Archive for the tag 'altering'

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

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.

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Ask the Veterinarian - When to Spay My French Bulldog?

lorihuntdvm March 26th, 2008

When to Spay My French Bulldog?

I’m getting conflicting information on when to spay my pup. I’ve heard in French Bulldogs it’s better to wait until after her first or even second heat so as not to stunt her growth allowing her bones and spine to fully develop.

But the information on spaying before her first heat for cancer prevention is so compelling! Sharing your thoughts would be very helpful while I ponder what I should do!

Thank you for your time.

Dr. Lori writes -

There is some recent evidence suggesting that waiting until after puberty (one heat) allows a bit more development of the urinary tract and actually allows the bones to grow at a normal rate. In addition, some research has been presented in large breed dogs that early spay/neuter (3 months) can actually increase the length of the long bones, and make the dog taller than genetically it should have been.

But we are not talking about a large breed (ha! Just try and tell a frenchie it isn’t a BIG dog!)… And you are right in your research findings about cancer.

If a female is spayed before her first season, she has less than 0.5% chance of getting mammary cancer in her lifetime. After 1 season it increases to 8% and after 2 or more it increases to 25%. Also, in my experience as a veterinarian, I feel that puppies recover almost uneventfully from a spay, whereas older girls experience more pain and a longer recovery.

If she were mine and I had no plans of breeding her, I would opt for spaying her somewhere between 6 and 8 months.

Good Luck to you and your baby girl!

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