Accepted Answer

Hello, I'm sorry to hear about your cat.

I would guess that this is due to Calici Virus. Calici will cause oral ulcers (the red edges on the tongue), excessive salivation and often upper respiratory signs of sneezing/ nasal discharge/ ocular discharge. It is a virus that can be transmit between cats at the vet hospital or could have been sub-clinical and then became clinical due to the stress of anesthesia and being spayed.

One other big rule out is kidney disease. This can also cause oral ulcerations. I would want to check bloodwork now and compare the kidney values with pre-op bloodwork if any was done. If the kidney values are normal, then this is likely not all that serious and should resolve over 5-7 days. If kidney values are high, then I would think acute kidney failure from the anesthetics and she would need aggressive IV fluid therapy.

Pain meds would be ideal in this girl as well following surgery and with the oral ulcerations as they are very painful. Buprenex would be my first choice. I don't think a penicillin allergy is the culprit as this is very rare in cats- I can't say that I have seen any cases in my career.

I hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions.

Expert:	Dr. Gary
Pos. Feedback:	98.9 %
Accepts:
Answered:	10/21/2009

Cat Veterinarian

DVM, Emergency Veterinarian; BS (Physiology) Michigan State Univ