Facts You Need to Know

The prospect of taking a dog or cat in for surgery or for dental care is frightening for many petowners, primarily because these procedures require anesthesia. Most pet owners recognize thatanesthesia for their dog or cat is not without risk. However, in most cases, the risk associated withanesthesia is relatively small.

The keys to safe anesthesia for your pet are proper planning of the procedure and close monitoringduring and after the procedure. No anesthetic episode is completely without risk and complicationscan and do occur. However, with the proper precautions, the threat of complications can beminimized and complications, when they do occur, can be detected and treated early and

aggressively.

Proper Planning for Anesthesia Prior to Induction and Surgery for Your Pet

Every dog and cat is different and anesthetic protocols should be varied to meet the needs of theindividual. For healthy dogs and cats, the anesthetic protocol may be quite straight-forward.However, for pets that have health issues, drugs that impact those health issues as little as possiblemust be chosen.

It is important that your veterinarian know as much as possible about your dog or cat beforeanesthesia. If your pet has been previously diagnosed with disease, is on any medications or is notacting himself at present, your veterinarian needs to be informed.

Pre-surgical blood screening is controversial but many veterinarians amazon do recommend it priorto anesthesia. Check with your veterinarian prior to your pet's scheduled procedure and find outwhether blood screening will be performed and why or why not.

Regardless of whether pre-surgical blood screening is performed, every pet undergoing anesthesiashould receive a thorough physical examination prior to the anesthesia to locate any physicalabnormalities that could complicate the anesthesia.

Anesthetic Monitoring of Your Dog or Cat During and After Surgery

Your pet needs to monitored closely not only during the surgical procedure itself but afterwards aswell. Your dog or cat should be monitored until he is no longer under the effects of the anesthesiaand is out of danger.

Typical parameters monitored during anesthesia include:

respiratory rate heart rate body temperature pulse oximetry (measures the amount of oxygenpresent in the blood) end-tidal carbon dioxide (measures the amount of carbon dioxide beingbreathed out) electrocardiogram (EKG, ECG) blood pressureIn most cases, your dog or cat shouldhave an endotracheal tube (a tube that fits into your pet's trachea or major airway) in place. Gasanesthetic agents are delivered to your pet's lungs through this tube and, in case of emergency,oxygen can also be administered through the tube.

An intravenous catheter may also be placed in one of your pet's legs and is often placed as aprecaution. In case of emergency, this catheter can be used to provide access to your dog or cat'svein for the administration of life-saving drugs. It is also frequently used to give your pet fluidsduring the anesthesia period.

Pain Medications, Anesthesia and Surgery for Dogs and Cats

Though anesthesia itself is not painful, surgery is. Any pet that is undergoing surgery should betreated with appropriate medications to relieve pain. These medications should be given prior tosurgery and should be continued during and after the surgical procedure. Pain medication not onlykeeps your dog or cat more comfortable but it also helps speed your pet's recovery and helps makeanesthesia smoother for your pet.

If your dog or cat is to undergo anesthesia, you should make certain your veterinarian and his staffare prepared to properly plan and monitor your pet's progress. You should also make sure yourveterinarian is planning on administering painhttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/dogs/index.html medication for your pet to helphis recovery from surgery.

https://suite.io/lorie-huston/5h3x24w