Ask the French Bulldog Vet - Spaying Gone Tragically Wrong

lorihuntdvm August 14th, 2008

I have just spent one of the worst weekends of my life. On Friday morning I took my apparently energetic and healthy little 4.5 month old girl to be spayed. About an hour after I dropped her off I received the call that she was dead. What I was told is that they didn’t even get her under - that the pre-anethesia medication was all that she had been given. The pre-anethesia included morphine. I was told that when they came to get her she was blue.

My questions:
1. Do most vets monitor small dogs after they have been given meds like morphine to make sure that there is no adverse reaction?

2. If so - could anything have been done?
3. Is giving morphine as a pre-anethesia a common practice when spaying?

I dropped off what seemed to be a perfectly healthy little dog for what I understand to be a very routine surgery. I had planned to pamper her this weekend after the spaying - cleared all activities. Instead I ended up mourning her death.

When I first found this vet I had talked to three others and discussed their familiarity with the breed. I went with him because I was assured that he had 4-5 current frenchies and that he was very familiar with the breed. I live in the Phoenix area and will be getting another frenchie - I really fell in love with the breed.

I didn’t see any recommended vets listed for out here - how do I make sure I am getting quality care for my beautiful little pups?

Dr. Lori writes –

What an absolutely awful thing to have happen. I am so sorry for you and your little girl and I can only imagine how heart broken you must be.

You mention morphine, but were there other drugs in the pre-anesthetic cocktail? I do believe if pre-medications are to be used, the dog should be monitored. We have our surgery recovery area right in the midst of our main room, so the pets are always in our sight. It is possible if they saw her fading they could have intubated and given her meds to turn her around, but that is hard to say for sure, without knowing exactly what happened.

Many veterinarians do use pre-meds. I choose not to use them on frenchies since anesthesia can be so hard on them anyway, that I believe the less drugs in their system, the better and easier recovery. I have an anesthetic protocol on the frenchbulldogZ site, http://www.frenchbulldogz.org/learn/anesthesia.html.

While it isn’t perfect or all inclusive, it is certainly a good start. Please do let me know if you find out any other drugs were used.

I am so very sorry

Lori Hunt, DVM

French Bulldogs d’Assisi

Editor’s Note: I’m so sorry for the tragic loss of your little girl. You’ve gone through every Frenchie owner’s worst nightmare. You mention that there aren’t any Frenchie vets ‘where you are’ — if you email me and tell me where that is, I’ll be happy to try to find you a good reference in your area. Again, my deepest condolences on your loss.

Tags: altering, anesthesia, French Bulldog Veterinary, spaying, surgery, veterinarian

French Bulldog Veterinary , anesthesia , spay neuter alter
Comments(1)

One Response to “Ask the French Bulldog Vet - Spaying Gone Tragically Wrong”

# Tatianaon 19 Aug 2008 at 11:05 am

I am so saddened by this posting, but this is what I do want to add… In MOST cases, the neutering of a male dog is a very simple procedure (unless the testicle(s) hasn’t or haven’t dropped and need to be located)… For females, the procedure is technically straightforward, but there are always risks associated with any surgery, even dental cleanings under anesthesia, for example.

From my own experiences with my dogs, I always print out Dr. Lori Hunt’s anesthesia protocols for my dogs’ veterinarians beforehand and the veterinarians, in turn, have been very accommodating and understanding of my concern over my dogs’ well-being… Rather than taking my dogs in early and making them wait around in crates for several hours, or sedating them (which I don’t approve of), I’ve arranged to take my dogs in later and the vets run a lab test to ensure that blood / gas levels are all in the acceptable ranges, and they perform an X-ray to check the trachea and respiratory system (that we all examine in unison)… This way, we know that conditions are optimum (by French Bulldog standards) before even proceeding… I’d rather pay slightly more for having these tests performed than letting the vet go in blindly.

My sincerest condolensces for the loss of the puppy and hope this information proves to be of use to others fearful of these kinds of procedures.