vet for a 2nd opinion. Thanks for the help.

full sedation? or just gas? I had a cat that had to be gassed just to get immunizations.

If they are using acepromazine, that has an anti-emetic effect along with calming the animal. You mentioned vomiting, so they may be trying for two birds with the one stone.

The aggressive cat I spoke of earlier has to be gassed for detailed exams and procedures. We try to avoid unnecessary procedures but if it's needed, it's no big deal. As far as restraining a cat, they are very strong and agile. About the only way I'm aware of is to scruff the loose skin around their neck. I imagine there's only so much you can do to the cat while it's scruffed.

My vet tried to "scruff" our cat , too and he looked like an alligator spinning in a noose, managing to still get his back claws buried into the forearm of said vet. I am amazed how "gumby-like" cats can be ---especially when "fight or flight" kicks in
Now....gas and elbow length raptor gloves, just in case.

All cats should be streched properly before any shots or blood work.

Combine a dehydrated car who's been vomiting and it's not feeling good with normal shitty cat attitude and you easily need to sedate the cat to get at a vein. (dehydration makes the veins even harder to get into.)

Hope all is well in the end.

Onlyfornow - a skilled vet or veterinary technician can get a blood sample in all but the extremely aggressive cat. Sedation and/or gas anesthesia can be risky in the compromised feline patient.

it can be risky in all situations, even with a healthy animal. Point being that out of control cats can be a danger to themselves and to the vets/techs/assistants---regardless of their experience and technique. In some cases, the greatest good is to be informed of the risk of anesthesia, accept it, and take the risk, to get the tests done for proper diagnosis to appropriately treat the animal.
(same for humans--i.e. children having full mouth dental restoration under general anesthesia in a hospital setting--risk of anesthesia? yes....greatest good? get the disease treated)

One of my cats has to get knocked out with gas everytime she needs bloodwork done, which has been as often as every other week although now we are up (or down) to every 6-8 weeks.

We tried a pill we gave her 30 minutes before heading to the vet. I saw them give her a sedative that had the opposite effect and made her act like a lion in a small cage at the zoo. Saw her lash out at the vet.

Convinced me that it is the kindest thing for her to knock her out so she does not know what is happening, especially since she has to do this a lot. It is not cheap but it is what she needs.

The same vet manages to draw blood on my other cats with no problems - just the one who becomes a terror when she is there. May depend in some cases on how much blood needs to be drawn. If they are doing a chem panel with a CBC and maybe SNAP fPL (pancreatitis) and/or SNAP FeLV/FIV/Heartworm, etc, that may be more blood needed than woould be for a healthy cat having a routine checkup.

Wish there were a cats only vet in town. Sometimes that can help them feel calmer. Could try a different vet clinic - some cats are calmer some places than others for unclear reasons. My cat likes some staff members better than others.

Hope they can find some answers for you. There is always the vet school too if needed. My cat has intestinal lymphoma and we are at two years and counting - hope yours is something simple to fix.

I agree withe sedation when necessary. A bite from a dog or a cat can be career-ending for a veterinarian or a technician.

Plus, as someone else mentioned, sedation saves many owners from having to subject Fluffy to 10-day quarantine and paying the cost of quarantine (usually ~$400 or more).

Thanks all, dropped the lil guy off this a.m. They offered an additional test to check enzymes to make sure gassing him would be ok. He didn't make a peep for me when I dropped him off. Apparently my husband indicated that he had been more defensive/violent in the past, when he has not so much as snapped or swiped the vet. But I have taken him before, and while not a happy camper, has behaved. He even had a skin scraping once while I was there and was perfect. Anyways, that would explain why they jumped to sedate. Only 5 hours until I can go get him!!

Mimi, I'm actually a skilled technician. Worked in a clinic for 6 years, and have been bitten and clawed by more cats than you've owned.

It doesn't matter how skilled the doctor or their staff is, some animals need to be sedated prior to doing this kind of work, not only for their safety but also for the animals safety, I'd much rather be bitten or scratched by a cat than have the cat jump off the table with a 20 gauge needle and syringe sticking out of its caroitrd artery... Which could lead to a dead cat.
Stretching a car means scruffing the cat and also holding the back legs secure while on a flat surface. Thereby stretching the cat so the doctor can draw blood from the femoral artery, also works very well for bladder sticks.

The more you know...

nevermind

[This message has been edited by Mimi (edited 10/3/2011 11:40a).]

MiMi - There is no need for a pissing match here.

Hope all is well with your kitty at the vet...sedating them is not uncommon but is not commonplace either. Generally everything is tried first before resorting to that..a vet should try with minimal restraint (sometimes less is more), E-collar, scruffing, etc. before resorting to sedation, but sometimes it needs to be done. Cats that are freaked out can also have what's called a cystocentesis reaction (due to a bladder stick) if they need to get urine...happens rarely but I've seen it once or twice, and they go into anaphylactic shock and can even die. It's much safer if the cat is calm for that (even with sedation).

Onlyfornow, I sure hope you aren't bleeding cats with a 20G (unless it's a tom) in it's carotid, or femoral artery for that matter! No wonder the cat is pissed :-)

How's the kitty cat doing?!

He was very glad to get home - had to go all over and sniff to make sure everything was ok. He had to fast, so I know he was starving, but he still stopped to give me some love before digging in. They had to shave part of his chest/neck so he looks a little funny. The results won't be back for a few days.

Dear lord, I hope you aren't purposely drawing blood from the carotid in any animal!

Anyway, sedation in cats is quite normal and there are safER drugs out there that can be reversed. Like others have said, it is far better to sedate a fractious animal to work on it than to fight it and potentially become injured yourself or stress the animal to the point that it dies (and cats can and will do this). Gas ANESTHESIA is not sedation and is just as dangerous if not more than simple sedation (which isn't simple, but simpled compared in to general anesthesia).

Hope the bloodwork comes out ok and your kitty just has an upset tummy.

Glen to hear he's feeling fairly good and glad to be home - keep us posted on how he's doing ... hope the belly's on the mend!

quote:

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Dear lord, I hope you aren't purposely drawing blood from the carotid in any animal!

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Maybe they meant the jugular vein? Only thing I can think of that you would really use the carotid for is an arterial blood gas, and even then it's not preferred.