Is anesthesia safe for my 7-year-old dog's surgery? What's monitored?

I always recommend lab work. If there is a heart murmur then I recommend either an echo or at minimum chest x-rays. IV fluid therapy, and usually propofol anesthesia induction (but several induction medications are available for geriatric dogs). Of course close monitoring of vitals, an efficient procedure and keeping them nice and warm. We do a lot of geriatric procedures at our practice and very few complication rates. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

This sounds like a good recommendation from your vet. The goal will be to keep your dog under anesthesia for the shortest possible time using anesthesia drugs that are gentle to the kidneys and liver. 24hrs of IV fluids after anesthesia can help his body to eliminate the anesthesia more quickly and support the circulation to his internal organs.

Your veterinarian will have the best information about the safety of anesthesia given her condition. I would ask them how much the heart condition will increase the risk of anesthesia and what is the expected benefit of the surgery given the stage of the cancer? If the cancer is stage 4, then the prognosis may be very bad (makes the surgery less necessary); compared with a stage 1 (where it would be very beneficial to remove the tumors, before they spread). It comes down to ensuring that you are well-informed of the risks and expected benefits. Without knowing all of the details it's really difficult for me to say. Generally, heart conditions tend to not be that scary under anesthesia and may actually reduce the stress on the heart during anesthesia. I've anesthetized many heart patients and have found that the anesthesia tends to go very smoothly. However, we do tend to use select drugs and have an increased alertness to the activity of the heart when we anesthetize them. Sorry to see that Chica is having these problems. I'm sure this has been very difficult for you. I hope I was able to help answer your questions.

It is normal for a heart rate to vary and to be slower when a dog is sleeping. Your veterinarian will examine Chico and take his heart rate before anesthesia. For dogs with low heart rates, sometimes we will use different anesthetic drugs to make sure that their heart rate stays in a normal range. Or if there is any concern about it, they may elect to wait on his surgery. However, I would certainly mention your concerns to your veterinarian, and if they have not done an exam of his heart recently, you may consider scheduling another appointment before the dental to have your veterinarian do a full examination on Chico to discuss your concerns. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Poor Lincoln! It sounds as though your vet is most likely concerned about a cruciate ligament tear, patellar luxation, or the onset of arthritis from a possible prior injury. English Bulldogs are inherently more risky to put under anesthesia simply due to the conformation of their head and airways, but your vet is aware of these possibilities and should be prepared with proper monitoring equipment and oxygen supplementation. I always recommend pre-anesthetic blood testing whenever possible. Most anesthetics are broken by the liver and kidneys (which these tests will assess), which allows the animal to wake up after the procedure. I hope that all goes well for Lincoln!

Any anesthesia carries a risk, but your vet wouldn't suggest it if he feels that it wouldn't be safe for your dog. Hopefully this minor operation will be enough to fix the aural hematoma (blood in the ear). Best of luck.

I am so sorry to hear about your dog. It is always devastating when we lose a patient after anesthesia. Unfortunately it is something that happens on rare occasion, even to the very best veterinarians. Often there may have been an underlying heart condition that we could not have detected. If you want to know more you can request that they send your dog's remains to the university vet school for a necropsy. As far as whether or not the anesthesia was necessary I will say that we do often need anesthesia for x-ray of skeletal structure because it can be very difficult to position a dog properly when they are awake for this type of x-ray. If the dog has an injury it can also be dangerous to try to take the x-ray while they are awake if they are fighting/thrashing around while we try to take the x-ray as they could cause more injury to the area. Since I do not know your dog/the situation/the history of his condition I cannot comment on the necessity of anesthesia, but only tell you that it is commonly used. I am very sorry for your loss.