Why Pets Become Nauseated After an Anesthetic Procedure

Has your pet recently had an anesthetic procedure? Have you ever wondered why pets become nauseated after going through a surgery? This article will explain a little bit about why your veterinarian always warns you that your pet may vomit and become nauseated when they get home from the surgery. First, let's take a look at what anesthesia is. Anesthesia is a controlled poison that is keeping your pet at a plane of sedation that is safest for him/her. Your veterinarian will try and keep your pet on the lowest percentage of anesthesia as possible. When your pet goes through a surgery, the body is being compromised and it will allocate energy to different areas to aid in recovery.

A perfect example would be an abdominal exploratory surgery. The abdomen is being compromised by the surgeon. As a result of this compromise, the body will allocate energy to organs and the site of the incision. When your pet wakes up, the digestive system is significantly decreased. This is because the body sees the digestive system as not being important in immediate recovery. The body will allocate energy to the liver, spleen, etc. to help in recovery. The gastrointestinal tract will slow down to the point where if your pet tries to eat immediately afterwards chances of emesis are greatly increased because the gut is no longer moving. This is the same reason that your veterinarian warns you to not feed your pet after 10pm the night before surgery. If you do feed your pet, chances of emesis while under anesthesia are increased or while recovering from the surgery. When the pet goes under anesthesia with food in the stomach, the gut will stop moving and your pet will vomit the food up. While they are recovering, the chances of aspirating the food are greatly increased. Even in pets that have no food in there stomach, they sometimes vomit bile. However, the chances of aspirating a small amount of bile are much slimmer than aspirating a large amount of food. So when exactly can your pet eat again after the surgery? Your veterinarian will commonly give you about 6-8 hours until you are able to give your pet any food. When the time comes to offer your pet food, you should offer it in small amounts. Feeding a large amount all at once increases the chances of emesis. The same goes with water, offer small amounts rather than offering an entire bowl of water. Your veterinarian will usually send home a bland canned diet for the following 2 days post-op recovery. After those 2 days have passed, the regular diet may be started again. Remembering these tips before and after an anesthetic procedure will help prevent any pre/post-op complications.