My healthy kitten died after neuter surgery. Is this a common risk?

Question

I took my 8month old kitten to be neutered at 9:30 and was told the surgery was fine and his vitals were good afterwards. I got to the office at 2:50 to pick him and was called moments before walking in to say that he passed away in recovery. Is this something that often happens? He was a vetted kitten that was up to date on all shots and boosters and was perfectly healthy when I dropped him off. The office is now avoiding my calls and did not even offer condolences? Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Male | 8 months and 18 days old | 5.5 lbs

Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA · Accepted Answer

I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your kitten! How awful. No, it's not at all common for an otherwise healthy animal to pass away in recovery after surgery, but it does occasionally happen - a horrible nightmare for everyone involved. If you want to try and determine what may have caused Yeti's death, I would recommend asking for an autopsy to be done (called a necropsy in animals). Some possible causes of a sudden anesthetic death like this would include an occult cardiomyopathy (meaning a heart problem that was not showing any symptoms and could not have been detected beforehand), or an allergic reaction to one of the anesthesia drugs that were used. I can tell that you're very upset, and I don't blame you. I would recommend sitting down to talk with your vet so that you can ask them to explain exactly what happened and give any additional information that they may have about his exam findings, the surgery itself, etc. to help you understand why he may have died. They may not know why either, but they should be willing to talk with you and do their best to answer your questions. Again, I'm very sorry for your loss.

My healthy kitten died after neuter surgery. Is this a common risk?

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