My dog has high blood sugar before spay. Should I worry about surgery?

Some anesthetic drugs can alter sugar levels in blood but it is usually a very minor change which does not cause any real health issues. the main problem is with fasting the dog before surgery, which is an issue with dogs with diabetes. the solution is usually to limit the fasting to 6 hours only.

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.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Penelope. It is good that her ultrasound came back normal. I typically recommend blood work such as a bile acids panel (liver function test) and even a coagulation panel prior to surgery in the case of elevated liver values. These blood panels will help to ensure that it is safe for her to go under anesthesia. I hope this information helps!

I don't see an age, breed, or sex listed for your pet, which would give us helpful information in terms of how to interpret that finding. It is certainly lower than expected; usually when dogs (or cats) have their blood drawn, they are a bit stressed from being at the vet, which tends to increase the blood sugar for a short period of time, so usually we will see animals be over 80-90, and most commonly over 100. It may be worth asking your vet about running a "baseline cortisol" test to screen for Addison's disease. I will attach some information below. Keep a close eye on your dog as well. If he seems lethargic, tired, walks with a weak or wobbly gait at times, etc, (or certainly if he has more obvious problems such as a seizure), then this probably is a problem for him. Other possible causes of low blood sugar (again age, breed, and sex also play in here in terms of liklihood), include insulinoma (a tumor in the pancreas), liver disease, or toxin exposures (most notably xylitol). I hope that is helpful for you.... for more detailed information consider requesting a consultation so we can go back and forth with information. Thank you for asking PetCoach! https://www.petcoach.co/article/addison-s-disease-hypoadrenocorticism-in-dogs/

Unlike dogs it is very common for cats to have a mildly elevated blood sugar on screening lab work due to stress, called stress hyperglycemia. In some cats this can become higher then your kitties making it hard to differentiate from diabetes. But, cats with diabetes usually have other symptoms that normal cats do not have like increased thirst and urination, and their blood sugar is typically >250 or higher. Some pre diabetic cats will start out with a lower value so monitoring the blood sugar over time or additional testing can be used to differentiate stress from real high blood sugar if needed. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hi, Low protein levels can be of concern for surgery. Proteins are large molecules that help regulate the concentration of everything else in the blood. If the protein is low it can throw everything else out of balance and it is definitely safest to do surgery when these levels are normal. Low protein can also be caused by a number of systemic issues so I would agree spaying when these levels are normal is the best for Aurora to make sure she has a safe and happy spay! Hope this helps! -Dr. Gordon

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm so sorry to hear that your friend's dog lost so much blood during her surgery. While it is a routine surgery, complications like bleeding can occur. There is a chance that your friend's pet will be OK, she may require a blood transfusion if her anemia (level of red blood cells) is low enough. She may also just need time for her own body to make more red blood cells. There are lots of patients in critical care units that have lost a lot of blood that are able to be nursed back to health. I hope this is helpful!