Is my pet too old for anesthesia?

Age is not a disease and does not directly reflect health status. We all know of healthy older people (or pets) and young people with poor health. Our doctors prefer to evaluate each pet individually to accurately assess health status. Anesthesia is individualized for each pet patient based on their health.

• Health problems are addressed with well planned anesthesia protocols. Our doctors choose anesthetic drugs based on the pet's health status to help avoid problems with anesthesia. Fortunately patients with health problems can have safe anesthesia and receive excellent dental care!
• The risks of pet anesthesia are substantially reduced by the people providing care. Anesthetic related death in pets is estimated to be less than one percent. The likelihood of pain and suffering from untreated dental disease approaches 100 percent. Our doctors prefer to treat dental disease to avoid unnecessary suffering for your dog or cat.
• Dr. Victoria Lukasik is a board certified veterinary anesthesiologist who is available at our practice to assist us with our high-risk pet anesthesia cases. If you have any high-risk patients, in need of dental care, please let schedule a consult to learn more about options for your pet.