For Dog Lovers...Part IV

[Rachel D.]

I called the vet this morning and took him in right away and they said it's stress. Apparently mucus coming out is from anxiety and also having phantom urges to poop, which is why he seemed constipated. There was a lot of activity this weekend and some of the neighbors were shooting off fireworks, but that's never bothered him before. Maybe he's more intolerant of those kinds of things since he's getting older. The vet gave him some antibiotics and put him on a diet of boiled chicken and rice for two days. He's going to love that and will probably never want to eat dog food again. Hopefully it will help.

 

[bono_212]

That's really different. Thanks for the update, though!

 

[Phantom Dreamer]

National Dog Day.

 

[Rachel D.]

How old is too old for a dog to have anesthesia? My dog is 12 and we are going to have his teeth cleaned, which requires being put under. He had it done three years ago and it went fine. He has a new vet now (the old one passed away) and this one said there is a blood test for dogs over 8 years old to make sure they can tolerate anesthesia (that costs an extra $47), but the old vet never said anything about that. I would feel really terrible if something bad happened for the sake of saving $47, but he's in good health and has had this done before. I also read that 1 in 1,000 cases have complications from anesthesia, so that makes me feel a little better.

Does anyone have any experiences with older dogs having surgery? I think I'm worrying just because the vet brought up the blood test on the phone, so now I'm convinced there's a possibility of something going wrong.