Yes, if your dog has had any kind of side effects from general anesthesia in the past, we would want to know about it. Certain dogs also have different risk factors. For instance, sight hounds like greyhounds, border collies with an MDR1 gene recession mutation, and old English Bulldogs with smushy faces have higher risks associated with general anesthesia.

General anesthesia in dogs carries several risks including an uncontrolled airway, abnormal heart rate and rhythm, getting too cold, and the blood pressure risk of dropping too low. At Blue Oasis, we take measures to mitigate these risks such as intubating dogs, using medications to keep their heart rates up, performing ECGs, using a hot dog blanket, and blood pressure monitors. We also use IV catheters and IV fluids during the procedure to help with kidney function and perfusion.

We recommend not giving a full dinner immediately after surgery to avoid nausea or vomiting. Start with a small meal, and if they hold it down, you can feed them a bit more. If they've had oral surgery, soften their kibble with water or broth, or feed them canned food for several days up to a week after surgery.

Yes, they may not be able to get out of the car or navigate stairs easily. It's ideal to keep them on the floor and under direct supervision. Other pets and children should be calm around them.

Ensure a calm, quiet environment for your dog, with the temperature regulated depending on the season. Avoid feeding them immediately, and supervise them closely. The recovery process is individual for each pet and we'll guide you through it.

After anesthesia, your dog may feel woozy or tired, may not be able to walk in a straight line as easily, and may want to pace around a bit. It's important to watch for certain signs, which we will detail for you. You can get a hold of the healthcare team here on an app that we have called Anna Panyon for after hours questions that you might have.

General anesthesia, when we turn our gas anesthesia off, our isoflurane off on our vaporizer, those dogs tend to come up to consciousness usually within 5 to 15 minutes. However, post-anesthetic recovery time is longer and we need to monitor them to make sure that they're breathing okay, not having any dysphoria, and that they're warm and comfortable. Most of our dog patients are up and walking within 1 to 2 hours after general anesthesia.

A dog neuter would probably be under general anesthesia for no more than half an hour to 45 minutes on average, depending if it's a small dog. If it's a much bigger dog, they might take a little bit longer. A dog spay may also only take us about an hour of general anesthesia time. There are dog dental procedures where we do extractions or multiple extractions in the mouth. Those patients sometimes can be under general anesthesia for up to three hours. It really depends on what type of surgical procedure we're doing and how long anesthesia might need to last.

The type of pain medication really depends on the type of procedure we're doing. The most common would be an anti-inflammatory. Some common examples would be Carprofen, and Meloxicam. Other pain medications that we use would be opioids like Hydromorphone, Torbugesic, Buprenorphine. We can also prescribe Tylenol with codeine for your dog, especially if they've had some major oral surgeries or they've had a real painful bone procedure. We also use local nerve blocks, for example, Lidocaine to numb the surgical sites.

Yes, absolutely. Your dog cannot just come into Blue Oasis Pet Hospital for a procedure without having been seen by a veterinarian. We go over the concerns that you have about anesthesia and surgery. We assess them as a general patient, they have a physical exam, and we check if they've had blood work. This is to mitigate the risk that we have. So, your dog needs to have a doctor partnership before we move forward with anesthesia and surgery.