Worried about my cat. Teeth pulled with anesthesia?!?

My cat just got a tooth pulled and a teeth cleaning today. The vet put him under anesthesia. He just got home. He has been walking back and forth, but I finally put him in his favorite bed. He is just laying there, but his eyes are watering and his toungue is slighty out. His breaths are at a faster than usual rate and really deep. When he exhales it kind of seems like it's shaking his whole body. Now my neighbors cat who also had this same thing done today is fine. He is eating and playing.





It's really freaking me out. He's 9 years old %26amp; we had all the proper tests done before saying he was ok for it.





Is this all normal?

Worried about my cat. Teeth pulled with anesthesia?!?
It doesn't sound normal to me, and at the vet hospital where I work we do dental cleanings and extractions every day. Usually the cats are up and eating and behaving normally within an hour after the end of the procedure.





I would call the vet, no matter what time it is, and discuss your cat's condition with him. I would definitely take him back to the vet in the morning so he can be examined.





Dental care is very important and is not a veterinary cash cow. Taking care of a pet's teeth can literally add years to its life and prevents all sorts of pain and illness .





Let us know how your cat is after the vet sees him.
Reply:He may be having a reaction to the anesthesia...my cat had a dental a few months ago..she did some weird wandering for a while . His tongue may be sticking out where the tooth was extracted...and it may go back into his mouth once he feels like himself again..which should start within 24 hours usually,....I am not sure why the breathing is like it is..but I suggest you call the vet and tell them..they may know of something they gave him that you may not know..Did he get any pain meds at the vet? My cat did and she got a lot of help from it... Did the vet use a gas for anesthesia? If he used something else it may take some more time to clear his system...but since you are so worried..I would definitely call the vet and let them know...I gave my cat wet food for a while until the extraction areas was healed. She had wet food for 2 weeks...to allow ample time for healing..
Reply:Different cats respond and "come out of" the general anesthesia differently and at different rates.


I must ask, was it a bad tooth that HAD TO come out and was the dental cleaning necessary????


In recent yrs., vets really "push" routine cleaning,... I think it's a cash cow for them and risky for animals to be put under general when NOT crucial to.


Especially on a more senior animal (but at same token a younger one prob. doesn't even need teeth cleaned) the "good responsible vets" would hesitate to put them under anesthesia unless absolutely life-threatening.


I hope within a few more hrs. your cat will be up and about.
Reply:poor cat.i know how you feel,my cat had 2 of her teeth pulled,too.she was acting kinda like yours but she was fine a day later.i guess she just slept it off.just in case i would call the vet and explain how the cat is behaving,he`ll know what to do.
Reply:It can take a full 24 hours before all the anesthesia is out of the cat's system (sometimes the injection kind lasts longer than the gas kind), but if he's having trouble breathing like that, you need to update your vet.





Hopefully he's walking steady, can track things with his eyes and moves his ears around listening to things. If he's not, he's too out of it yet and should be watched. Don't let him go down stairs or up on furniture, he could hurt himself falling off.