My dog has diabetes. What are the anesthesia risks for surgery?

A well regulated diabetic dog should not have a higher risk for surgery. Of course, it depends on the surgery. Sometimes wounds tend to not heal so well in diabetic dogs, so there is always the risk of an incision not healing well. Your vet will evaluate and weigh up the risks vs the benefit of a needed surgery in your dog. If the benefit is greater than the risk, then surgery is feasible.

Hi there. It would help to know what her specific lab results are. Minor elevations in blood sugar are extremely common as a result of stress in the clinic - so in that case, they don't have any particular clinical significance. More dramatic elevations (above 300-400 mg/dL or so) would be concerning for possible diabetes. Your veterinarian should be able to advise you on whether this is anything to worry about, and whether it will affect your pup's surgery in any way. If the elevation is minor, then I would not expect it to be a problem at all in terms of her surgical procedure.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The biggest issue with obesity is stress on the heart and the lungs. Breathing abnormalities while under or in recovery can be huge complications in obese dogs. With that being said I personally do not see higher anesthesia complications in obese dogs over lean dogs. Anesthetic complications are rare and unpredictable and affect all age groups. I hope this helps and I wish you and Maisey the best!

I'm sorry to hear that your dog is having this problem! No, having him put under anesthesia for his teeth cleaning would not have anything to do with causing diabetes. If he's vomiting again, I would recommend taking him back to your vet right away for a recheck - diabetic dogs can develop a serious, life-threatening complication called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) if they are vomiting and not eating, so it's very important to find out what is causing the vomiting and have him treated as soon as possible.

While any anesthesia carries a risk, spaying is generally a very safe procedure. The risks of anesthesia increase as a dog ages (I'm specifically referencing senior dogs like 10 years and older), but there are few risks for a young and healthy puppy. Your vet is right she could be ill in the future if you don't spay her. Not spaying her leaves her at risk of developing a pyometra in the future. This is an infection of the uterus that is fatal without treatment, and spaying the dog is part of the treatment of a pyometra. That surgery is high risk due to the severity of the illness in the dog from the infection, and it costs thousands to perform. In addition, dogs who are spayed are at an increased risk of developing mammary tumors. Of these mammary tumors, 50% of them are malignant. For her health, it is best to spay her now. I would speak with your vet about getting it done. I hope this helps!

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.

The answer to your questions depend on the health status of the dog and the procedure needed to be done. If the dog is in a good health status, either anesthetic can be fine, even for senior dogs. Only your vet can make the risk assessment for anesthesia.