Pain control in cats is taken seriously as cats are good at hiding their pain. The premeds include ketamine for pain-blocking effects. Before placing the breathing tube, they get an injection of Cerenia for anti-nausea and anti-inflammatory effects. They might also get an injection of Onsior, an anti-inflammatory that lasts for 24 hours. Local blocks are used to control pain from the skin and muscle layer. Once in recovery, they get an injection of buprenorphine for pain control given either under the skin, lasting 24 hours, or by IV, lasting about six to eight hours, depending on which type of buprenorphine you give.

The same monitoring used during human anesthesia is used for cats. This includes checking blood pressure, EKG, oxygen levels with the pulse ox, CO2 levels in the blood, temperatures, jaw tone, respiratory rate, and heart rate. A veterinary technician is assigned to monitor the pet while it's under anesthesia.

Yes, they will. You do need to be a current client with Four Paws at Fulshear because you need a doctor-patient relationship prior to getting a treatment plan for surgery. That is required by Texas state law. By having an exam, I can catch any possible health issues that your cat may have prior to anesthesia. That way we can tailor anesthetic procedures for them.

Common anesthetic procedures for cats include dentals, feline neuters, feline spays, growth removals, and c-sections. We may also give anesthesia when we are taking x-rays if the cat's been hurt. If cats can't be cooperative or they're getting stressed, then we might give them some sedation to get our samples for testing, like drawing blood or doing treatments. So if we have a pet that's not quite sick enough to get hospitalized but sick enough to need treatments, then we may give some sedation to get those treatments done in hospital to make sure that it's not stressful for the cat. We do try to practice fear-free medicine as much as possible.

There are two different types of anesthesia used at Four Paws at Fulshear Veterinary Clinic. These are injectable anesthesia and gas anesthesia. The clinic most commonly uses a combination of both. Cats get pre-medicated with injectable sedation and once they have their breathing tube down, they're maintained on gas anesthesia.

I've never personally seen this happen, though I believe it is possible. If it ever does stop working, we can simply put another chip in to make sure that your pet can be easily found if they get out and are scanned.

In my 11 years of being a veterinarian, and another eight years as a veterinary technician, I've only ever seen one case of a side effect. This was when a dog's body formed a small hard nodule around the microchip, and we had to remove it. Otherwise, the risk of side effects are super low. The microchips are made from a material that the body's not going to react with, much like how gold or platinum is hypoallergenic.

A microchip is implanted in the dog by a hollow needle, and we inject it under the skin between the shoulder blades. It's a quick procedure as we use a fairly large needle. Most dogs and cats tolerate it really well. Before we pull out the needle, I pinch it to ensure that the microchip stays in and then we scan to make sure that it's appropriately placed. Before we inject it, we also scan the chip to ensure it is reading properly. It's very rare to see a faulty chip.

That's a great question. In today's day and age, everyone is looking for more holistic methods. What I have learned is that I like to blend the two: eastern and western medicine. I would say that there are some studies I believe where catnip can help. However, it's not long lasting. It can overstimulate the cat and have unwanted effects, so you just have to be cautious. CBDis up and coming. I would say that the studies are kind of inconclusive as to whether or not this helps. You do need to be doing it using a veterinary brand. Please don't go to Joe Schmoe's CBD shop on the corner. A good website is vrshealth.com. They actually have veterinarians on staff and they have done the testing. Their products are tested and safe and have appropriate dosing because I know at every farmer's market that I go to, there's someone touting CBD for pets, and my question is, has it been tested? Just know that the studies are still ongoing. I'm sure that you can try it just if it's a veterinary branded product. If you have questions, please give the clinic a call about this and we can chat about it.

As for other natural remedies, acupuncture can do wonders, so if you can find a veterinarian certified in acupuncture, that can help with pain relief. Cold laser is another holistic approach that is natural and doesn’t involve medication. It uses laser technology to penetrate into the deeper layers of the tissue relieving pain and inflammation, and increasing blood flow. There's not a ton of options outside of that that I would recommend unless you were under the supervision of a veterinarian who has a veterinarian's degree in holistic treatments. There are some things that you can deal with there, but you need to be under the supervision of a veterinarian.