Did sedated dental cleaning cause my old dog's sudden heart failure?

I'm so sorry this happened. It is not likely an overdose of anesthetic. If that was the case he would have passed away during the dental procedure. It is more likely that he threw a blood clot post-anesthesia. The only way to know for sure would be to have a necropsy (autopsy) done on him.

I am so very sorry you lost Honey so suddenly! Without having seen her in person, I can only give my best guess, unfortunately. It could be that signs of heart disease were subtle and weren't detected on the pre-anesthetic exam (such as a murmur), and that's why it was missed. I wish I could give you a more definite answer, and I do recommend following up with the vet to get an answer to your question. Please accept my condolences for your loss :-(

I am very sorry your dog died. Since your dog needed a dental cleaning, I am assuming that he had a lot of tartar and inflammation and possibly one or more rotten teeth. This means there were many bacteria present in the mouth and due to the inflammation these bacteria managed to get into the circulatory system and caused the sepsis. I suggest you discuss this with your veterinarian as he has your dog's veterinary medical history and can better explain this to you.

Oral sedatives are generally not safe for pets with heart conditions. However, there are heart friendly pre-anesthetic injectable drugs that the vet can give such as Midazolam and Butorphanol. Also keep in mind that most pets with a heart condition that are also symptomatic (coughing, exercise intolerance) should be evaluated by a cardiologist and cleared for surgical procedures like dentals to ensure they are good candidates and can handle the anesthesia. The main concern here is the anesthesia and not the sedative used beforehand. On the other hand, if she is not symptomatic (no coughing, exercise intolerance), and she currently is not on heart medications, then she is likely a good surgical candidate b/c her risk of having complications with anesthesia are generally low. I hope that this helps guide you towards the proper care for Chhutki and this dental procedure. Best wishes and take care. : )

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.

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. You can rest assured that you did not cause your dog's heart murmur! Heart murmurs can occur because of structural changes to the valves or chambers of the heart, which are relatively common in smaller dogs breeds. They can also occur because of anemia (low red blood cell number), infections in the heart, and unfortunately even tumors in heart. You are right in thinking that dogs with heart murmurs are at a higher risk of anesthetic complications, so your veterinarian will need to adjust their anesthetic protocol for any surgical or dental procedures. I hope this is helpful!

Hi, Sorry to hear Dolly has this heart issue. Anesthesia is always risky, even for perfectly healthy pets. It puts a lot of responsibility for the heart to maintain adequate blood pressure and anesthesia is generally more risky with any heart issues than normal anesthesia. I would recommend that if the teeth just need a general cleaning, to not undergo the procedure and just maintain good dental health by brushing with doggie tooth paste and giving dental chews. If the teeth have a major issue such as a fracture or extraction that is necessary to address, it becomes balancing the risks of leaving a tooth inside that should come out, versus the risks of anesthesia. To fully assess the heart you can get an echocardiogram performed by a cardiologist and consult with them about anesthetic risks. Although if the teeth are fine otherwise, I'd say just maintain vigilant dental health and Dolly will be fine. Hope this helps! -Dr. Gordon