Sedating elderly horses

[Jillian]

Vet said it may be a possibility that my 20 y.o. mare may have to go into the surgery and be heavily sedated to have her tooth pulled out, she did say there was a risk due to her age, which I am really worried about.

Has anybody had any experience of an older horse having sedation and were there any problems?

 

[catherinep]

Heavens! your mare is only a bright young thing! My dearly beloved old horse was 26 when he had a general anaethesetic (sorry, can't spell) to remove his eye due to a tumour. He was home within 24 hours and went on for another 6 years, bless him.

The vets are much more knowledgeable now about sedations etc in older horses - yes, there is always risk and yes, that risk rises with age (just like people) but if she is otherwise in good health and no obvious signs of organ failure etc then you should be fine.

Good luck!

Catherine

 

[GTs]

There is an increased risk, however I have seen many older horses do fine after surgery.

 

[Theresa_F]

Cairo had this at 18 - several times when he had his eye biopsied and radiotherpy. He was fine and you have to be very careful with him as he only requires a tiny amount of sedation.

I also had my TB done when she was 20 for a blocked tear duct and the other TB at 25 for xrays - again both were fine.

 

[Stinkbomb]

My horse Simon had three general anesthetics last year and was under about an hour each time. He was 25years old. There is more of a risk due to their age and with any anesthetic but he recovered extreemly well after them. Only to have to be pts through colic at a later date

 

[henryhorn]

We regularly have oldies sedated here for ther tooth problems, and although there is a slightly higher risk we haven't had problems.
I'd withold food and drink for an hour or so afterwards but he should be fine.

 

[tiggersdad]

The benefits of having dental carried out far exceed the side effects of sedation. In my work I have at least one horse 20 yrs plus sedated per week and have never encountered any problem. When horses are 30 yrs plus sedation can be more serious because often dental work has been left too late and horse is in poor condition. Speak to your vet for reassurance.

 

[PennyJ]

Why does she have to go to the surgery to have her tooth pulled out? Our old loan pony (now 25) has had 3 teeth pulled out under sedation during his dental check ups. No problems at all. He was absolutely fine afterwards and bouncier than ever.