Sighthounds & anesthesia.....UPDATE!!!

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Brodee has once again hurt himself—we think on a sharp piece of wire he created from ripping apart the kennel door & trying to escape (while we were gone), so I need to take him to the vet this afternoon.

I remember the breeder talking to me about Borzoi being extremely sensitive to anesthesia, but I cannot remember if it was a specific kind or just anesthesia in general? I put in a phone call & email to her, but I've not heard back.

Brodee has never been knocked out before and this looks bad enough for stitches.....this is our "new" vet that we use since old one beat the cr*p out of one of my horses & filled out paperwork so screwed up that it nearly cost me the sale of a $5,000 horse!

So far this new vet is awesome and we've taken one of the cats there & had a little chocolate lab puppy spayed there--and they are the ones that fixed our horse whose leg was nearly ripped off--but today when I called, the vet had me spell “Borzoi” three times on the phone—so I’m nervous!

So I thought I'd get some advice from anyone with sighthounds before I take Brodee in....can they do a local anesthesic???

 

[KellyHM]

Sighthounds in general are more sensitive to anesthesia, but they do fine with it as long as they are given lower doses. The vet should know this and you could "remind" them if it would make you feel better. He'll be fine!

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Oh, okay...

 

[orcasislandchickens]

Sorry to hear, and good luck today. I imagine you are already at the vet's office, but if you are not, my advice is mention hearing about anesthetic sensitivities of your breed... again. He/she should be fine, my vet would often use a local for small stuff.

There's a pup in every litter that finds the snake that bites, the wire that cuts, the door that catches tails, the one horse that will kick... I guess this time you got lucky and he's yours. Luckily that one is usually as strong and easygoing as it is accident prone.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Nope, not yet. It's just now 12:30pm here. His appointment is at 4pm and that's the soonest I could get off work to take him.

I did have some antibiotics left over from the last time Brodee did something similar, so I gave him those, shaved the fur around the cut & cleaned it out as best I could last night...so I'm hoping he will be okay until tonight. He's in the livingroom in his crate. I think the combo with him is that he's not very smart, extremely clumsy and has no qualms about racing around/jumping 6+ feet straight in the air, etc. LOL So all of that makes for one HUGE, accident-prone dog. He is extremely laid-back and snuggly most of the time--but every once in a while, he just has to run/race/be weird....

 

[orcasislandchickens]

It sounds like matters are well in hand. Let us know what the vet says.

 

[Iceblink]

Sighthounds can handle the actual anesthesia, either 'iso' or 'sevo'
its the pre-a or induction agent 'acepromazine' sometimes called 'ace' that they can't tolerate. It is often prescribed as a sedative, and is given to calm the dog down enough to put in a catheter, or for a fairly small procedure.

It isn't just sighthounds, but all needle-nosed breeds that can't handle ace.

 

[greyfields]

I've never met a vet who wasn't able to explain it to me... and fortunately my vet (for domestic animals) is also a Greyhound owner. It's good to find a sight-hound savvy vet.

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
Sounds just like my three Borzois I had LOL! Oh God, you gotta love them to pieces!

I hope he will be OK!

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
True, but if you live in a very small town¡Xyour choices are very limited on vets. ƒº There are two competent ones within 150 miles and the other is a complete idiot¡Khubby took in a dog with a shattered leg (was caught in a bear trap) and that vet it was a ¡§cheat grass infection!¡¨

Luckily, the vet last night was willing to listen to me & to read the literature I brought her and decided to hold off on the procedure until this morning so she could contact WSU and get their advice.