I thought I had lost her! 😱😢Watch out for renarcotization! You cat might die!
One of my ferals cats got neutered this Monday. I brought her home in a warm car. I put the carrier at the warm floor in the hall while making her bed/den nice. I lifted the carrier to her room and let her rest in the carrier. She was very calm - I thought she slept.
She had had problems with breathing wile they did the surgery. They had to intubate her, but she recovered and they could perform the spaying.
After 15 minutes at home, I got into her room and found her totally ”dead”, very cold and stiff. Eyes wide open. Since her temperature was so low, I was sure she was dead.
I called the vet crying and we decided I should leave her for post mortem next morning.
I didnt manage to set up a meeting for her fosterkittens instantly. I know the mourning process gets easier if they meet. After two hour I was ready. Then I found her alive and madly angry because of the collar.
This scenario, where a cat wakes up after an antidote and then falls back into deep sedation, is often called renarcotization and is a known, albeit serious, complication. When the cat is perceived as 'dead,' it is usually a matter of extremely deep sedation where the breathing and heart rate have dropped to a minimum.
Here are the most likely causes of what may have happened:
Renarcotization (The effect of the antidote wears off): The antidote has a shorter duration of action in the body than the sedative itself. When the effect of the antidote diminishes, the sedation takes over again, and the cat falls back into a deep sleep.
Low body temperature (Hypothermia): Anesthetics lower the body temperature, and a cat that is cold has difficulty metabolizing the anesthetic, causing it to fall back asleep.
Liver or kidney problems: If the cat has impaired liver or kidney function, the body cannot break down or excrete the anesthetic fluid at the expected rate.
Individual sensitivity: Some cats are more sensitive to anesthesia, which can be due to age, breed, or an underlying (undiscovered) disease.
National Institutes of Health (
I believe she survived because I spread a blanket over the small, dead, cold body. I didnt manage to see her freeze. I was close to putting her and transport cage out on the terrace, but couldn’t bring myself to set up a farewell for the kittens she had adopted. It took a couple of hours before I addressed this difficult task. Had I put her outside@, she would have passed away...
Get back to the vet instantly if this happens to you. Keep your cat warm on the journey!
Sources:
https://asra.com/news-publications/asra-newsletter/newsletter-item/asra-news/2021/02/01/the-use-of-ultrapotent-opioids-in-veterinary-medicine#:~:text=Renarcotization%20is%20a%20relatively%20rare%20phenomenon%20which,following%20reversal.1%20Affected%20animals%20may%20present%20with
