Anesthesia reaction

[PossumGirl]

Maggie had some type of small lesion on one of her pads (not cancerous but painful) and after a week of topical treatment with no result, the vet decided to remove it today.

He gave her a mild, general anesthetic.  She wasn't even totally unconscious, just out of it the way you are when you get something like a demerol cocktail.  She started to come out of it about 30 minutes later, moving around a bit, but definitely unsteady on her feet.

We carried her out to the car and took her home.  She was able to stand, but was wobbly, so I carried her upstairs and have been staying with her.  She can now get up, etc., but is really weak and lethargic.  She would only drink a small amount of water, so I think she's probably dehydrated.

I don't know if this is normal or not; it actually seems to be a stronger reaction than what she had following a couple of really major surgeries that she had several years ago.  Granted, she's now 11-years-old, so it's probably harder on her system.  I called the vet, but they're probably busy and aren't answering the phone at the moment.

Does this sound like anything any of your dogs have experienced?  Should I be worried?

Thanks.

PG

[moonraker]

GET HER BACK TO THE VET or at least speak to him on the phone.

My 14 year old dog died last wednesday from exactly the same symptoms after an operation on Tuesday. We put it down to his age but when I spoke with my Vet on Thursday he said it was more likely "retarded anesthesia reaction".

[Deimos]

How long (hours) is the general "weak and lethargic" going on (sorry but you say you've been with her since returning but no indication if this is one, two, three plus hours).

When my youngster was neutered she was iffy for quite a long time. It has always surprised me how long dogs take to recover in France. However, that is certainly because one takes dogs home far sooner than in the UK. In UK, my experiences were that you left your dog, saw nothing, then collected last thing in the evening by which time many effects had worn off. In France it seems more normal to take your dog home as soon as the vet is happy he/she is starting to come round OK (I have always had to carry mine out to the car as they are not really up to walking).

Sorry, gone off on a tangent. When mine was neutered in the morning, I think it was not until the evening until she was showing any interest in looking around again.

However, mine had a full anaesthetic was young, etc. (very different to yours) and all dogs are different. You know your dog and I would say that if you are concerned go back to the vet. I have always tended to go to the vet rather than call them. Also, I'm one of those who is never worried about troubling the vet when it all turns out to be OK (as it may not be).

Hope all is well

Ian

[Christine Animal]

I shouldn't worry too much Possum, you maybe got her back earlier than for the major operations when she had probably completely recovered.  This is just maybe, as Ian says you do not say at what time she had the "intervention".

 

[PossumGirl]

[quote user="moonraker"]

GET HER BACK TO THE VET or at least speak to him on the phone.

My 14 year old dog died last wednesday from exactly the same symptoms after an operation on Tuesday. We put it down to his age but when I spoke with my Vet on Thursday he said it was more likely "retarded anesthesia reaction".

[/quote]

Moonraker, I'm so sorry to hear about your loss!  You have my utmost sympathies.

I did call after I posted and finally got through.  They told me this was normal and to keep her warm and not feed her until she is totally over it.  Also to only allow her a little water.

About 20 minutes ago, she suddenly seemed a bit more "perky," and actually went to get a drink on her own, then came over to have her head rubbed and was wagging her tail happily instead of listlessly.  So, I'm hoping that she's on the good end of the curve.  Believe me, I'm watching her like a hawk and will probably not get a lot of sleep tonight as I will be up checking on her constantly.

PG

[PossumGirl]

[quote user="Deimos"]

How long (hours) is the general "weak and lethargic" going on (sorry but you say you've been with her since returning but no indication if this is one, two, three plus hours).

Hope all is well

Ian

[/quote]

In fact, when I first posted it was about 6 hours after getting home.  But, you're completely correct in that in the U.S. I would never have brought her home until much, much later in the day.  I find it odd that we load semi-conscious dogs right into the car here.  But, the whole vet thing seems much more relaxed than what I was used to in the States. Even the way they operate is so much more out-in-the open!  I walked back to ask something this morning and I could never have done that at our old clinic.

I'm getting a sense that she is starting to be more alert and, believe me, I won't hesitate for a second to call the Vet again if I have any questions. Plus, this vet is ALWAYS on call for emergencies.  That was not the case in L.A., where you had to go to a special Urgent care vet clinic that cost 10 times more than a regular office visit.

PG

[Christine Animal]

Moonraker, I'm so sorry about your dog.  Usually good vets don't let their patients out until they have completely recovered.

 

[moonraker]

He was perfectly normal when we left the Vet's surgery. Even stopped for a pee outside; didn't cock his leg up though! Got in the car on his own but didn't want to get out when we got home so slept for a while. When we got him out he was very stiff but I thought that was normal as he hadn't had his arthritis medication for a couple of days. On Wednesday (bank holiday) he was still stiff but going in and out of the house to drink but didn't want any food and I was going to ring the vet at home and then decided to wait until Thursday. He went outside in the evening, looked at his water bowl, went down the step to the grass, laid down and died.

