Anesthesia makes me nervous, and my Dog is having dental work tomorrow.

Cecilia2

O.G.
Mar 26, 2007
545
2
Anything anyone can say to make me less nervous? Like it's a common procedure.....not to worry? The vet says her heart is healthy, and all her tests were normal, but she's 8-10 years old approx, and this hospital is sooo busy. Also a vet tech does the procedure, with the vet supervising only. Should I calm down?
 
She will be fine. Make sure they monitor her vitals well. They don't have to use much anesthesia for dental cleaning and mine are wide awake within an hour. I do make my vet do my dogs though. Don't worry, it's very little anesthesia and they aren't under long.
 
I get a little nervous, but like PP said, they don't need them as deep asleep as for major surgery.

I have greyhound-type dogs which are VERY sensitive to anesthetic, so my vets always make sure they keep it as light as can get the job done.

{{{hugs}}} don't worry too much, accidents happen very rarely.
 
powderpuff100 and chessmont-

Thanks so much to both of you. Your words mean more than you know. I didn't know that less anesthesia is used for dental procedures, and that alone makes me feel better.
 
I'm sure she will be fine and everything goes smooth. Even though a vet tech does the procedure, there still is the vet to watch out.

The last time, one of my animals had dental work done, it was my old cat that had kidney failure. He was week, but it had to be done. Everythink went just fine.

It won't take long before you can take her home and cuddle up with her. Don't worry too much.
 
Hey hey - don't worry one little bit. Anaesthesia is not dangerous and vets know exactly what they're doing. Doing operations on animals are their bread and butter - they probably do heaps of them every day! For instance, your doggy's operation might be one of ten on that particular day and trust me, every dog they anaesthetise will come out fine.

My dog has had a couple of anaesthetics and he was full of beans when he came home. I felt so sorry for him when I dropped him off (I felt like such a traitor because he looked so happy to be going to the vet's) but once it was over, I couldn't believe I'd been so worried!

Good luck - your doggy really will be A-OK!
 
Most dentals are done on older animals so I wouldn't worry about the age. My 14 year old cat had most of his teeth removed due to Stomititus (sp) and he was up and eating in less than 1 hour. I have had all 3 of my Greyhounds done (they need very close monitoring) and everyone is fine. Try not to worry too much.
 
My doxie, Casey, who was attacked by another dog a few weeks ago had 3 surgeries over 7 days, all with the anethesia. He did fine, and that was a lot of anesthesia over a short period of time. They will probably use a fast acting one, so when the work is done your doggie will pop awake in no time!
 
I am absolutely not trying to scare you but in August of 2007 I took my 8 year old Pekingese to the vet to get her teeth professionally cleaned. Her vet check ups were always normal. They put her under, cleaned her teeth but when they were trying to bring her back, she had massive heart failure. They were able to bring her back but her heart quit again. We chose not to do an autopsy but the vet thinks that she had a heart defect that we had no way of knowing about. This is the only case I have personally heard about but it does happen. I would not allow this experience to prevent me from taking my other 2 dogs to get their teeth cleaned. If your vet has done all of the tests and knows your dog is healthy, I am sure everything will be fine.
 
Cindi and Irishgal-

I really appreciate the words of encouragement-thank you!

Cindi and Chessmont, I am curious as to why Greyhounds are so sensitive to anesthesia-is it their unique build? Narrow snout?

Irishgal-poor Casey! Being attacked and 3 surgeries in 7 days! I am so glad he is better, and that he got through all that.

ETA: I have heard back from the vet, and my dog is ok. She had to have a tooth extracted, but she is fine, and already waking up. Whew! It's over!
 
I am absolutely not trying to scare you but in August of 2007 I took my 8 year old Pekingese to the vet to get her teeth professionally cleaned. Her vet check ups were always normal. They put her under, cleaned her teeth but when they were trying to bring her back, she had massive heart failure. They were able to bring her back but her heart quit again. We chose not to do an autopsy but the vet thinks that she had a heart defect that we had no way of knowing about. This is the only case I have personally heard about but it does happen. I would not allow this experience to prevent me from taking my other 2 dogs to get their teeth cleaned. If your vet has done all of the tests and knows your dog is healthy, I am sure everything will be fine.

This is my worst nightmare. I am very sorry for the loss of your dog.

I know these usually go well, but stories like that really scare me. Thankfully my dog is up and doing fine, and I don't have to worry about this again for awhile.
 
Cindi and Irishgal-

I really appreciate the words of encouragement-thank you!

Cindi and Chessmont, I am curious as to why Greyhounds are so sensitive to anesthesia-is it their unique build? Narrow snout?

Irishgal-poor Casey! Being attacked and 3 surgeries in 7 days! I am so glad he is better, and that he got through all that.

ETA: I have heard back from the vet, and my dog is ok. She had to have a tooth extracted, but she is fine, and already waking up. Whew! It's over!

--Thank goodness your dog is fine! We knew she would be!:tup:

Greyhound and greyhound-type breeds, the skinny ones, have very little fat. Back in the olden days years ago, the anesthesia used, went into the fat first and then was dispersed out from there over some time throughout the body. Very little fat means what drug goes in, goes in and Zap, knocks them out right away...it was very worrying putting greyhounds under some years ago

Here is a very good website by a Vet who has worked with GH for many years:

http://www.greythealth.com/

There is a click-on button on the side bar for 'Anesthesia' - apparently the older types of anesthesias were very dangerous for greyhounds, the newer ones much safer. The ones I write abouut above were the barbiturate-based anesthetic and pre-anesthestics.

I think we sighthound owners are still pretty nervous about it, because it used to be so dangerous. We just can't get it out of our heads...:sad:

*I am not a vet, nor do I play one on TV*
 
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I'm so glad your cleaning went well. I don't know statistically how many dogs have complication, but it's rare. Unfortunately, my pom fell had cardiac arrest and passed away from the anesthesia, so I choose to do anesthesia free teeth cleaning if it since the results are the same without the drugs. If there's a need for dental work, then I would have to put her under but make sure the vet has extensive experience in small dogs (which I think was the problem with my pom). Luckily dahlia has clean teeth since she's a raw meaty bone eater, and don't see the need for regular cleaning and my vet concurs. I'm glad, since the area we live in now has no holistic teeth cleaners.