Why can't we feed our cat after he's been tranquilized?

September 4, 2008 11:22 PM

Our 20 pound monster of a cat had to be injected with a tranquilizer today at the vet. Afterwards, we were told not to give him any food or water until tomorrow. Google searches have turned up plenty of suggestions for how to tranquilize one's pet, but nothing mentioning not letting them eat or drink. We're obviously going to do as the vet says, but this cat has a darling habit of clawing furniture and knocking things off shelves when his dish is empty, so I can't help but wonder why. Any ideas?
posted by tomatofruit to pets & animals (12 comments total)

I'm not a vet, but perhaps the food or water would dilute the effect of the medication. Sounds like they want the pet to be fasting?
posted by abdulf at 11:30 PM on September 4, 2008

It wouldn't be that...all they did to him was draw a little blood for a test. He went into total psycho-kitty mode as soon as they got the tourniquet on his leg, so they had to tranq him so he wouldn't bite anyone.
posted by tomatofruit at 11:37 PM on September 4, 2008

Just a guess, but the tranquilizer effects might affect the functioning of the digestion system, so perhaps the vet wants it to wear off first. Can you put him somewhere that he can do minimal damage in the meantime, basement, garage, laundry room, pet cage, etc.
posted by hungrysquirrels at 11:47 PM on September 4, 2008

Perhaps it's the same as with anesthesia, with the possibility of the cat being so sedated that he could choke on his own vomit?
posted by arishaun at 11:52 PM on September 4, 2008 [1 favorite]

Perhaps it's the same as with anesthesia, with the possibility of the cat being so sedated that he could choke on his own vomit?

My thought exactly - sedation would slow down the cat's digestive system to the extent that it could puke and aspirate it's vomit. Your cat is sedated! It's not going to claw your shit up in a fit of hunger. Let it sleep it off.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 12:37 AM on September 5, 2008

...err - its own vomit

don't judge me by my grammar! please?
posted by The Light Fantastic at 12:38 AM on September 5, 2008

arishaun has it. Choking on your own vomit while sedated isn't fun for anyone.
posted by jrishel at 2:07 AM on September 5, 2008

Actually, it has more to do with the respiratory system than the digestive system. Sediation/anesthesia can suppress the airway reflexes - in particular, the ones that close off the trachea when the esophagus is open. Thus, during/around the time of sedation or anesthesia, one is at greater risk of aspirating oral or gastric contents into the respiratory tree (bronchi, lungs).

So yes, it is to prevent choking on your emesis, but more because anesthesia/sedation prevents you from protecting your airway.
posted by scblackman at 4:41 AM on September 5, 2008

This is really odd, but without knowing the specifics it's hard to say. It's unusual to send a pet home until it has regained its ability to swallow and reposition itself, which as far as I know are normally your main concerns about food (choking) and water (drowning in the dish) - at the clinic I work at, we normally don't send them home until they are up and around. Even after a general anesthetic event, we normally tell people to feed small meals later that night and to keep an eye on the pet around the water bowl (i.e. don't let it drink a gallon in one go), but we never tell them NOT to feed or water the pet, it should not be an untrained owner's responsibility to monitor a heavily sedated pet, if the pet is too sedated to be allowed to eat or drink, the pet should not be home in most cases. I would call your vet clinic back and ask for a more detailed explanation, perhaps you misunderstood their instructions?
posted by biscotti at 5:56 AM on September 5, 2008

When human beings get anesthetized, they are is a tendency to vomit later that day. The vet is probably saving you the trouble of cleaning up cat barf.
posted by Kololo at 7:45 AM on September 5, 2008

What sblackman said. Anaesthesia stuns the GI tract into immobility for a while (stopping peristalsis), which makes eating somewhat dangerous, as well as pointless.
posted by peggynature at 4:00 PM on September 5, 2008

The clinic I work for has one of the most advanced anesthetic protocols in the country, we have better pre-, intra- and post-anesthesia care than any clinic I have ever been in, and eating after a general anesthesia is NEVER contraindicated at our clinic unless for a specific other reason (like GI surgery). We suggest a small meal the evening after the event (which is normally 6-9 hours post-GA), with the proviso that the pet may not feel like eating. And this cat had sedation, not a GA, so the whole "stuns the GI tract into immobility" (not true, post-GA, you get reduced motility, not immobility, and the only usual symptom of this is delayed bowel movements, not problems with eating), "eating somewhat dangerous" thing is simply not true this long after an event (and also not applicable in this case). Hence the reason to ask the vet clinic.
posted by biscotti at 4:41 PM on September 5, 2008