What are some of the risks of anesthesia?

Often, clients are worried about anesthesia, and they're concerned about their pet dying, and that's a genuine concern a lot of our clients can have. That risk, while it is possible, is extremely low. I think the percentages given are for dogs, 0.05%, and cats, 0.1%., so they’re really low. The more common side effects are still not common, but we might see if they have any underlying conditions that we either know or don't know about, heart disease being a big one. We’re sedating the cat and taking away a lot of their normal functions, and we're controlling their breathing, so heart disease and kidney disease can play a role.

Some of the risks of anesthesia include hypothermia, complications with controlling airways, coughing due to interference with the trachea, risk of aspiration pneumonia due to a communication between the airway and the stomach and esophagus, development of arrhythmias and low blood pressures, and potential kidney injury.