General Anesthetic and Chows
Q My five year-old female chow has a growth on her bottom eyelid. I forget exactly what the vet called it, but it fills with black stuff and after a while pops and bleeds. One vet suggested my squeezing it every week but it is too close to the eye — I'm afraid of scratching her eye. One of the options is to surgically remove it. But I am extremely leery of doing that because I read in the Chow Chow Reporter some years ago that Chows don't handle general anesthetic well and have been known to die on the table. I work with a man whose 8-year-old male went in to be neutered and never regained consciousness. I am at a loss as to what to do. Please help with advice.
Thanks.
AThis is fairly new to me. All dogs can die form anesthetic. The reason I can think of this happening to Chow's, is that some vets have a fear of Chows Chows. So in order to protect their (vets) safety they over dose the dogs. I know of a few vets that I have talked with that would recommend to put a Chow to sleep at once without any hesitation. Only because of the bad rap that Chows have been given. Since working with tons of different Chows Chows, I know that this is not true. We take our Chows Chows at least once a week (different ones) to the vets (two different ones) and they have been under anesthetic. They have always done just fine. We get all of the Chow's that come across get fixed. There have even been surgeries and they have done fine. The only serious threat that a Chow has is when a female has to have a C-Section to have her pups. Then there is a high risk of the mother not making it.
Before you go in to your vet. I would check around and call other vet. to see if they like working with Chows. Let them know your concerns and find out if they have worked with many Chows before. All vets can vary; some have a very narrow minds on breeds like the Chow. They won't always say it either. NOTE: When calling vets, make sure that you get to talk to the doctors and not the secretaries. This way it is coming form the source.
