Dog

Ask a Dog Question, Get an Answer ASAP!

Have your own Dog question?

17 Vets and Dog Experts are Online Now

characters left:

Not a Dog Question?

Question

How can an 8 year old Boston Terrier mix die under anesthesia while having a foxtail removed from her nose when she had successfully undergone this same procedure in the past with the same vet?

Submitted: 781 days and 6 hours ago.

Category: Dog

Value: $9

Status: CLOSED

My sympathies on your unexpected loss.
She might have had a reaction to the anesthesia which can happen with being exposed a second time to it. Allergies develop after one exposure so that might be it.
She might have had a change in how well her liver or kidney's cleared her system of anesthesia. If you didn't do blood work to check organ function and she was partly compromised then the anesthesia could have built up too much too fast in her system causing an overdose.
Also if her heart function wasn't as good as previously again the anesthesia could build up.
You could have the vet do a necropsy which is like a human autopsy to find out cause of death.
If you have not seen www.petloss.com and the rainbow bridge story it may bring you some comfort.
Hope this helps you!

Expert:	NancyH
Pos. Feedback:	99.5 %
Accepts:	19879
Answered:	9/19/2007

Dog Expert:Rescue, Train,Breed,Care

30+ yrs dog home vet care & nursing, rescue, behavior&training, responsible show breeding, genetics

781 days and 6 hours ago.

Reply

She was fine under the anesthesia for 15 minutes so I don't think it was an allergy. The vet was having trouble getting the foxtail and decided to "give her a rest" when her heart stopped. I don't understand why a "rest" was necessary if she was under anesthesia, and I wonder what the result would have been if the decision to give her a rest had been made sooner. Anesthesia monitoring was done via blood pressure and a pulse oximeter, and I'm wondering if an EKG or something else shouldn't also have been used.

Posted by NancyH 781 days and 6 hours ago.

Answer

Sometimes you just can't tell what happened.
Her heart stopped and would not restart so she may have had a heart issue or its possible an aneurism might have let go in her brain stopping her heart from the damage done.
This breed is one that is higher risk for using anesthesia with as are all the breeds with pushed in faces
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_brachycephalic.html
Vets usually hate to lose patients so you might be able to ask your vet what else might have been done differently or if the vet feels nothing could have predicted this issue.
They can't always tell with people either. This just sometimes happens and not all the secrets of the body are really known to those in the medical profession at this time.

Disclaimer: Information in questions, answers, and other posts on this site ("Posts") comes from individual users, not JustAnswer; JustAnswer is not responsible for Posts. Posts are for general information, are not intended to substitute for informed professional advice (medical, legal, veterinary, financial, etc.), or to establish a professional-client relationship. The site and services are provided "as is" with no warranty or representations by JustAnswer regarding the qualifications of Experts. To see what credentials have been verified by a third-party service, please click on the "Verified" symbol in some Experts' profiles. JustAnswer is not intended or designed for EMERGENCY questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals.

Dog

Have your own Dog question?

Related Dog Topics:

Question

How can an 8 year old Boston Terrier mix die under anesthesia while having a foxtail removed from her nose when she had successfully undergone this same procedure in the past with the same vet?

Accepted Answer

Reply

Answer

Dog

Have your own Dog question?

Related Dog Topics:

Question

How can an 8 year old Boston Terrier mix die under anesthesia while having a foxtail removed from her nose when she had successfully undergone this same procedure in the past with the same vet?

Accepted Answer

Reply

Answer

Related Dog Questions