[DesertChildAZ]

Johnny Cash is not getting neutered today as expected. Despite passing the pre-op testing (checking, in particular, his liver and kidney functions), when they started the anesthesia, his blood pressure and respiration dropped so low that they couldn't continue with the procedure. They said not to worry because they were able to bring him back up to normal levels and that he's "come to" and doing fine. They want to do a thorough blood work and xrays of his chest to find out what the cause may be. If those tests come back okay, they want to do the procedure another week and try a different anesthesia. (Needless to say, I'm not even comfortable with the idea of ever getting him neutered now.....) I asked what could cause this to happen and aside from having problems with that particular kind of anesthesia, he said that he could have esophagus or trachea problems that are preventing the flow of oxygen to him via the tube they inserted into his throat. These dogs are notorious for having collapsed tracheas, but that usually develops over time (from pulling on the leash and from tight collars). Cash is too young for that yet.