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Hi, my name is Petra My daughter had a pet cat around 5 years old. She took him to her vet for a tooth cleaning. After the cat came back from being under he had a seisure and arrested. The brought him back but he kept having seisures and she had to put him down. They say he had brain damage and only a 5% recovery diagnosis. Can you tell me how common this is and if their have been any studies or research? If not can you give me a website where I might find the answer to my questions? We are not accusing the vet of any wrong doing. If we can bring some attention to this possible risk and maybe have some research done maybe we can prevent future deaths. My daughter is devastated over loosing him, specially since it was an elective treatment. Greatly appreaciate any info. Regards Petra Rollins ASPCA guardian
Hi Petra, I'm so sorry to hear about this cat.
My guess on what happened here would be one of two things.
1. Thrombus to the brain- this is seen rarely after dental cleanings. Basically the problem is an undiagnosed heart disease that has no clinical signs. With these cats, there is some turbulence associated with the valves and it ends up being an area where bacteria can flourish. Dental cleaning takes a lot of bacteria and puts it directly into the blood stream via bleeding gums. The dental associated with the underlying heart disease can cause thrombus (clot) formation and then clinical signs associated with where it goes- in a case like this the brain. Some vets will put animals on antibiotics for a few days before the dental to help prevent something like this- it's efficacy is still not totally proven.
2. If Telazol was used as an induction drug, it can sometimes cause hyperthermia (increased body temperature). This is an idiosyncratic reaction in some cats meaning that there is no known reason why it happens. The high temp can cause brain seizures and thus death in affected cats.
I'm sorry again, I hope this helps ease your mind a little or provides at least some sort of closure.
Take care.
Experience: DVM, Emergency Veterinarian; BS (Physiology) Michigan State Univ