Senior dog is sleepy and not eating after anesthesia. When to worry?

I would recommend having her seen by the veterinarian that performed the ultrasound for a recheck. If after 48 hours my patients are still sedated and not feeling well after I give them sedatives in the hospital, I want to see them for a physical examination just to make sure everything is ok. Every dog is different and depending on the sedatives used, could cause sedation for days after the drugs were given. My own dog used to take 72 hours to recover from a morphine injection so I have been in the same position as you. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Hello, sorry to hear about Rocco. Based on the invoice, it appears that Rocco had full anesthesia, however, this should be confirmed with your veterinarian. With either anesthesia or sedation, pets can be sleepy and groggy until the next morning. So allow Rocco some additional time to recover from his procedure and contact your veterinarian tomorrow morning after breakfast if he is still not acting more like his normal self. One of the medications used appears to have been reversed (dexdormitor), and the the butorphanol can take up to 12 hours to wear off. Gas anesthetics may also take longer to be removed from the body. Keep him quiet tonight and allow him to rest after his procedure. He should be back to normal by the morning. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Hello, thank you for your question. General anesthesia/sedation can take 18-24 hours to completely work it's way out of the pet's system. Fat Boy may still be quite sleepy and prefer to lie on the cough or bed for the rest of the evening tonight, but should be back to his normal self by tomorrow. If he is unrousable or taking short shallow breaths I would recommend having him rechecked by your veterinarian to ensure that he is not having a reaction to any of the medications that were used. Hope this helps, good luck!

It depends quite a bit on what drugs and doses were used for anesthesia, so unfortunately it's difficult to give a good answer to this question without being able to look at his medical record. But in general, for most anesthetic procedures, it's not uncommon for many dogs to remain somewhat groggy or drowsy for up to 12 hours or so afterwards - my rule of thumb for owners at our clinic is that their pet should be acting normal again by the following morning, but not to worry overly much if they are a bit sleepy or "off" for the rest of the afternoon or evening after going home. However, the pet should be able to get up and walk around, eat and drink without problems, etc. - if they are groggy to the point of being unresponsive or unable to stand, this is not normal. If you are concerned about Falkor, the safest course of action would be to call your vet's office and describe how he is currently acting - they should be able to tell you if this is reasonable, based on their anesthesia protocol. If he is unresponsive, having difficulty swallowing, or seems to be getting worse over time, I would take him back to your vet or your nearest emergency clinic to be checked.

Older dogs can take longer to completely process the anesthesia medications and return fully to normal. If she's on any pain medications after the cleaning (for example if she had dental extractions), that could also be causing some sedation. If she's eating, drinking, going to the bathroom, and appears comfortable, there's nothing you need to do right now and can give her another day or two to be totally normal. If she's not back to normal tomorrow evening, it might be wise to take her in for an appointment Friday before the weekend to make sure nothing else is going on.

Dogs are often not themselves 100% after recovering from anesthesia, this can last up to 24 hours at a certain degree, i wouldn't be worried as long as he isn't too lethargic, appetite can also be affected. if you are concerned please contact the vet responsible for the anesthesia for further instructions.

Anesthesia can make a dog quite sleepy. She should be back to normal in the morning. And yes, it is normal to see a decrease in appetite and a decrease in drinking water. Again, this should be normal in the morning. If it's not, you will need to take her back into the vet.