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Why did my dog die days after sedation for dog fight wounds?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Male | neutered | 5 months and 29 days old | 44.4 lbs

my 6 month old, neutered male pup was given 1 and half ml of ketamine/xylazine to sedate for cleaning of puncture wounds from dog fight. Dog weighed 44.4 pounds. It took about 8 hours for the dog to come out of anaesthtic. Two days later he died. Gums were pink, no swelling of belly, drank water did not throw up. What could have happened?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Linda G, MS, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on October 30th, 2018

Hello. I am so sorry for the loss of your pet. It is just so difficult to say what went wrong. I would doubt it was the sedation, although there are better sedation protocols available that do not result in a pet sleeping so long afterwards. Perhaps you are in an outlying area where newer medications are not readily available. It is still possible that there was some injury that was just too awful for your pet to overcome. Many years ago, I attended to a dog injured in a fight where all the wounds seemed very superficial. Sedation to clean & treat the wounds went very well, the dog awoke promptly after we tuned off the anesthetic gas, yet the dog was found dead the next morning after doing quite well all day. Without a necropsy, it is impossible to say what happened. Best guess is a possible blood clot that broke loose & lodged in the brain or one of the vessels of the heart. I am just so sorry for your loss. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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