seniors, anesthesia and meds

[Julie]

ok, I am a wee bit stressed, not a good way to spend my day off work!! Took Harley to the vet to get measured for a set of wheels and a check up. He has a mild ear infection and is in need of dental, no surprise as he is 8 and never had one. My concern is  1)Harley has never had surgery 2) He is now on ear drops
3) He is on holistic meds for his chronic UTI as he is incontinent and doesn't fully empty.
The vet doesn't know about holistics meds but within 48 hrs regular meds would be out of his system.

Now alot of you have experience with seniors and these issues, what do I do?

Try to get his pH as low as possible? Finish the ear drops first? Or just go ahead with the dental now? And of course it is x-mas time and I will wrong that the dr's have shopping, party's etc on their mind!!
Want to get the wheels ordered but god forbid if anything happened. He is overall healthy, heart sounds good, blood work in May has fine.

[lizzthrasher]

My older guys have done ok with anesthesia.  A 10 y/o pug and a 14 y/o poodle with a heart murmur were fine.

I would probably wait until the ear infection cleared, then do prophylactic antibiotics before the dental.

As far as the holistic meds are concerned, you should advise the vet what he is taking, so as to avoid any interactions. You should also be able to find out when you can restart his holistic regimen.

[blanche]

Pretty much what Lizz said. I've put older dogs under for surgery lots of times.  The key is having a vet who is good with the brachycephalic breed and knows how to anaesthetize them.

I'd get the dental done, for sure.  Bad teeth and underlying infection are one of the major causes of many other problems in dogs--including heart disease.  Unless your vet feels it is URGENT, then I'd finish whatever meds he's on and look to early January.  If his teeth are really bad, then a course of antibiotics pre-surgery is often done.

[blanche]

From Pugs.com:

"Here is where we differ with many people and their experiences. Again, this is only how we handle the situation with our veterinarian. Make sure the vet does not use any barbiturates to sedate your Pug beforehand. Many vets "premedicate" their surgeries with a barbituate sedative, to make the animal easier to handle for induction of the breathing tube and so that it will require less induction agent (that's the isofluorane). Many vets use acepromazine, which is fairly mild, but they tend to use it in too high of a dose for small dogs which can cause respiratory depression. Ace also can prolong recovery times, which is very dangerous in Pugs. They need to wake up quickly. A vet does have to insert the isofluorane breathing tube down and into your dog's throat, but to do this, in my opinion, it is not necessary to inject anything. No matter what, NEVER allow your vet to use a "standard" combination of xylazine and ketamine which can cause heart stoppage in Pugs. Instead, have the vet simply "mask" your dog. This means the vet holds the isofluorane gas mask over the dogs face for a few seconds. The Pug breathes in the gas and will drop off into a light, short nap, during which time the vet can insert the breathing tube. Using this method, your vet injects no chemicals at all, just the isofluorane gas. Sometimes, this method can result in an irritated throat, and slight cough after surgery.

Make sure the vet uses at least an EKG machine and blood pressure monitor during the surgery. These may cost extra, but they provide extra measures of safety, and a Pug needs every bit they can get. We do not ever consent to anesthesia/surgery without them. And we make sure a vet tech or assistant will be measuring heart and respiration rates every few minutes at a minimum. Even better is if there is one there just to monitor that your Pug continues to breath throughout the operation. Yes, all of this costs more money. Yes, our Pugs are worth it.

If the surgery will be a long one or if your Pug has any pre-existing health problem, make sure the vet will be giving IV fluids to prevent dehydration and keep up strength. More money, but again, well spent."
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[Julie]

Thanks, I think early January is best too then he can finish the ear drops. Nice to have you all here to bounce stuff off of as hubby is no help. Guess I will still worry a bit about his urine infection but the dr said they take temperature and do blood work 1st, so guess that would catch any reason not to procede.
They have done Muffin's dental, 3 times, my pekingese, so I know they only mask down, but I will ask for iv..I think they always do this, and I will ask about the EKG and blood pressure monitor, great info I never would have thought of. They did say dental-now! but didn't prescribe any meds for that. Maybe the holistic anti-microbial, anti-biotic for his urinary tract is helping so they didn't see infection in his mouth? I have learned so much over the years and still feel I know nothing, gee. 
I will have to wait and see if he needs meds after surgery, if he does he can't take the holistic anti-biotic at the same time, and I will take him off 3 days before instead of 2 to be safer.

[Pugpillow]

From Pugs.com:

"Here is where we differ with many people and their experiences. Again, this is only how we handle the situation with our veterinarian. Make sure the vet does not use any barbiturates to sedate your Pug beforehand. ...

Great post, Blanche.  Thanks for sharing this.  I learned some stuff.

[lizzthrasher]

Actually, the antibiotics are given because the dental procedures stir up all kinds of bacteria that can be taken into the body.  They wanna kill off all the bugs before they start.    And then follow up killing any they missed.