Ga Sensetivity In The Siberian Husky

[Miss B]

Hi guys

I have seen it mentioned several times that care should be taken when putting Sibes under a General Anaesthetic. I'm just wondering if anyone has any further info or experiences on this matter?

One of our Sibes may be needing to go under GA for a dental soon. I will be having it done at the clinic where I work, so will most likely be doing the anaesthesia myself. I'm just wondering how common it is for Sibes to have problems with this. The particular dog in question has actually been under GA before with no problems, and we will be running a pre-anaesthetic blood profile first so I'm not overly worried.

I'm just curious really to hear about any experiences that others may have had.

cheers

Penwing

[~*Shell*~]

Zero's been under twice - once was a major op to retrieve his testicle after he was kicked by his old owners and it went back up inside of him and he had to have a 15cm incision for them to find it (4 hours to do a desexing!).

He came out fine both times - not a care in the world!

[Rappie]

I hear a lot about breed sensitivities to general anaesthetic, but rarely come across one that was actually a breed specific problem, rather than a characteristic about the patient. Often, the information that is supplied may refer to drugs that are not commonly used, or to drugs that are better choices for a lot of patients.

The contraindication of using ACP in Boxers is well known. It's also well discussed and often under question but most vets still don't use this drug on principle.

Sight hounds (or really, any dog with very little body fat) will be affected by some drugs to a greater extent than a "normal" dog and this is due to way that specific drugs are metabolised.

Lots of patients need special consideration when planning an anaesthesia - are they fat? skinny? heart murmur? arrhythmia? history of seizures? brachycephalic? very young? very old?

[Miss B]

Thanks Shell and Rappie.

So Rappie, would you say that Huskies in particular do not neccessarily need special consideration when going under a general? Assuming there are no other obvious health issues such as those you mentioned (underweight, overweight, heart murmur, very young/old etc)?

[Rappie]

I haven't come across any Huskies that have had particular issues because of their breed - but it will depend on the individual and obviously the vet that is planning the anaesthetic. Where possible (in every patient) I try to apply a balanced anaesthesia including a sedative and opiod premedication and a short acting induction agent. A lot of the reported issues that I have come across are precautions with ACP (it's a vasodilator so can lead to blood pressure issues) and prolonged recovery times using thiopentone, issues with halothane (now replaced by isoflurane) or even references to pentobarbitone (which hasn't been used for GA for a long time...).

[SilverHaze]

I know of two Siberians who have died due to reactions to the anaesthetic. Siberians are well known to be sensitive to anaesthetic and all vets should take this into consideration.

[Miss B]

Thanks Rappie.

Do most clinics use Isoflurane these days, or are there still some that are using older style anaesthetics?

I know of two Siberians who have died due to reactions to the anaesthetic. Siberians are well known to be sensitive to anaesthetic and all vets should take this into consideration.

Do you know what type of reaction? And 'sensitive' in what way exactly? Did they die on the table, or during recovery? Were the Sibes otherwise healthy, and were they under the GA for routine procedures or something more serious?

I'm not doubting you, I'm just trying to get my head around it really.

[Rappie]

Most clinics use isoflurane, some use sevoflurane (which is a newer, almost odourless gas used in human med). I'm not sure that you can even buy halothane any more.

There is a lot of talk of breeds being sensitive to anaesthetic, but sensitive to what? We know for example that Collie breeds are sensitive to some drugs (including ivermectin) due to a genetic deficiency. Most sites that I have come across instruct that owners should tell their vet that "XYZ" breed should always have a certain anaesthetic. It's usually to be masked down with isoflurane, or to be administered propofol (a short acting IV anaesthetic agent). Or comments such as this:

You need an understanding and experienced veterinary surgeon. Sibes are sensitive to some drugs, particularly anaesthetics, sedatives and tranquillisers. This is due to their relatively low metabolic rate and lack of body fat. Also the bulk of their fur can lead vets to overestimate their weight and so overdose them. Sibes should always be weighed accurately beforehand to avoid this.

All dogs should be dosed at a lean body weight. Dogs without a lot of body fat may metabolise some drugs (like barbiturates ie. thiopentone) more slowly than others. Dogs with a lot of body fat may require less than their bodyweight suggests. Dogs that are obese often don't ventilate well. Brachycephalic dogs have difficulty breathing etc etc. All animals should be weighed prior to being dosed with any sedative or anaesthetic agent. Not only this but nearly all intravenous induction agents are dosed "to effect", which means that you draw up a dose sufficient for a body weight, then should administer this drug slowly until the desired effect is reached. Sometimes you use less than the "required" dose, sometimes you need more. All animals are sensitive to anaesthetic, that's how they work... and all anaesthetics carry some degree of risk - this also applies to humans. A breed might have some specific traits, but your vet should still be anaesthetising an individual...

[Miss B]

Thanks Rappie - your posts are always very interesting and informative.

I had a chat to the vets at work today regarding this topic. They are aware of the need to be a little more cautious with sighthounds, but not Sibes - and they have never had any issues when putting a Sibe under a GA. Even so, we've chosen to go with Alfaxin instead of Thiopentone.

[InspectorRex]

Collies ,and related breeds, have the Ivermectin sensitivity due to a mutation of the MDR1 gene.

Therefore if the Collie or similar has not been DNA Tested for the IVR sensitivity and are CLEAR they should not be given stannard drugs like ACP, morphine and many others as they are KNOWN to cause neuro-toxicity and even death.

Rappie- if you PM me your email addy I will email you the list of DO NOT GIVE drugs fro me breed. it is interesting to note that the ivermectin sensitivity has now been found in other breeds such as Sighthounds, Akitas and even GSD's.

When my avatar girl had an emergency c-section she could not be given Morphine as she is Affected for Ivermectin(DNA

Tested) so my vet had to give her Tramadol

I carry this lsit with me in the car in case of emergencis.

[Miss B]

Just an update. He went under GA today for his dental and we had his hips and elbows x-ray'd at the same time. We did end up going with Alfaxan and all up he was under for just over 2 hours. He came out of the anaesthetic really nice and smooth, in fact he was up and about within minutes and walked back to the dog ward by himself Very happy with how it all went, no dramas whatsoever.