# Too old for sedation?



## nancyf (Nov 6, 2007)

DaniGirl is 10 and was recently "put under" to have her teeth cleaned. I was sharing this with someone and she said that her vet won't clean the teeth of her 8 year old dog because 8 years is considered too old to put under sedation. Her 8 year old doxy is overweight, in case this makes the difference.

Have any of you heard of this? DaniGirl came out of the sedation fine and I'm trying to remember to brush her teeth daily to keep from doing this again.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi Nancy, I think this is something a vet will make a judgement call on ,based on the individual. I know Deb's Jammies can't be anesthetized. Isoflurane anesthesia is great since it can be reversed very quickly. This I got from the research Kimberly (former member) did and was confirmed by Sabine . From all I've read, today's anesthesia care is much safer than years ago.


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## whimsy (Apr 3, 2010)

It is always a good idea to have pre-anesthesia blood work done prior to dental cleaning to make sure everything checks out ok.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

And make sure that your vet has a trained anesthesia tech running the anesthesia. The vet should be free to concentrate on the procedure, not be keeping an eye on anesthesia at the same time. Some vets work with "just" a vet tech, but not on my animal!


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

A good vet will make the judgement based on the animals health. My shih tzu was not able to have his teeth cleaned the last year of his life as he had always had a heart problem, and at about 9.5 the vet started having me use Clindamycine every four months for the rest of his life (Tzu's have really crowded teeth and have problems as they age), this is oral drops that are put directly on the gums. So there are other things that can be done, if it is too dangerous to put them under. A life saving emergency is a whole different thing and that is when a Vet will put most dogs under.


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## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

Our poodle Ginger had to have her teeth cleaned fairly often due to chronic gingivitis. She was probably over 10 maybe even 12 when she had dental work done - teeth that needed pulled as well as the cleaning. She did fine as our vet checked her out thoroughly before every procedure. She was so much better after those teeth came out, too. Sometimes these things are necessary for their health.


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## Miss Paige (Apr 4, 2008)

My Frannie had her teeth cleaned at 12-yes we had to really watch the amount of fluid they gave her and we had to watch the type of anesthesia they used-but she did okay. I would never do any type of surgery without a full chem scan (blood panel) being done before they do the surgery. But that is just IMO-I think checking with your vet is a great idea before doing anything.

Pat (humom to)
Miss Paige
Mr Roman
Ms Frannie (my true angel girl)
Ms T (for as long as she needs me)


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