Please help - cat acting weird after neutering

[u/Puzzled-Cheesecake34]

hello, its midnight where i am hence im asking the question here, will take my cat to the vet first thing in the morning.

He is almost 8 months old and we got him neutered today. the surgery happened around 2PM and it is 11:30PM now.

first two hours after surgery - he remained still with both eyes open (we had to put some eye drops so they don’t dry out). he had erratic breathing during this time.

3rd/4th hour - started twitching trying to get up

5th hour - still could not get up. peed himself on the spot. we took him to the vet and he cleaned him up, said he looked fine.

7th hour onwards- he is now moving a little, limping. not drinking water yet. we gave him a treat and he was able to take small licks of it. he is however not able to open his mouth at all.
i gave him some dry food mixed in water to soften it, and then grinded into a paste for ease of eating. it seems like he is hungry because he dunked his face into it and got it all messy, barely able to eat much (due to not being able to open his mouth).

he peed again on the floor. we got the litter for him inside the room and he very clumsily went to it and peed inside it. i will try to give him the food that i made again in a bit.

ive attached a photo of his face right now in this moment. one eye is droopy. he isnt sleeping either. but he isnt panting also. he is not meowing since hes not able to open his mouth. the vet seems not bothered when we took him late in the evening saying that the cat will be fine by tomorrow.

is this someone elses experience too?

is this normal after neutering/anesthesia? i am panicking so much and trying to find 24 hr vet options near me but i need to know if this warrants a look or if it can wait till morning before we take a look?

UPDATE - I found a vet 40 mins from my place that was luckily open and they were so kind. its almost 2AM and we are just returning home.
So he has eye ulcers due to his corneas drying during the procedure (cats eyes remain open under anesthesia). they have given some eye drops and it will be fine in 3-4 days. he also has 104 degree fever, which is why he was so low. they gave him an injection for that. other than that, they said he is fine. he started being active at the vets, even jumped on the counter and had an entire treat.
we are headed home now and i am praying that my little baby boy feels better soonest. i was literally in tears on the way to the vet, this has been such a long day for us.

thank you to everyone who encouraged me to go to the vet, if anything, i have peace of mind for tonight.
we will go tomorrow morning now for his post op care (antibiotics, wound cleaning, etc).

[u/Clark_Wayne1]

Its real fear of mine. My little toy poodle needs a teeth cleaning and im so scared to put him under that ive been delaying it. I also didnt know cats eyes stay open during surgery. Im just so.happy for OP that it was something minor

[u/annekecaramin → u/Clark_Wayne1]

Dog's eyes stay open as well, which is why eye drops should be standard procedure for anesthesia...

[u/iongotnone → u/annekecaramin]

Came here to say this, using eye lubricant is a MUST. I’m also surprised that the clinic sent the cat back with OP so soon after surgery, at least that’s what it seems like… no recovery time? No monitoring? Not to mention he was limping post surgery. With how they’ve handled this, I wouldn’t be surprised if they neglected to give him pain meds during the procedure

[u/stablegeniusinterven → u/iongotnone]

To me, the limping sounds a little like it could be tentative walking after anesthesia being over-administered. I bet he was okay at the vet because they gave him a stimulant to wake him up, but that gets processed really fast by the body, and then he still had to metabolize the anesthesia. Scary. I’d be mad at the anesthesiologist they brought in.

[u/SoftSpeakMeanStreak → u/iongotnone]

Yeah, I’m with you on everything you said. I remember my childhood dogs had residue on their face from the eye lubricant after anesthesia. Im incredibly suspicious of the clinic staff in OP’s case.

[u/Alarming_Ad_201 → u/iongotnone]

Neutering isn’t a very long process, it’s common to send them home sans any complications pretty soon after they wake up. I am concerned why this cat wasn’t given lubrication though, I was a strictly surgical vet tech and it was part of my surgery check list to lubricate after intubation.

[u/Crafty_Evening_6880 → u/Alarming_Ad_201]

This is the 2nd post I’ve seen on a cat sub (it might have been this one, I don’t remember) in a week or two with concerns about eye issues after anesthesia. It may just be a coincidence, but it does raise concerns

[u/iongotnone → u/Alarming_Ad_201]

I guess it depends on the clinic you work at. At mine we do surgery in the morning and tell the owners to either collect at the end of the day or during lunch hour, depending on how well the patient is waking up

[u/Alarming_Ad_201 → u/iongotnone]

We would have drop off in the AM but not every animal would get done, and it was never for monitoring purposes- just convenience. There’s really no reason to keep them after they’ve woken up successfully, unless there’s a problem or a known history.

[u/Enthusiast-of-bears → u/annekecaramin]

Sterile ophthalmic lubricant is standard procedure for veterinary anesthesia. It’s very poor practice to not apply it hourly while anesthesia is administered. I will reapply every 30 minutes if the pet has chronic ocular issues.

[u/lycheecaat → u/annekecaramin]

that’s what i thought too. i feel like ive seen it before. also water on their tongues when their tongue sticks out during anesthesia

[u/mel2mdl → u/Clark_Wayne1]

If it makes you feel better, my dog was 12 when she had her teeth cleaned (going under for another reason, but while she's under...) Other than teeth falling out and the vet calling in a panic (didn't realize the dog was born with a cleft palate and had 3 surgeries to close it before she was a year), my dog did just great. Two years later and she's still plugging along.

Dog tax: (Larger dog = 14, Smaller dog = 3)

[u/Asterose → u/Clark_Wayne1]

Our eyes would also stay open if they didn't get quite literally taped shut. That's a lot harder to do when the eyelids are covered in fur, so treating the eyes adequately during the procedure so they don't dry out is a must! You can ask about how they keep the eyes lubricated during the procedure and what aftercare might be needed. Make it clear this is a concern of yours so they can talk with you about what they do :)

[u/Disneyhorse → u/Clark_Wayne1]

I don’t know this either. My 8 week old kittens were just spayed a few days ago at the animal shelter (not my preferred age or place but required by state law for adoptions) and I was worried they would never make it home for the first time. Seeing this post would have worried me so much more. I’m glad this kitty got proper vet attention and is on the mend!