I rang the vet on Thursday morning and he wouldn't believe me; ruled out heart attack or stroke and decided it could only be "late" post anesthesia shock. The operation was to remove an enormous tumour from his mouth which had grown in less than two weeks, so it might just be that it was better for him to go when he did rather than wait for that "thing" to come back.

Still looking for him though and probably will be for a long time.

[WJT]

Moonraker, I too am so sorry about the loss of your dog. I do know how you feel and my heart goes out to you. As you said, it sounds as if it may have been for the best for your dog and eliminated much pain and stress for him in the end. At least you can take comfort in the fact that he had a long and happy life with you.

[Catalpa]

Years ago we had a dog which had a tumour in the mouth - we had it operated on once and it didn't come back for over a year but the second time, it grew very fast so we had to make the difficult decision. He was only 9 and otherwise very healthy so it was very upsetting. If your dog's growth was that aggressive, I do think it would have returned - our vet explained that it was very difficult to remove all cancerous cells - and you'd have been faced with "the decision". So I think his death may have been a good one for him though a horrible shock for you. My sympathies.

[Deimos]

Glad to hear things seem to be on the mend and hope all continues OK. Worst thing with mine was the loss of bladder control and her insistence to lie on a chair to recover !!

[quote user="PossumGirl"]
But, you're completely correct in that in the U.S. I would never have brought her home until much, much later in the day.  I find it odd that we load semi-conscious dogs right into the car here.  But, the whole vet thing seems much more relaxed than what I was used to in the States. Even the way they operate is so much more out-in-the open!

[/quote]

My experience of French vet treatment is that it is far more "down to earth" than UK. Not just in terms of taking a semi-concious dog home in the car. Some time ago, one of mine injured herself, visited vet who decided an operation was necessary. He looked at me, sort of gave a shrug (sort of "asking "shall we do it now ?"). I said yes so we both moved into the operating room, dog anaesthetised, vet nurse stuck her head in every now and again to see if all was OK, but basically I seemed to end-up being the one assisting the vet, holding the leg here, mopping blood. It turned-out to be pretty major, removing bones, etc. (some quite gruesome bone cutting implements), took around 45 minutes.

I cannot image anything close ever happening in the UK except maybe on farms - which is when it "clicked" as of the two vets in the practice, most of the time one is out working on farms.

[quote user="PossumGirl"]That was not the case in L.A., where you had to go to a special Urgent care vet clinic that cost 10 times more than a regular office visit.

[/quote]

I was amazed as shortly after moving to France one of mine went and ripped his leg open, exposing a tendon. I treated this as serious and called the vet - Sunday lunchtime. Blood had reduced a bit so I agreed to meet vet at the surgery (5 mins drive away - meeting him there immediately). He gave local anaesthetic, cleaned everything, loads of stitches, antibiotic injection and course of pills, plus loads of follow-up visits for changing bandages. Total cost (including call-out on Sunday lunchtime !!) = 60€ (TTC).

Ian

[PossumGirl]

[quote user="Deimos"]

I was amazed as shortly after moving to France one of mine went and ripped his leg open, exposing a tendon. I treated this as serious and called the vet - Sunday lunchtime. Blood had reduced a bit so I agreed to meet vet at the surgery (5 mins drive away - meeting him there immediately). He gave local anaesthetic, cleaned everything, loads of stitches, antibiotic injection and course of pills, plus loads of follow-up visits for changing bandages. Total cost (including call-out on Sunday lunchtime !!) = 60€ (TTC).

Ian

[/quote]

Yep.  Yesterday: general anesthetic, surgery, antibiotics to take home: 53€. I talked about it with Mr. Possum on the way home; being generous, our vet in L.A., who was a personal friend and gave us a price break, would have probably cost at least $300 for the same thing.

BTW, today, Maggie is acting as if nothing happened yesterday at all.  Last night, around 7 pm (or 10 hours after the surgery) she suddenly became totally normal, got her appetite back wanted to have attention paid to her and was completely fine, except that on her evening walk she went out, did her thing and immediately wanted to come home, which is unusual.  However, it might have been because she knows she gets a treat after her evening walk and wanted that, because she was still hungry!

PG

[Maddie]

I'm so glad Maggie is on the road to recovery.  It's funny just how different vets are in France.  Yes, the costs are almost alwaysa fraction of what they might be elsewhere in the world but when I had my older two tattooed, it was done by the vet under general anaethetic and I didn't collect them until early evening by which time the vet was glad to get rid of them both!!

[PossumGirl]

Nic, I was just speculating on my blog that it's perhaps because they think that it's less stressful to have them not spend the day in a strange setting, especially if it's a minor procedure that doesn't need careful post-op monitoring.

It's really us, the owners, that have to get used to it more than the pets!

PG