Operating on an old dog

[Ali16]

My grandmother suddenly passed away on Wednesday and we have inherrited her boarder x jack, who we think is about 15 now.

We took him to the vet yesterday to have a check up and basically he is in good nick (slightly over weight) but he has two back teeth that are infected. The vet thinks that it would be best to have them removed.

The cost is not an issue.. I am just concerned about putting an old dog under anesthetic.

Does anyone have any experience of older dogs having operations? We would want him to lose a bit of weight first if he did have the operation.

My instinct is that he should have the operation - really don't like the idea of him spending his final years in pain, but naturally worried about the risks.

Any advice would be welcome.

 

[ladyearl]

My collie had an operation to remove a broken dew claw when she was 14. I was obviously concerned but the pre op bloods showed her to be fine and the op went ahead. What I would say is that it was a very short op so she was down and up in no time and it took her about 24hrs to be completely normal again. But she was ok. Plan B was sedation but vets (two in consultation given the age of the dog) thought it could be more stressful for her.

 

[Gwena]

I was a VN years ago - I would say that the infection would pose more of a risk than the anaesthetic. Anaesthetic is so good these days - I would say def go for it. They'll take extra good care knowing his age. Go for it.

 

[MurphysMinder]

If he is fit in other ways I would have the teeth removed. You can ask the vet to do pre op bloods and this will show if there is anything to be wary of. I would imagine teeth removal would only be a short operation and he wouldn't need a heavy GA.
Condolences on the loss of your grandmother.

 

[Supertrooper]

Yes I'd do it, I'm a VN too and like the last poster said the anaesthetics are very good now. Ask to have a pre op blood done first and have him put on intra venous fluids also xxx

 

[The Original Kao]

I had my old girl Tess operated in at age 14. She had a nasty growth that kept getting infected and as she was in good health otherwise the vet suggested an op to remove. She came through it ok. I'd def do it again if I ended up back in time at that point. I'd imagine teeth removal would be a much easier op so I'd have them removed if the old boy is in good health otherwise
Sorry to hear about your Gran

 

[rockysmum]

We had the same with our old whippet. I was even more concerned as she had a heart irregularity.

The vet took bloods and did the operation. Unfortunately they did not wait for the results of the bloods before doing it. They did the op at lunchtime, when they sent her home at 6pm she was still bleeding. By 11pm it had got worse and we took her back. She spent the night on fluids, had two blood transfusion the next morning but did not improve. At this point I felt she had had enough and asked them to put her to sleep.

When her bloods came back it showed her blood was not clotting!!!!!

I guess my story is more about the compentence of the vets, but definately have blood done first.

Apart from that she survived the operation well, even with a bad heart.

 

[ChesnutsRoasting]

Sorry to hear about your grandmother. I would go for the op, an infected tooth will be painful and better out than in. There are risks with anaesthesia, especially at his age, but a risk worth taking,tooth pain=reluctance to eat=weight loss=quality of life down the drain. I hope all goes well.

 

[splashgirl45]

my old dog was 15 and had stopped eating and the vet thought it was her teeth as some were infected, i was really worried but had no choice and she came thru the op absolutely fine. hope that makes you feel a bit better about it..

 

[RutlandH2O]

Gwena is right. The infected teeth do pose a greater risk than the anaesthetic. I had a 14 year old seriously epileptic Norwich Terrier who was on a very high dose of phenobarbitone (for years). He was always difficult when scaling his teeth, but when he got elderly, I took my life in my hands when it came to his mouth. He was a bit down at one point and I took him to the vet for some blood works. Vet examined his mouth and said several of his teeth had to go. I used to work for this vet, so me and my dogs were well known there. The vet knew my concerns regarding anaesthesia in an epileptic dog. He decided to use Iso. I was a wreck. To cut a long story short, the dog not only survived, he had a new lease of life! He was spry, happy, lively, jaunty, a completely changed little man. Go for it. Good luck.