My dog had head trauma. Is anesthesia for neutering safe for him?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Scamp is super cute! I think his risks are small. I do not think his spinal deformity increases his risk at all. The collapsing trachea is a mild risk. Canine neuters are quick procedures. Most Veterinary hospitals do a wonderful job monitoring while your pet is under anesthesia and in recovery. The pets are intubated, on oxygen and inhaled gas, have EKG, blood pressure and pulse oximetry hooked up. They are also on IV fluids. Due to his collapsing trachea the recovery period is the most important part for him. Risks for Scamp would be coughing and inflammation of his airway in recovery and I think this is small. Other causes for anesthetic and surgical complications are VERY rare and unpredictable (bleeding, cardiac or respiratory arrest, drug reactions, death, etc). I hope this helps and I wish Scamp the very best!

I don't blame you for being concerned! You're right that congestive heart failure does increase the risk associated with anesthetic procedures, so we want to be very cautious about going forward with surgery in dogs who have this problem. I would recommend sitting down with your veterinarian to discuss the pros and cons of doing the neuter surgery in Wesley's case. In particular, you may want to ask about his life expectancy with congestive heart failure, and whether it's likely that the testicular tumor will progress enough to cause any serious problems before that. If the tumor appears to be slow-growing and is not currently bothering him, it may be reasonable to leave it alone rather than take the risk of surgery.

I am sorry to hear about Prince. I am assuming your vet did a work-up including urinalysis and imaging (x-ray and ultrasound) to determine that a neuter is the recommended treatment for the hematuria. I am assuming that if they recommend a neuter it is because the issue is due to the prostate. If a work-up wasn't done to be certain this is the issue I would recommend one be done. We do have pets at this age go under anesthesia regularly, often for dental work. While anesthesia does pose risks for pets of any age, most do just fine, but it is recommended that they have pre-anesthetic bloodwork done to ensure that liver and kidney function are normal. I also recommend use of an IV catheter and fluids during anesthetic procedures and good anesthetic monitoring including pulse oximetry, blood pressure, and EKG in older patients. These tools help us keep the pet safe while under anesthesia. If your vet doesn't have the set up for good anesthetic monitoring, you can ask if they can refer you to a hospital that has this capability.

A trained vet doctor performing a cat neuter is very safe. Cats are actually much safer than dogs to neuter. In order to make sure Vanilla doesn't feel the surgery, he will be given anesthesia. Anesthesia always has some level of risk, but again, in the hands of a trained vet doctor, the anesthesia is very safe. I hope that helps and I hope all is well with Vanilla.

Denzel is adorable! Since he has had 12 years of exposure to testosterone, neutering him at this point will not decrease his existing prostate enlargement. Anesthesia with a louder heart murmur can be slightly more high risk, but can still be performed in many cases after a cardiologist evaluation with an echocardiogram and cautious anesthetic monitoring. Consider discussing the risks vs. benefits of neutering Denzel at this point with your vet, but it is unlikely to change his prostate issue. I hope that all goes well!

Hello. I am so sorry for your worries with Biggi. Please do not be afraid of the surgery to neuter him. It may not take care of all his problems with the prostrate gland, but may help. As long as Biggi is in good health as evidenced by normal blood work, has no obvious cardiac or pulmonary problems, then neutering him should not put him in any danger. All surgery carries a small risk, but if you trust your veterinarian, Biggi should sail through the surgery. Thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

If the liver enzymes are elevated but liver function is normal there is probably not a significant increased risk under anesthesia. You could talk to your veterinarian about checking bile acids if it seems like this might be helpful; bile acids can help determine whether or not the liver is functioning normally. Sometimes a biliary mucocele is surgically corrected so you also may want to talk to your veterinarian about rechecking the mucocele if liver enzymes are still elevated.