horrible day....I took my 8 month old male show prospect into the vet today due to a limp. His heart stopped during sedation and they could not get him back. I opted not to have an autopsy, can't stand the thought of him that way but I did ask the vet to look at his heart as unevasively as possible.
He comes from very top winning showlines and both sire and dam for generations come from VERY reputable breeders. Of course all have had appropriate clearances as well for generations. Nothing will bring him back but I would like to hear from any one that has any thoughts of what could have happened.
This is the kind of thing that makes me wonder if this hobby is worth it!
I am so very, very sorry for you loss. I know how much your own heart is hurting at this time.
Do you know what they gave him? I just lost a dog
yesterday after she was given Turbutrol for pain. A lot of vets also use this for sedation during OFAs, etc. as well.
First of all I am sooo sorry. My heart goes out to you. Did they say it what they used. My friend took her dog to the vet a couple of months ago and the smae thing happened with him but he did come back. The vet told her it was a new medication and that they would not use it on dogs who had heatworms or had been treated for heartworms. So we were guessing it is really hard on their heart?
Oh I am so very sorry.
I'm sure there are no words to comfort you at this time but please try to remember all the good things that we also have in this hobby.
I am so sorry for your loss, I can't imagine your pain. I am so afraid of the anesthetic, that is the risky part of any surgery. I get ridiculed because I
have a Vet do OFA"S with out putting the dog under.
I would prefer to get a tougher analysis by OFA than take the risk. I hope the Vet can help you with what
may have caused this terrible incident. I wish you
happy memories of your puppy.
I spoke with my vet - I ask him to look at his heart without doing a full autopsty. His heart appeared to be small and since he is not a cardiologist, he is sending it up to state to have it looked at. This doesn't help make me feel better but at least we may know why it happened. Thanks for your all thoughts
I am so sorry for your loss. I know you must feel badly about what happened but you really have no way of knowing before hand how they will react to any anesthesia, even humans have the same issue as well.
One of my girls reacts very badly to general anesthesia, but I don't remember if is was acepromazine that they used before hand when she had her prelims done,and I know her brother reacted very badly when they had his prelims done as well. I too do my OFA's without anesthesia for that reason.
Years ago a similar thing happened to us on a routine spay of a 6M female. It took 5 minutes to get her back. She was blind for 24 hours due to brain swelling. We did not know if she would come back. We were told she had a sensitivity to anesthesia - she may have had a similar condition as your pup's. She also had issues during an acl surgery. Sharing your info may help many in the future.
My deepest sympathies and condolences on your loss. Gentle Journey, Wee One.
It's a rarity for something like this to happen in a young healthy dog. I would be asking questions re: sedation, dosages, who was monitoring and so forth.
My sincere condolences at the loss of your pup today. "Heartbroken"- surely. Words fail at the passing of such a young soul! Godspeed, little one!
I hope you can find out what might have happened to this fella...it might be interesting to find out what type of anesthesia was used & how much. Administering such medications can be such an art and I would think each animal is SO different in how they process/metabolize same; never mind if they have some silent anomaly that might impede the drug.
My vet will do a pre test for reactions or allergies to the anesthesia med's they use for OFA's and Spay and Neutering. He will not risk a dogs life or a cat if a normal procedure and time to test for allergies or reaction to the med. A simple blood test and sent to Cornell. My dogs have nothing done until tested. Also I almost lost one years ago to seizures from the anesthesia and I told him no more without testing my dogs and he agreed. A few dollars invested in the test is worth it verses loosing one of your pups or adults because of meds. I also tell my puppy buyers to have there dogs tested the pups I sell for this before the spay or neuter just to be on the safe side.
A necropsy may not tell you anything. It may have been that your pup had a cardiac arrthymia, basically the electrical impluse in the heart got interrupted, causing a fatal heart attack.
There are no tests in the world that can screen for that kind of reaction to a narcotic.
Oh, I'm sooooo sorry. I had that happen in a routine spay, one of my beloved bitches who was staying here for her retirement years. Our baby. Dead on the table.
She had been under before, so were totally shocked.
Some of my breeder friends said it can be WHAT kind of anesthesia they are using, and how they mix it.
My Vet is Dr.Rusty Sampson .
I will ask him what the test is called and the anesthesia he uses 2 of them I do know this. He has had no incidence with my dogs ever since we do the testing.
One puppy buyer did have a test come back with an allergy and she is in Columbia Pa. They used the opposite ones away from that one and he came thru the Neuter very nicely no complications.
I will post tomorrow and all vets have the knowledge of this test . It should be used all the time before a scheduled operation. But if an emergency there is no way to do this. Mine are tested at 6 months of age and out on there records for information so hopefully they will never have a reaction to any anesthesia ever.
I learned this when one of my stud boys had the reaction and I learned very fast about this over 6 years ago.