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Gretchielove · 08-24-2014, 08:21 AM

Hi everyone! My name is Mandy and my sweet little baby, Gretchen, is 3.5 years old. I have had Gretchen since she was a few months old and ever since then I have supplemented her water with special formulations to decrease plaque/tarter, given her daily dental chews and tried different toothpastes and gels. She loves to chew and seems to chewing continuously on a bone but mainly chews with her back teeth. Her front and and back teeth look very good- they are white, free of debris or any tarter/plaque formation. Her canines on the other hand are the teeth that have worried me. She has 6 extra baby teeth that have never come out and a few of them are blocking her canines and collecting debris which have resulted in plaque/tarter on those teeth. It seems like I have always been terrified of anesthesia for her but over the last few months I have been doing more research online, looking on YT and have decided that I HAVE to do the right thing for my baby's health and pray and trust her veternarian and hopefully everything will be just fine. I took her to her vet on Friday and although we have gone to this facility before it was the first time with this vet. I instantly liked her and felt comfort and trust from her (she has been a vet since 2011 and assured me, "I haven't lost anyone yet (while we discussed dental cleanings and safety)..knock on wood"). She answered all of my questions and I stayed around two hours. Before going in I had a list of questions in my mind but when I was there I was very teary eyed thinking of Gretchen going under anesthesia and a lot of the thoughts left my head. Her vet did tell me that Gretchen would come in on Friday for a pre surgical blood workup (not a complete blood workup because of her young age) and also an ECG. If all went well, Gretchen would be cleared for her procedure. She would receive Propofol (Vet said "around 1.5cc"), would be intubated and then receive Isoflurane. She said the entire procedure would take around 30 minutes but could (rarely) take up to an hour and she said "that would be cutting it close for her"..?. I asked what would happen if Gretchen was having difficulty with anethesia..she said that they would lower the Isoflurane or even turn it off..they also have Atropine if needed (to increase her HR). I asked if they would administer IV fluids. She said that they do not administer IV fluids but administer Subcutaneous fluids if the patient is at risk for hypoglycemia or is little like Gretchen they might (Gretchen weighs 3.5 pounds). After our talk, I felt safe and comfortable making the appointment but now that I am home, I am having more questions. I am an RN in a Pediatric ICU so maybe I am overthinking every little thing. I went on the AAHA website regarding IV fluids and it said that it is recommened 5cc/kg/hr which would be roughly 8cc in an hour for Gretchen or about 4cc if it's only a half hour..It also said that sometimes they don't like to give fluids for short procedures because of the risk of fluid overload in small dogs which could impact respiratory function. Then on the other hand, Propofol and Isoflurane make you hypotensive so it makes me feel like she NEEDS fluids...am I being crazy?

Also, I am glad they do an ECG but is she monitored throughout the entire procedure (HR, Respriations, Blood pressure)?. She did tell me that she would have a pulse ox on measuring her oxygen levels but I did not see a charge in my paperwork for a BP cuff. Is it normal to only use a pulse ox? I am going to call her tomorrow and ask her some of these questions but I am worried and hoping she doesn't think I'm being overbearing. I think I may be overthinking a lot because I work an in ICU. I had a patient the other day on Propofol who was on fluids and still became hypotensive once we have Propofol boluses and we gave IV fluid boluses to correct it. Anyway, I am so sorry for such a long post. I am just having a lot of anxiety over her surgery this coming Friday. Any advice, thoughts, comments or experiences you've had with dental cleanings/anesthesia would be so appreciated. Thank you for your time!

08-24-2014, 08:21 AM	#1
Gretchielove YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Denver, Co Posts: 3	Completely terrified about anesthesia Hi everyone! My name is Mandy and my sweet little baby, Gretchen, is 3.5 years old. I have had Gretchen since she was a few months old and ever since then I have supplemented her water with special formulations to decrease plaque/tarter, given her daily dental chews and tried different toothpastes and gels. She loves to chew and seems to chewing continuously on a bone but mainly chews with her back teeth. Her front and and back teeth look very good- they are white, free of debris or any tarter/plaque formation. Her canines on the other hand are the teeth that have worried me. She has 6 extra baby teeth that have never come out and a few of them are blocking her canines and collecting debris which have resulted in plaque/tarter on those teeth. It seems like I have always been terrified of anesthesia for her but over the last few months I have been doing more research online, looking on YT and have decided that I HAVE to do the right thing for my baby's health and pray and trust her veternarian and hopefully everything will be just fine. I took her to her vet on Friday and although we have gone to this facility before it was the first time with this vet. I instantly liked her and felt comfort and trust from her (she has been a vet since 2011 and assured me, "I haven't lost anyone yet (while we discussed dental cleanings and safety)..knock on wood"). She answered all of my questions and I stayed around two hours. Before going in I had a list of questions in my mind but when I was there I was very teary eyed thinking of Gretchen going under anesthesia and a lot of the thoughts left my head. Her vet did tell me that Gretchen would come in on Friday for a pre surgical blood workup (not a complete blood workup because of her young age) and also an ECG. If all went well, Gretchen would be cleared for her procedure. She would receive Propofol (Vet said "around 1.5cc"), would be intubated and then receive Isoflurane. She said the entire procedure would take around 30 minutes but could (rarely) take up to an hour and she said "that would be cutting it close for her"..?. I asked what would happen if Gretchen was having difficulty with anethesia..she said that they would lower the Isoflurane or even turn it off..they also have Atropine if needed (to increase her HR). I asked if they would administer IV fluids. She said that they do not administer IV fluids but administer Subcutaneous fluids if the patient is at risk for hypoglycemia or is little like Gretchen they might (Gretchen weighs 3.5 pounds). After our talk, I felt safe and comfortable making the appointment but now that I am home, I am having more questions. I am an RN in a Pediatric ICU so maybe I am overthinking every little thing. I went on the AAHA website regarding IV fluids and it said that it is recommened 5cc/kg/hr which would be roughly 8cc in an hour for Gretchen or about 4cc if it's only a half hour..It also said that sometimes they don't like to give fluids for short procedures because of the risk of fluid overload in small dogs which could impact respiratory function. Then on the other hand, Propofol and Isoflurane make you hypotensive so it makes me feel like she NEEDS fluids...am I being crazy? Also, I am glad they do an ECG but is she monitored throughout the entire procedure (HR, Respriations, Blood pressure)?. She did tell me that she would have a pulse ox on measuring her oxygen levels but I did not see a charge in my paperwork for a BP cuff. Is it normal to only use a pulse ox? I am going to call her tomorrow and ask her some of these questions but I am worried and hoping she doesn't think I'm being overbearing. I think I may be overthinking a lot because I work an in ICU. I had a patient the other day on Propofol who was on fluids and still became hypotensive once we have Propofol boluses and we gave IV fluid boluses to correct it. Anyway, I am so sorry for such a long post. I am just having a lot of anxiety over her surgery this coming Friday. Any advice, thoughts, comments or experiences you've had with dental cleanings/anesthesia would be so appreciated. Thank you for your time!