Following are selected posts to the Holisticat (TM) Mailing List on the subject of preparing for surgery/vaccinations. There's a lot of information here, and the posts are arranged in ascending chronological order. If there is a particular word you're looking for, it's probably best to utilize the "Find in Page" function in your edit menu!

Happy hunting :)

<16 Jan 99 From: Susan re: Surgery: Before/After treatments>

According to C J Puotinen in _The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care_ pp437-38,  before any elective surgery (including neutering) you can do the following things to help your pet: [This is a mixture of paraphrase and direct quotation]

Nutritional Therapy:

one week prior to surgery:

• stop feeding garlic as it is a natural blood thinner that helps prevent clotting.

• increase vitamin C  (high-quality c complex like ester-C, NOT ascorbic acid) 1000 mgs (1 gram) per 20 lbs of body weight, divided into two or three doses per day.  Reduce dosage if it produces loose stools.
• provide additional Vit A (can give 1/8 cup ground carrots per day, or extra liver, or 10,000 IU vit A  for cats and small dogs.  Continue these (vit A supplements) until the day before surgery and then for at least a week after surgery.

• give a good quality vitamin E complex derived from natural food sources, not synthetic vit. E.  Give 800 IU per day to cats and small dogs.  Discontinue supplementation one week prior to surgery as Vit E thins the blood.

BEFORE SURGERY

On the day before surgery, feed animal an early dinner (late afternoon) and don't provide food after 6:00 pm.  Withhold water after 8:00 pm. Continue treating with flower essences and therapeutic touch.  Do the same before leaving the house and again at the vet. clinic.

AFTER SURGERY

Greet your [cat] w/ rescue remedy and a hug.  Wait two or three hours before giving food or water, then provide clean water to help clear traces of aneasthetic from the system.  [Kathy also told me about using crabapple FE for cleansing system of aneasthetic.]  When your pet is hungry, give a soft food such as yogurt, soft fruit or pureed meat.

Herbal therapy:  Apply any healing tea to the wound, such as a strong infusion of calendula blossoms or plantain leaf with a few drops of grapefruit seed extract and a pinch of unrefined sea salt.  Because comfrey will cause the skin to heal rapidly, it's a good idea to wait until the stitches are removed so they aren't embedded under the skin's surface.  After that, use comfrey tea, poultice, or salve to speed healing.  Vitamin E, rose hip oil, and aloe vera all promote rapid healing without scarring; apply any of these 2 or 3 times a day. Calming nervines like chamomile, valerian or skullcap may hel your pet relax and sleep.

Homeopathy:  After surgery, if your pet is groggy, nauseated or slow to wake up, give a single pellet or tablet of Phosphorus 30c.  Arnica 30c is the all-purpose follow-up treatment for surgery; give one pellet or tablet every 4 hours for a total of 3 treatments.  If the skin is red or irritated or if there is discharge of fluid or pus around the wound or stitches, give one pellet/tab. of Apis mellifica 6c every 4 hours until the condition clears; withhold food for 10 minutes before & after treatments.

<<He is all raw, and has been since 3 months old. Is there anything I should plan on doing before or after the surgery, to help him through this easier?>>

I'd say to stay away from Vit E before the surgery, continue w/ the C before and up it a bit after.  When he comes back from the neutering, give him 1 dose of Phos 6C or 12C in spring water, to help get rid of the anesthesia.  About an hr after that dose, u can give a dose of Arnica 6 or 12C in water, to help the body heal.  That should pretty much do it. U may want to repear either or both of those remedies depending on symptoms.  Boys bounce back even quicker than girls so he should be back to his sweet kittenish self that same nite probably.

<<Stella, one of my FeLV kittens was spayed yest, and she seems to be very uncomfortable.>>

Kathy, I hope Stella is feeling better. Often cats will recover very quickly from such surgery, and while a little slowness and tenderness is to be expected, the behaviour you describe is probably a result of her pre-existing illness that's making her recovery slower.

I'm sorry I'm so late in responding, but here's some info from Diane Stein's _The Natural Remedy Book for Dogs and Cats_. Susan already posted a whole bunch of really good info, so I'm just including Stein's additional comments.

She says a liquid diet for a couple of days after surgery is fine, perhaps a broth, or either honey and water or honey, water and cider vinegar to rebalance electrolytes and blood sugar. Include aloe vera only if the cat is constipated; otherwise don't use it for at least a week after surgery.

Vits C, A, E and zinc help the healing process. These can be dissolved in the liquid. Surgery depletes B vits and digestive enzymes so these may need to be supplemented.

She says that you can apply echinacea tincture directly to the incision to help it heal. She says to do this for 10 days even if the cat feels better. Chamomile will help cleanse the liver of remaining anaesthetic and will help if there are digestive probs as well.

I hope Stella is recovering nicely and uneventfully. Kashmir and Annie send good spay recovery vibes and I'm thinking good thoughts for her.

