Feeling anxious about my older dog having a general anaesthetic

[Sparrowlass]

She's 11 in November, and the vet has diagnosed her as having some joint and back pain. I took her in after some odd behaviour (selectively refusing walks, refusing to exit the car after a walk, being nervous and snappy) and she was given painkillers.

Due to her reluctance to let the vet examine her they want to put her under GA to examine her and ascertain the source of the pain.

Can anyone help me be less nervous about it? She's not been under GA since she was spayed almost 10 years ago. I lost an animal (rabbit) under GA some years back too.

She's overall healthy and I know the risks are low.

For context, although I do not mean to minimise anyone else's bond to their dog, I hand-reared this one. She's been my absolute world since I fleed domestic violence some years back. I have had some casual relationships but basically been single since she was around 2 years old, only ever really been me and her. I live in a small very dog-friendly community, she comes with me to the gym, the pub, on trips, the only person she's ever been left with is my ex whom I trust completely with her. Argh. I am so anxious of losing her, of course I know I will one day but if something happened due to this procedure which would ultimately be my doing, what state of mind that would put me in does not bear thinking about! I have looked up the stats and know risks are low, but it hasn't done much to help!

I wouldn’t put an 11 year old dog under GA. It’s way too big a risk to me. I’m so sorry. It’s so hard. My dog had a reaction to the GA before he was put to sleep. The vet tried to hide it to save my feelings but I’m pretty sure the minute the GA hit his bloodstream it just shut his entire system down in 2-10 seconds. I was there holding him tightly and I saw exactly what happened.

Don’t put her through it, but if you do have the advanced blood test first.
My vet almost killed my then 12 year old dog by not noticing he had CKD and they were eager to put him under to examine something relatively minor.
He’s only alive today because of me noticing how sick he was on discharge and forcing them to put him on a drip and I would never allow him GA again unless it was a life or death situation.
He has bitten a few times when in pain with arthritis in his spine, I manage this with occasional paracetamol and short but regular walks, limiting jumping & running and he’s improved massively, still happy at 14.

What sort of dog ? What are your options if you don’t go ahead ? I’d probably have a full blood panel and go ahead if they are ok .

Hi OP,

I completely understand why you feel nervous. I have a 12 year old dog, and had to let the vet put her under GA 2 weeks ago for teeth cleaning. I had been putting it off because of her age. Well, she had to have several teeth removed and must have been in pain. I really, really regret not doing it earlier. (She didn’t show any signs of having pain.) The GA went well and my dog was back to her usual self in less than 24 hours.

I really sympathise, but I also think your dog must be in quite a lot of distress if it’s actively showing it. At this age, the main focus should be on quality of life.

Thank you. This is what I will do. My dog has also bitten, not a 'proper' bite, but snapped which is why I took her to the vet alongside the other reasons such as walk refusal. I have also stopped any walks longer than about 30 mins, just short regular ones now and never if she doesn't want to. I am glad your dog is doing well now!

She's a cross. Grandad was half timber wolf half mal. Mum half him and half husky. Dad a Mal. I will ask for the blood tests, thank you.

I agree, this is a very hard decision. I absolutely do not want to be the reason she does not get the correct treatment. I also do not want to be the reason she suffers under GA (or worse)!

My 12 year old epileptic dog went under GA due to a tooth growing into her nose causing obstruction to breathing,so there was no choice. It took several hours as the tooth was hard to reach and requured a CT scan mid surgery. I was terrified. She had previously had two dentals. But she was fine, there were no problems at all, and the surgery was a success. But obviously you can only weigh it up.

I understand, I really do. I think it’s encouraging that your dog has had a successful GA previously. What was the vet’s opinion on the risks for her? Could a blood test help to narrow them down?

My previous Labrador had GA at 11.5. He was in theatre for 2.5 hours. He was absolutely fine and would have died very quickly without the operation.

Yeah I took my 13 you dog to the vet as she is struggling with pain. Vet said no point doing a GA at this point for x-rays, etc as the chances are it is old age and what would knowing it's arthritis, etc change? I'm not going to put her through disc surgery if it was that.

Vet said just do painkillers and see if it works with metcam and paracetamol and to go back if it doesn't and they will look at other better pain relief.

I guess there's a small chance we are missing something like bone cancer but again I wouldn't put her through treatment. At the minute the painkillers are working

Have they prescribed pain kilelrs?

Yes, she's on something that's apparently a human-grade ketamine-equivalent, painkillers and an anti-inflammatory. I also give her green lipid mussel.

Yeah I guess if she’s still struggling then maybe that’s the next step. Though I still think and I’d want to ask what are they potentially looking for and if they find it how would that change treatment. If the answer is surgery is that in her best interest?

She's under a (very good) dog physiotherapist but she's very reluctant to be examined, so they want to examine her while she's under. They seem to think she's got some sort of injury in her spine, and her 'wrist' hence the pain, rather than it being solely age-related. I will ask them what the X-Ray would be looking for exactly, to be fair to them they did say they could also do a CT scan but those are very expensive and also they do not think it will be necessary. Of course if it was required I will be willing to pay it. I assume they'll do some sort of physio with her, but given how much she seems to want to maul the vet every time she's touched it is difficult to know how that could be possible!