almost died from anesthesia

[legend1983]

My friend has an 8 month old rotty, today she went to get spayed and the vet called him and told him they could not do it because she almost died from the little dose of anesthesia they gave her. Her heart rate droped and she stoped breathing, they gave her medication to control the breating problem. So his question to me was what he should do about getting her spayed, all vets in the area use the same anesthesia for surgery. So now im here asking you guys for any suggestions, he has no intetion of breeding her and would like to her spayed before she goes into heat. Thanks

[moondog]

Well, yikes! That's pretty scary! What what the anesthesia used?

If all the vets in the area use the same, then it looks like he needs to be looking outside the local area. Perhaps call a veterinary school, or perhaps contact a specialist that may use an anesthesia this dog can handle.

Whatever he does, he needs to make SURE every contact he makes clearly understands what happened, so he can get solid advice on whether a spay is feasible for this dog.

[spidey]

Definitely call a vet school. You want a "heart safe" anaesthetic and induction drug, and you want proper monitoring with pulse oximetry and an EKG. Find a vet school or a vet who understands proper anesthesia and monitoring for a dog with a potential reaction to anesthesia (they do exist, I work for one).

[legend1983]

I have the name of the anesthesia at home (at work right now) we were calling alot of vets from the phone book outside the local area and it seems as if they all use the same anesthesia.

[legend1983]

ok cool... thanks for your help

[Nishasmom]

Was she given the pre-op blood work? Usually vets do this to see if pets will have a reaction to the anesthesia? It is optional at my vet, so I assume many people opt out .

[Jaidann]

Try looking for someone who specializes in GIANT breeds. English Mastiff's, St. Bernards, Danes, etc. These dogs often have special issues with anesthesia and Vet's who see many of them or better yet, specialize in them might be able to help you.

[C Ross]

Contact the local racing greyhound rescue and see which vet they recommend to their adopters. Greyhounds often have issues with anesthesia due to super-efficient lungs. They need a vet who is savvy about those types of drugs.

Christine

[frontierrots]

first thing some times dogs with SAS have problems with anesthesia has she had her heart checked?

second I had a bitch with a very bad reaction to barbituate anesthetics, as in almost died when anesthetized for her OFAs

When I needed to have a mammary tumor removed and get her spayed I found a vet who used a heart monitor device and would put her out using Dormitor (a reversable anesthetic) and maintained with isoflourine. They did the surgery and as he was stitching her they took off the iso and gave her a shot of reversal. She lived through surgery

[Terri Lambert]

Did they do pre op bloodwork and a ECG to check her heart to make sure she could take the anesthesia if not that should be done prior to any procedure. Also if she ends up with a abnormal ECG then she may need an ultrasound to check to see if she has a heart defect.

[frontierrots]

around here NO vet does an EKG presurgery and few do preop bloodwork

[Terri Lambert]

Here in NJ we offer pre op bloodwork and ECG to every animal that maybe sedated or anesthesized to miminize the risk.

[targonrotts]

where i work we do a full physical exam, ekg,pre op blood work, including fecal, cbc, blood parasite testing and depending the age mini screen or full chemistry with electrolytes. if older, we will even suggest a chest xray.

we use propoflo/isofloraine. with some we do the dormitor/antisedan.

i would not be in such a hurry to spay her so soon after this incident without a full exam and maybe going to the university vet school.

[rottielover2004]

Same here, we also have all those things to make sure first the dog can safely be put under.
I hope you can find a vet who has all those things, just keep looking

[fbkeays]

If your friend is concerned about doing the spay before the first heat to lessen the chance of mammary cancer, he can relax a bit. Yes, going through one or more heat cycle does increase the risk. But put things in prespective.
First off mammary cancer is a lot less prevalent then bone cancer. Staying intact will REDUCE the risk of bone cancer and many other FATAL cancers. Mammary cancer is rarely fatal, while bone cancer is always 100% fatal. Your friend just needs to be watchful of any of the signs of mammary cancer and pyrometra (which typically happens about 2 months after a heat cycle). It is an infection of the uterus and if caught early, can be treated with drugs.
While spaying does prevent mammary cancer and pyrometra, it opens the door to a whole host of very nasty and deadly cancers that are much worse IMO. If your friend is an attentive and responsible owner, staying intact is not a bad option.