Started out Horrible, Ended "okay"

[Aerie]

Today was the day for Combat to be neutered. We went in early, had the pre-op blood tests done - everything checked out fine. I chose to have both vets in attendance (which cost an arm and a leg but i'm glad now) so that one could monitor the anesthesia. Yeah, I'm paranoid, but Combat's my baby. I left him there at 7:45a.m. At 8:15a.m. I got a phone call and the first words out of Susan's mouth were "I'm sorry, Aerie..." Now that, of course, isn't something you want to hear. I immediately teared up but then I caught the rest of the sentence "...Combat's fine, but he's had a severe allergic reaction to the anesthesia."

 

Apparently while they were prepping for surgery and administering the anesthesia he was fine, but as he went deeper under, he started reacting. The vet monitoring the anesthesia was afraid of cardiac arrest, so they stopped the surgery.

 

That was at 8:00a.m. When she called me at 8:15 and said "he's fine" he still wasn't "awake" yet. He didn't "come out of" the anesthesia fully until around 9:00a.m. He was vomiting, blood pressure spiked really high and then really low, then steadied. I was able to see him first at 9 when he woke up, then again at 10:15. He's still very "sleepy", very disoriented, weak, not drinking, and just otherwise not so great. He's going to be at the clinic for another few hours for monitoring, but both vets have said that he should be 100% fine and suffer no negative results from the experience.

 

I really think that this has been one of the scariest days of my LIFE. I know it isn't anyone's fault so i'm not peeved at the vets, but I can't help but feel there's something I could have done. I'm just glad I opted to have the 2nd vet there.

 

I'm considering taking the day off work so I can go sit with him at the clinic.

[Spike's Bitch]

I'm so glad he's okay!

 

I'd take the day off if it were me - you'll hardly be fit to do any work after a fright like that anyway. Throw the boy a ball for me when he's feeling more up to it...

 

Liz & the Captain xxx

[Aerie]

Well, after having spent most of my day at the vet clinic with Combat, we're finally home and settled in. The vet said to let him rest if he feels like resting, but he can exercise and be active on a "limited" basis. He doesn't want him overheated or such, so for now we're learning new tricks to keep him occupied.

 

He's still a bit lethargic, and kind of looks dazed and confused at times. If he stands up, he wobbles, and then sometimes he's steady. I've been assured that there won't be any lasting affects, but it's still scary.

 

My question now is...If Combat is allergic to anesthesia, how in the world do I get him neutered? Can they do a general anesthetic? (Just numbing the area?) Are there different types of anesthesia? I didn't ask too many questions today at the vet's place, because he told me it'll be at least 2-4 weeks before they'd want to attempt anything else because of the severity of the reaction.

 

Has anyone else had any experience with this? Sage was fine throughout her entire procedure, her stitches never gave her a problem, she came out of the anesthesia like she'd never been under...I was totally unprepared for something like this.

[Aerie]

I'm guessing the lack of response means that no one knows an alternative way?

[SoloRiver]

My lack of response was due to I didn't know what your subject line was referring to!

 

There are different types of anesthesia. Undoubtedly your vet is thinking about what else s/he can use since the verdict wasn't "you can't get Combat neutered." I'm not sure I would want to neuter a dog under local anesthesia. Other drugs involved as pre-anesthetics (tranquilizers or sedatives that are given before the anesthesia proper) -- was it the anesthesia itself or the pre-anesthetics that caused the problem? There are also alternative pre-anesthetics. Most dogs are given acepromazine before surgery, but I won't have Solo given Ace so he gets a valium cocktail instead.

[emmetteabrakai]

Aerie,

I think it would be a good thing to get in touch with your vet and ask exactly what pre anesthetic, and anesthetics he was given. There is several different anesthetic gasses. Old old ones are metaphane, and halathane. Almost all clinics use Isoflourane these days. Here at the university we can't even use metaphane because we don't have the vaporizers for it any more. There is a anesthetic called cepaphane sP???... very costly and hardly ever used. Some clinics use injectable anesthetics only, but that isn't very comment either any more.

If combat is allergic, then it would be imperative that you find out exactly what drugs they used. It is importent informatin in case Combat needs emergency surgery in the future.

As far as getting him neutered, there are lots of alternitive anesthetics. You may need to got to a specialty practice if your vet is not willing to attempt the surgery again. Or your vet could call the vet school in your area or where ever and get a consult with the anestehesia department on Combats reaction.

As scary as this was it is good to find out on routine surgerys, and not when his life and condition were already in serious condition. Keep us posted as to what you find out.

Andrea D.

[Pippin]

Aerie,

 

I'm sorry to hear about this, but glad nothing bad came of it. Ask your vet about using Isofluorane instead. For a little more information on it, look at this link:

 

http://www.bcrescue.org/anesthesia.html

 

Something similar to this is what my first Border Collie (she was a mix but mostly BC) Betty died of. We had her spayed and she made it through the surgery fine, but when the vet went to wake her up, she had an allergic reaction to what they gave her and went into shock. Her heart stopped and they weren't able to get it started again. I found out about this type of anesthesia later, it's supposed to be good for Border Collies though as many of them are sensitive to certain types of anesthesia.