Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Eye bleeding after spay or neuter surgery in shelter cats
By Schenk, Alex P et al.·Published in Veterinary ophthalmology·2020·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Feline post-sterilization hyphema.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
Three young male cats under one year old developed eye bleeding (hyphema) shortly after being spayed or neutered. This rare condition occurred in 0.2% of the cats studied and was linked to a specific anesthesia used during the surgery. Fortunately, the bleeding resolved on its own within 20 hours, and the cats did not require any additional treatment. If your cat is scheduled for surgery, it's good to discuss any potential risks with your veterinarian, but this complication is quite uncommon.
People also search for: cat eye bleeding after surgery · hyphema in cats · spay neuter surgery risks cat
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine incidence and risk factors of post-sterilization hyphema in shelter cats. ANIMALS STUDIED: Retrospective medical record review of 1204 cats and prospective screening of 195 cats. PROCEDURES: The study consisted of three parts: (a) Survey responses were collected from 20 veterinarians, who perform high-quality high-volume spay-neuter (HQHVSN) in both shelter and public clinic settings; (b) medical records of 1204 cats were analyzed retrospectively over a 14-month time period; and (c) ophthalmic examinations, including tonometry, were performed prospectively on 195 cats before and after sterilization surgery over 8 weeks. RESULTS: Nine of 20 surveyed veterinarians reported having witnessed hyphema in cats following sterilization surgery. Retrospective review of 1204 medical record and prospective screening of 195 cats showed that three juvenile (<1 year of age) male cats (<2 kg) developed hyphema within 1 hour following surgery (0.2% incidence). In all three affected cats, anesthesia was induced with tiletamine/zolazepam (3 of 523 cats induced with this drug combination; 0.6% incidence), and hyphema resolved within 20 hours. Mean intraocular pressures as measured by Icare® TonoVet were (mean ± standard deviation) 11.5 ± 3.8 mm Hg and 21.7 ± 4.6 mm Hg for juvenile (<1 year of age) and adult (>1 year of age) cats, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Survey responses and three observed cases confirm the existence of feline post-sterilization hyphema with an estimated incidence of 0.2%. The underlying mechanism for this occurrence remains unknown.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32216041/