Hearts Melt at Sleepy Cat Getting Bathed After Difficult Day—'Poor Baby'

A sleepy cat's post-anesthetic pamper session, which was turned into a short social-media video, has delighted viewers online after being shared to TikTok on April 6.

Heartstrings were pulled as Mauri the cat was filmed wrapped up tightly in a small bath towel after a dental procedure that saw him losing a single tooth. The clip has captured the hearts of viewers, racking up more than 2.3 million views and over 313,000 likes since it was posted by @mauriandcucumbers. This is the social-media account managed by the cat's owner, and it documents his daily life and funny antics.

The clip provides a glimpse into the less-talked-about, often-humorous side of pet recovery after medical procedures. Audiences watched as Mauri's owner detailed the aftermath of the cat's tooth extraction, which involved an anesthetic procedure that left the feline feeling slightly worse for wear.

"Mauri had a tooth removed and after his anesthesia, he had a little accident in the litter box and needed a bath afterward," his owner said.

The footage shows Mauri looking bewildered, albeit adorably cozy, while wrapped in his towel as he recovers from his ordeal at the veterinary center.

The post, captioned "poor baby," has struck a chord with other cat owners, many of whom have shared their own pets' post-anesthesia experiences.

"When I got my cat spayed, she woke up from anesthesia and tried to make her way into the litterbox but halfway there she just flopped to her side, meowed, and peed herself," one user wrote.

Another added: "My kitten couldn't move for hours after anesthesia, vomited and peed laying down in the carrier. I remember wiping him with a wet cloth & changing the towel under him."

How Do Pets React to Anesthetics?

Patrik Holmboe, the head veterinarian at Amsterdam's Cooper Pet Care in the Netherlands, told Newsweek about how anesthetics generally work on pets.

"Anesthetics in pets is a large topic, and there are certainly many different protocols and medications that can be used. These can vary greatly based on a number of factors, such as the health and age of the cat or dog, the type of procedure being performed, and the duration of anesthesia required," Holmboe said.

Speaking about dogs while acknowledging how similar the process can look for cats, Holmboe added that most anesthetic procedures tend to follow four steps. First, the pup will be sedated, which usually occurs between 30 and 120 minutes before the procedure.

"This is a medication generally given via injection, under the skin. It serves to both calm the animal prior to induction but also to reduce the amount of full anesthetic drugs needed during the procedure itself," Holmboe added.

After the dog has been sedated, the animal goes through the process of being made fully unconscious. "It is almost always by injectable medication given intravenously," the veterinarian said.

Afterwards, the dog will go through a step that Holmboe labels "maintenance," where an anesthetic gas will be delivered to the pet at a constant rate through a breathing tube inserted into the windpipe. Depending on the intensity of the procedure, the level at which the pup receives the anesthetic gas can be adjusted.

Following the maintenance stage, the dog will begin its recovery. "This is the process of the dog waking up after the procedure is complete. Just like in humans, the dog will be monitored during this stage to make sure things go smoothly and that the animal wakes up safely," Holmboe said.

He added that most dogs, regardless of their individual breed type, will react similarly to anesthetics.

"The modern drugs used are very good," Holmboe said. "They can induce and maintain a surgical level of anesthetic for as long as is required, but once stopped or reversed, the animal can wake up relatively quickly."

Newsweek reached out to @mauriandcucumbers for more information via TikTok.

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