Lee wrote:
<<Friday he's got an appointment for snip-snip.  I know it's been posted before, but could someone send me the info again about what to do before this type of surgery to help them?  I have several remedies at home.>>

Jillian wrote:
<<These are the notes I have to do for preparation, etc,....For the week b/4 - Up the vit C (a bit w/ every meal?)  No garlic.  2-3 days b/4 surgery - A little extra vit. A,  D & E,   Rescue Remedy in the water  and extra RR behind ears.   Lots of extra loving & healing energy.  A dose of Arnica right before surgery.  After Surgery...more RR, and some Crab Apple FE too.  Soft food (yogurt or pureed meat?) when he's hungry.  A single dose of Phosphorous (one note says 6c, one note says 30c), and Arnica (either once or 3X every 4 hours)>>

Does this help, Lee?

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear this!  :::hugs:::

I have to say though, that the death being a result of an 'allergy' sounds highly suspect to me.  I have sighthounds (yeah, I know DOGS, but it has relevance, so bear with me)  The reason that sighthounds cannot handle the traditional anaesthetics is that they have extremely low body fat in comparison to other dogs.  Normally, when the anaesthetic is introduced to the body the fat cells store it temporarily and let the body rid itself of the stuff in very small amounts very gradually.  With so little body fat,
the sighthounds don't have enough fat to 'store' the anaesthetic and so the body gets a big amount of it dumped on it's system all at once.  It basically overloads the system and death results.  There is a semi-new anaesthetic on the market called Isofluorine (sp?)  It is inhaled in a gas state (like when you have laughing gas at the dentist).  It is the ONLY ONLY ONLY and I cannot stress this enough, ONLY anestethic  that is safe for use in sighthounds.  I will never allow any of my animals, be they cat, dog or other to be put under using anything else.  Period.  If the vet doesn't use Iso. only, I don't go there.  Many vets have switched to this since it is much, much safer than the old kind.  Some haven't because it is a bit more expensive to use.  I would venture to say that cats may not have enough body fat to deal with the old types of anaesthetic simply because they are so much smaller than the average dog.   What type was used on this baby?

What is it about lots of sighth*und owners being members of this list? Hmmm...could it be that we prefer these guys since they exhibit more cat-like behaviours than other breeds of that lesser species, d*g?  ;-)

I think so. But back to the topic at hand. My greyh*und companion has seen the other side so-to-speak. He died on the table and was thankfully brought back - and this happened with the safest anesthetic for sighthounds, isoflourane. The lower level of fat is a consideration, but there are others. And allergy can't be ruled out or tested for. All I can say is, check with your vet and become comfortable with what they are using as well as their monitoring equipment and response protocols. There are certain
anesthetics that are appropriate in different circumstances. If you have a kitty that has existing health problems like kidney or liver troubles, it's worth asking if they have an anesthetic protocol that is appropriate.

I hope that this information can help someone, but I am so sorry for the pain and irreplaceable loss that has already occurred. Sara, you  have my deepest sympathies for your shocking loss. I know that neutering your kitty was never something that you considered could hurt your baby - only insure his future health. And your beliefs were right and I commend you for doing what we all know is the right thing to do if a kitty isn't destined to breed to better a line of cats. Only the tiniest percentage of animals react in such a way to anesthetics. I know that being that tiny percent of a percent has no meaning now. Being THE one in million changes our perspective, doesn't it? I'm sure it won't take away your pain of loss, but I also lost a soulmate recently to one of those one-in-a-million things. If I can offer comfort, or at least understanding, please contact me.

Here's what CJ Puotinen says about "Preventing and Treating Reactions to Vaccination":

"To help prevent adverse vaccine reaction , be sure your pet is in excellent health.  Do not vaccinate an animal that is scheduled for surgery, such as spaying or neutering, or one recovering from surgery or an accident or showing any sign of illness or parasite infestation....Because stress is an important factor, avoid stressful activities that day, such as bathing or grooming, treating fleas, visiting a stressful environment (the trip to the vet is stressful enough), training exercises or travel.  Plan a quiet day for your pet.

"Juliette de Bairacli Levy deals with compulsory vaccination laws...by neutralizing the vaccinations as much as possible., which she does by immediately pressing outward around the injection site, then rubbing the area with raw lemon juice.  This is followed by a day of watered milk and honey and use of laxatives for two nights.

"Homeopaths take a different approach, either following the vaccination with its corresponding nosode or treating with Thuja or another appropriate remedy, depending on the animal's symptoms.

"Some pet owners dose their dogs and cats with extra vitamin C or other vitamins and minerals several days before and after vaccination. [Note previous post about supplements for surgery]

Also, is it possible to delay the teeth cleaning for just a while longer to let your kitty recover from the vaccines and to let the immune-boosting supplements do more good?  Just a thought.

<< stop feeding garlic or Vitamin E as these are natural blood thinners that help  prevent clotting. >>

Hi All!

I just found out through my own surgery experiences that Vit. E does not change blood clotting.  It does thin the blood, however, but new evidence proves that it doesn't affect the clotting.

I was concerned and asked my Dr. about this.  His reply was that plastic surgeons discourage Vit. E, but for gen. surgery, clotting is not a problem.

This is good to hear, since it's such an important supp!

Judi & the MacFolds (still waiting on their Mum, paws & tails)