This is a late answer but for someone who might read this in the future we will post it anyway. The risk is much higher to the animal and it certainly raises the risk the animal bleeding out. There is also more swelling. We were going to have our Show Basenji spayed this year. She went into heat slightly early and our vet said that we should wait until after the heat was over before he felt comfortable doing the spay for the reasons mentioned.
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Best thing to do if a full blood panel! It will cost extra but will give the Vet a baseline of your dogs chemistry and will help your Vet treat your dog more properly with anaesthesia. It will also be the road map for your dog in the future to compare blood chemistry. I would ask if they would include thyroid for you.
We waited a complete year to make sure our Basenji's growth plates were completely done. I would ask your vets advice in regard to taking that into consideration.
Jason
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I had all 3 of mine done at 6 mths and never had a problem.
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There IS special consideration that needs to be taken with anesthesia and sighthounds. I don't know the specifics. I switched vets when Ruby had her spay to a vet that had a number of basenjis in their practice and had done spays/neuters and other surgery on the breed. I didn't want to take any chances because at our first vet, Ruby was the only Basenji and sighthound in the practice. I found my new vet thru a local basenji breeder.
There will be people on here that can tell you what the issue is…and I seem to remember someone posting something at one time that can be printed off and taken to the vet. Maybe search on here on "anesthesia"...
I'm sure someone more knowledgeable on the subject will respond to help.
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The reason I made the post is because there are cases where owners signed a waiver and passed on the blood tests prior to surgery. The blood tests cost extra and a lot of people just do not want to pay. In addition when administered anesthesia several dogs have died.
The spaying or neutering age is a personal choice. Lots of Vets and people do it at an even younger age. The proper time is always up for debate. I was very concerned that I wanted my Basenji to develop with good strong bones and I did not want any other issues that could be associated with neutering too early. So I did a lot of reading. After my research and findings, I personally concluded that I was better off to wait a little longer than take any kind of suspected risk. Some of the risks I discovered did include abnormal length bone shortness in the legs and weaker or less bone density. Of course I would suggest that anyone do their own research and decide for themselves. In addition, I consulted with my Vet who was a physical therapist before he became a Vet and specializes in sporting and agility type dogs. My Vet agreed that waiting a little longer to neuter my Basenji until he felt the growth plates have the opportunity to completely finish was the best in our situation.
Jason
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A veterinary technician named Ranee Baker notified BRAT volunteers a few years ago to use the follow anesthesia protocol for basenjis. One of our fosters nearly passed away after a neutering procedure because our vet used its own standard protocol. The problem with basenjis is that many of them have lower than normal fat tissues. As a result, the standard anesthetic procedures used by many vets actually overloads their systems. We've used Ranee Baker's anesthesia protocol every time since then and have found that our foster and resident basenjis recover FAR faster:
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I premedicate with:Buprenex (pain medicine) weight in pounds divided by 2.2 X 0.02 divided by 0.3 given intramuscularly
Ace Promazine (tranquilizer) weight in pounds X 0.05 divided by 20 given intramuscularlyEXAMPLE: a 20 pound dog will get 0.6ml of Buprenex and 0.05ml Ace Promazine.
I give this 15-20 minutes to work, the dog will get relaxed and may go to sleep.
I then place an IV cathter in the cephalic vein (in the forearm).To induce anesthesia:
Ketamine/Valium (1:1 ratio) 1ml per 20 pounds given intravenously via the catheter.
This is given to effect, you may not need the entire dose. I generally give half the dose then see how sleepy the dog is. If the dog is not relaxed enough to intubate I continue to give in 0.1ml increments slowly.Once relaxed, I intubate (place a tube down the dogs trachea) and maintain anesthesia by gas at 1 liter of oxygen and 2% Isoflurane. The Isoflurane is adjusted as needed to keep the dog at the required anesthetic plane throughout the procedure.
Monitoring of anesthesia is done by a registered veterinary technician. I use a pulse oximeter to measure heart rate and oxygen saturation and take a blood pressure reading every 3-5 minutes. Respirations are also monitored.
Once the dog has been shaved, scrubbed and moved to surgery, she is placed on a hot water heating pad to keep her warm and IV fluids are started to keep her blood pressure up. Surgical fluid rate is 5 X the patients weight in pounds. EXAMPLE: a 20 pound dog will receive fluids at 100ml per hour.
This rate is increased if the dog's blood pressure drops below 80.Once the procedure is over, the Isoflurane is turned off and the dog is maintained on 1 liter of oxygen for 5 minutes. The dog is then disconnected from the anesthesia machine and moved to a recovery cage with a hot water heating pad. Once the dog is able to swallow, the endotracheal tube is removed.
We monitor the dog for a few hours before sending them home. The dog will get another injection of Buprenex (for pain) 6 hours after the first one and will go home on pain medication._
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Thank you for posting this procedure - my girl is being spayed at the end of June - I will furnish this post to my vet to see what he thinks of it, in case it gives him some insight he does not already have.
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Another good induction agent, like the valium & ketamine combo, is called propofol, it puts them to sleep quickly and they wake up very quickly as well but it can cost a bit more. Nothing wrong with the ketamine & valium, that has been used for many years.
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Make sure you ask for pain meds for her after the surgery..at least for a few days.
I have used them and believe they keep the dog from hurting too much. -
If you google "sighthounds and anesthesia" there is the abstract to an article that has been referenced here in the forums a couple times. When Riley was neutered I asked beforehand what kind of anesthesia they used and it was one that's ok for sighthounds. I do think it's worth checking on.
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Wow, yet 1 more thing I have learned from this forum. I had no idea that there was a difference as far as anesthesia. Now I know.
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Another good induction agent, like the valium & ketamine combo, is called propofol, it puts them to sleep quickly and they wake up very quickly as well but it can cost a bit more. Nothing wrong with the ketamine & valium, that has been used for many years.
I agree, I am not a fan of ACE as it really can have after effects and some sight hounds do not do well with ACE.. IMO… my Kristii for example had a very bad reaction to ACE.. but then again the Vet I used at the time was NOT up on the latest for sight hounds... and he really didn't like Basenjis to begin with, even though he had quite a few in the practice....
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One of my brother's friend Wilson also faced the same situation in which you mentioned that A friend at work lost her dog last year during the procedure so I'm somewhat nervous. But I faced this I got result normal. I was doing my work. I was upset at the time because I had my work burden headache. But decided to go near the Vet for my animal treatment I appreciate the work of the Vet.
