Senior Chinchilla & Anesthesia concerns

[lilcutie0480]

Okay, so I'm looking for the more experienced chin parents to reply. My little guy is 12yrs old & in overall prefect health. We had some issues a few weeks back but he's bounced back and it appears to have been stressed related (vets diagnosed).

So my question/debate is this he has a small growth/Abscess on his anus. It does not hurt him, hinder his poop, he doesn't even chew on it. He had one when he was 7, we had surgery to remove it to ensure nothing more serious was happening. It was an abscess & harmless (vet diagnosed). At that time we did bloodwork & X-ray while under the anesthesia. Everything was perfect & normal. My husband doesn't want him to go under anesthesia for something that doesn't hurt/bother him given his age and that he ways just over 1lb. I also have concern given his age, but given his recent issues I really want an X-ray of his teeth. So if they put him under anesthesia for that they might as well do bloodwork & remove the abscess as well. Thoughts????

 

[AZChins]

Are they going to use the gas or an injectable anesthesia? If it's just the isoflurane gas, it won't cause too many complications. Other anesthesias can potentially cause the heart to stop beating and other problems so they are much more risky.

12 is a senior chin, but if he's in good health he'd do alright if they put him under with the gas. What does your vet think? Is he optimistic about your chin making it through surgery again?

 

[lilcutie0480]

My vet said she could do a "local anesthesia" gas for the surgery & given his health she felt confident in him coming out of it.

We just don't want to put him at any risk especially since he seems to have no health issues. He's our baby.

 

[ticklechin]

I have had chins put under gas 100s of times, weights from 380gms to 1200gms with only one issue that resulted in death of a 17 year old with no previous health issues-the skuzzy way the vet handled it led me to believe it was operator error and not the gas itself.

 

[lilcutie0480]

Thank you that's reassuring.

 

[Stackie]

I'm not sure what she means by local anesthesia gas- there really is no such thing. Local anethesia would be an injectable nerve block to numb the area, but not put him under. This would be difficult because it does not immobilize him and sounds to be a pretty invasive procedure. Gas anesthetic will actually put him under- though I would prefer sevoflurane over isoflurane for him, as sevo is more quickly metabolized by the body and therefore the recovery time is quicker.

If it doesn't bother him and it doesn't seem like he's in pain then I wouldn't do it. However if he has to go under anyway for dental radiographs then I would go ahead and get the surgery done as well.

 

[ticklechin]

I was thinking the vet meant they were going to use a nose cone as opposed to a induction chamber. I have used both gases and have not noted any difference in recovery time in chins, JMO based on observation during the procedures but what Stacie says is true about the sevo, its supposed to be better.

 

[lilcutie0480]

Yes, I'm sure that whats the vet meant b/c she said it wouldn't effect him for too long. Thank you for the advice about sevo, I'll make sure to mention that specifically. It's just a struggle to decide what to do when he's in great health.

 

[Stackie]

Why does he need dental x-rays? Is he showing signs of dental problems?

 

[lilcutie0480]

No, he's not showing any teeth issues (ex. No drooling, no rubbing mouth, squeaks,etc) but its been 5yrs since his last set. Plus a few weeks ago he just stopped eating. He was drinking but would touch his pellets & would only eat hand fed hay. Took him to the vet as soon as I noticed, she said it was most likely stress from something. Just don't want to be wrong & he had a burr or something that's better only temporarily. He's my spoiled baby & I just don't want to miss anything. In the same breath I don't want to put him through unnecessary pain/surgery.