Eye Problem related to Anesthesia

[OwlCat1212]

About 24 hours after our 8 year old Maine Coon cat was anesthetized for a teeth cleaning, we noticed that the membrane around his eye (possible what is called the 3rd eyelid) was brown with some black rather than it's normal healthy pink. And he was squinting--not opening his eyes fully. His behavior was also off--lethargic, listless, etc.--rather than his normal self. We didn't notice any other symptoms. We are curious if this could be a side effect from the ointment they put in his eyes (Puralube Veterinary Opthalmic Ointment) or whether this could happen if they neglected to put the ointment in at all, or whether we need to look for some other cause. I should point out that trips to the vet are very stressful and involve lots of drooling, voiding both #1 and #2, etc. Has anyone ever seen symptoms like this?

[zodiacqueen]

I'd call your vet and tell them what's going on.  Maybe they can give you advice over the phone, or they might have you bring him in.  If it's something they've done that messed his eye up, they would be paying for it, if this were my cat.

[Mrs_Savas]

The sluggishness (lethargic, listless) sounds like the kind of thing that can happen fairly commonly following general anesthesia, but should be too extreme or go on for long.  if it continues much into today, I would be concerned.

Now, the eye issue is something else.  I have not had this happen, but I think I would want to get it looked at.  I'm thinking that it could be connected to your cat's blood pressure, which can be affected by anesthesia, or possibly something to do with his kidneys.

Puralube is a sterile opthalmic ointment used to prevent dryness.  It is only barely a medication, containing mostly mineral oil, and I don't think it has any side effects.

In other words, I would take him back to the vet.  I know that it's stressful for him (and you) but you don't want to fool around with anesthetic reactions.