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I have a intact male golden retriever who is around 10+. I adopted him as a rescue and have had him for over a year now. I want to get him neutered because of his testicular abnormality; as consulted with the vet who agrees it is not of normal consistency where by one side is flaccid while the other is rigid and a little bigger. However due to his age and his dilated cardiomyopathy, my local vet is not keen on doing the surgery through general anesthesia. Also because we have no idea of his medical history, I feel that I shouldn't be taking that kind of risk, because otherwise my GR is doing well with a great appetite and medium energy level. My vet did advise there could be an alternative to the general anesthesia which is to do the surgery with an epidural and some local anesthesia. I would like to know more about epidurals in dogs, are there any side effects, is there a high risk of paralysis? Would an epidural give the same result for my vet to perform the castration without my GR being put under? Since an epidural is for the lower half of his body, what are the chances that there might be some difficulty for him to gain back full mobility of his hind legs?
Optional Information: Type of Animal: Golden Retriever Gender: Male Age: 10+ Name of Animal: Kofi
Thanks for the question.While I cannot diagnose Kofi's problem via the internet I can make the following general comments based on my past experience of such cases over the years : 1. I think you should do something here because what you describe could indicate testicular cancer and if this is the case it is possible that early surgery { Castration } could resolve the problem completely. In the early stages of testicular cancer most dogs would be acting quite normally by the way.2. In the hands of an experienced veterinary anaesthesiogist an epidural would present very little risk provide they had carried out this procedure often in the past. However as you say even then there is a slight risk. Where I have been faced with just this sort of situation in the past I gave the dogs a sedative which is significantly less dangerous than a full anaesthetic and infiltrated the scrotal area with local anaesthetic by injection to facilitate as painless surgery as possible.I have had no significant problems over the years with this method.If I have not covered your question fully enough or you would like to ask more I will be online for the next hour or so and I will be at your disposal.Scott Scott Nimmo BVMS, MRCVS. I have over twenty five years full time experience in treating domestic pets and am pleased to do my best to advise you with your current problem. However please note that this advice and any subsequent advice I may give is for your interest and education only and is not intended as a substitute for an in-person consultation with a qualified veterinarian.
What are the possible risks associated with an epidural? My local vet had previously performed a mammary lumpsectomy on Kofi previously on his lower abdomen with stitches spanning 4-5" under local anaesthesia and he recovered from that very well. Can that be some sort of guideline to see how he will handle the anaesthesia for a castration? Knowing that the castration sutures will be much smaller.
Hello again,Glad to talk things over with you further ...1. While in capable hands the risk with an epidural would be small such risks could include damage to the spinal cord or other nerves in the area with a consequent temporary or permanent paralysis. More minor risks are also present such as infection.2. If Kofi has had previous surgery under a local anaesthetic and everything went OK then this is a good indication that things would be fine a second time. This would be a minor procedure with very few risks. As you say the incision would be smaller ...Regards,Scott
Experience: BVMS, MRCVS.
Hello again,Thank you very much for the rating. If I can ever advise you again in the future then do not hesitate to get back in touch with me ...Regards,Scott
Hi Karina,I'm just following up on our conversation about Kofi. How is everything going?Vet Answers