Expert: Ali - 3/20/2009

Question
Hi, I was wondering if sending a cat home still knocked out from anesthesia after getting neutered, is normal for a veterinarian to do? I just recently got my 10 month old domestic long hair neutered today, and when I came to pick him up he was totally out, and was still out for about 3 1/2 hours after I got home with him, then he finally started moving his tail, it has been about 8 hours and he is still pretty tired and can't walk very well. Also he urinated on himself while under the anesthesia, and he was up trying to walk, he made it up the steps and urinated right at the top of them, is that common for a cat to do so shortly after being neutered? He had urinated in the house before about 3 times all together and I am afraid getting him fixed isn't going to help the problem. (I tried changing his litter, cleaning his box out more often, so I'm just hoping its nothing serious, he is a great cat but I can't have him urinating all over my house, especially with his urine...it is so strong, I've never had a cat with urine that smelly before, the vet said it would help the problem, I guess I am just hoping for some justification to what the vet told me, cause I'd hate to get rid of him.

Thank You for taking the time to read my problem!

Answer
Stacy,

It's quite uncommon for a vet to send home a still anesthetised cat in my experience. It sounds like this kitty was far from being in control of his faculties when he had his accident. I think it would be wise to place this kitty into the bathroom for the night as there may be more accidents. Normally vets that I've dealt with tend to wait until the cat is awake, able to control his bladder and bowels and safely able to walk around. I'm not sure why this vet opted to give you your cat back so soon after the surgery, but it's important to be aware that he can be seriously hurt wandering throughout the house because the anethesia affects his co-ordination and ability to control his bladder and bowels.

Neutering your kitty should help with territorial urine marking, but be aware it may take several weeks for your cat's testosterone levels to drop down to the point that they no longer influence him in terms of urinating outside of the litter box. I would strongly suggest that you consider checking out my previous answers on house soiling because there are other factors besides sexual maturity that could cause inappropriate bathroom behavior. In these answers you will find out more about why cats urinate outside of the litter box, how to deal with the behavioral causes of this common problem and how to clean up accidents so that they don't leave any smell that would prompt your cat to make the same mistake in the same area again.