anesthesia how does it affect a dogs life
 

What are the risks if your dog has to under having anesthesia twice a year, my dog is young 2 y/o . I know the risk in older dogs.
what does anesthesia have to do with living to very old age. Now you have me scared. Reason I ask is several years ago my dog (now pasted) she was maybe 9 or 10 y/o needed a tooth or 2 pulled and a cleaning. I had to sign a form, if the dogs heart stops beating do you want ....they listed several things ending with something like "do everything " I was so scared I started to cry and didn't want to leave the dog, I thought maybe a client of theirs (dog) heart stopped, vet did everything & bought it back, the dog owners did not want to pay the expense of that procedure, and did not pay. Things like this did happen at my vet,
not a dog dying, example::: someone hit a dog, took it in to my vet, broken hip, owner could not be reached, my vet went forward & operated, when owner was finally reached they refused to pay the cost, said they did not give permission to operate. So I thought this form I was signing was to give them your permission to do what ever it was that you checked off on this form, now you mention anesthesia and living a longer life, scaring me, my newly adopted Cody needs his teeth cleaned. how does anesthesia affect their life?

There are no long term affects that I know of but every time you put them under you are taking a risk that there could be a complication and that's why they had you sign that form

Anesthesia is extremely safe when you get the blood work done before hand. Everyone has to sign a paper like that when there dog is going under it. I hated having to think about that stuff but I had to sign the same paper when Callie had to get knee surgery, a broken tooth fixed, then another broken tooth pulled. There are yorkies who get there teeth cleaned yearly and live long healthy lives. Having bad teeth can harm there organs much worse then anesthesia unless they have a health problem.

Considering the Yorkie breed as a whole, you have to think of the common breed health problems. One of the problems for this breed is liver shunt. When the liver isn't functioning properly, it won't process the anesthesia properly in their system and yes that could lead to complications. That's why several of us do pre-op blood work, just to make sure our baby's body can handle the stress of surgery. Every surgery, whether dog or human, has it's risks. Some people prefer not to take risks, while others take carefully calculated, well informed, risks.

That's all that was meant in the dew claw thread. If in the same situation, some people would rather have both the neuter and dew claw removal at the same time at a young age, taking the risk only once. While others, like me, would take the risks twice. Dew claw removal now, after doing the necessary pre operation tests to make sure the pup is healthy, and then neuter later once the dog's body is fully developed and is given a chance to have his baby teeth fall out on their own. That way on the off chance the puppy retains teeth, it can be addressed during the neuter surgery, after again doing the necessary pre operation blood work and tests to make sure again the puppy is still in a healthy condition to handle the surgery. Does that make sense now? I don't thinking anyone meant to scare you OP!

Last thought: I do pre op blood work even for dentals. It's just to give me peace of mind knowing Kaji's chances of having complications is much lower because I'll know he's healthy. If ever his blood work were to come back not normal, I'd cancel the dental and address whatever the blood work shows before continuing with dental or whatever surgery. That's my reasoning anyway.

thanks for the heads up. I have the BEST vet in my county, I am assuming she has blood work done before any surgery, but I am NOT going to ASSUME anymore, am going to ask if they do it, if not, I will ask that blood work is done before scheduling. Cody needs his teeth cleaned SOON, we are working on curing him of an issue he had when I adopted him, he's been going to vet every 2 weeks in the 3 months I have him.I would like him to be on road to recovery before I have his teeth cleaned. I never liked the idea of any of my pups having to get anesthesia, but never thought there was a health issue attached to it. I am more knowledgeable now that you have explained, and will ask my questions. Thank you very much:thumbup:

No problem!! Most vets don't automatically assume that people want the blood work because it's an extra charge. Not everyone is willing to pay that money for peace of mind. I WILL GLADLY PAY! :D

PS Cody is so lucky to have you watching out for him. :love:

Why twice a year?