Hey there, doctor! My kitten was neutered right about a week ago now, and I followed aftercare to a t and he healed very well. However, I noticed from the getgo when I got him back that he was quite... snorty. I assumed he had a raspy throat from being intubated but he got worse rather than better, so I made an emergency appointment. It turns out he contracted pneumonia, and the vet believed it was due to him inhaling fluid when he was in their care. I was just curious, about how common is that?
(Oops and to be clear he was put on antibiotics and is almost 100% better now!)
It’s not common, but inhaling fluid is a well documented risk of anesthesia, being more common in patients that have not fasted, and brachycephalic animals.
For a castration, it’s common for cats to be done without intubation (sticking the endotracheal tube into their airways) and to be done solely with intravenous anesthesia, because the procedure is so quick. Routine castration is something like a 3-5 minute procedure, so its anesthetic risks are quite low.
Regurgitation and inhalation of fluid can still happen though. It’s always a risk, even if significant care is taken to avoid it. Procedures like dentals, where lots of water is used in the mouth, are at relatively higher risk of fluid inhalation, so extra precautions are typically taken to prevent it.
I don’t have statistics for you on how common it is in practice, but it’s been common enough that there are multiple routine steps clinics take to minimize it.
