gypsy84 Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 Gypsy is getting spayed tomorrow. The clinic where it's happening called me tonight, and said that I have the option of paying $40 for an IV, and $60 to get her bloodwork done. How important are each of these? The spay is free since it was included in her adoption. I don't have a lot of money right now (in university ) but if they're very important then I'll get them done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyrasmom Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 If she's a puppy blood work probably isn't essential, an IV is always nice IMO even though fluids are usually more important for older dogs as well. Maria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SincereArtisan Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 IV is good because if anything goes wrong, (God forbid!) they can administer meds faster. And yeah, bloodwork is usually more reccommended for senior dogs, unless you want to just have her checked out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaggieDog Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 None of the vets around here do IV during normal spays as far as I know; I'd probably get the bloodwork tho since it can catch any problems before surgery. Guess I just have to be different lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 Given the choice between bloodwork and an IV, I would take the IV. If something does go wrong it could mean the difference between a normal dog and a dead dog. It's rare, but complications do happen and the IV allows the vet to get meds into the dog quickly. One of my Border Collies crashed while under anesthesia for a dental cleaning. The vet was able to push meds into his IV within seconds (I saw the whole thing, I was the tech on duty for surgery that day). As a result of her quick reaction he woke up normally and had no long term effects. His bloodwork had not shown anything and he was a young, healthy dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiegirl Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 Ummm, I am shocked that they are giving you an option for the IV. Spaying is not trivial surgery. The level of anesthesia to do this is such that you sure as heck want a port if you need to address any issues that come up- low blood pressure, heart rate, etc. issues. An IV, imo, is a requirement. I have been present at many surgeries, and having the ability to quickly address something can be a life or death situation. The bloodwork, imo, isn't a requirement, though many vets like to have this in older pets, as issues with liver function, or other benchmarks can show up, that would preclude the animal from being anesthetized. Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyrasmom Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 I agree, I actually assumed that the IV would be mandatory during the spay....thought perhaps they were considering extra fluids as I've always had so many older dogs that were put on fluids before the actual operation. I never even considered it was an "option" during surgery. As the bloodwork is optional pre-operative procedure, I thought they were asking $40 for optional fluids beforehand as well.... kind of scary. Maria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest amylobdell24 Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 When I had my female spayed, I declined the bldwk, but did the IV fluids. I definitely think it's a very important thing to have that patent, open vein if needed. Also, anesthesia has come really far in the last several years, but the most common complication we see with it is lowered blood pressure.... and the first thing we do to bring it up is increase that IV fluid rate. Looking back, I really wish I had done the bldwk, though - Ceana's had several small issues that affect some of her blood values off & on and I sure wish I had known if it was going on when she was a puppy. It would have given her vet more information on which to base his diagnoses & treatments. Would it have changed anything on the day of her spay? Probably not. But still, it's info I wish I had now that I can't go back and change. The clinic I'm at now requires bldwk & catheter for any sedated procedure (except for cat neuters). So it's really up to you and how much you feel you can comfortably spend right now. As for me, I did the bldwk on my male this time around, and would certainly make the decision to do it again in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickyP Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 Hi everyone this is Nick - Gypsy's daddy We took her in at 7:30 this morning and the vet called at about 2pm to let us know her surgery went perfectly. We debated on wether or not we should go see her but we decided it'd probably get her too excited and (grudgingly) agreed not to go and just wait to pick her up tomorrow morning. It's far too quiet in the house without her! Can't wait to have our wee girl back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted April 21, 2007 Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 Hey - that's very good news. You'll be really pleased to have her home - and I'll bet she'll be pleased to get home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anda Posted April 21, 2007 Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 I'm glad Gypsy's doing good! I came to check on any updates on her! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyoBC Posted April 21, 2007 Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 I'm glad she's doing good. That's good to hear in the morning. It is probably good that you didn't go and see her, IMO that might make her think she's coming home but then she has to stay longer. I bet she can't wait to get home though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smileyzookie Posted April 21, 2007 Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 It may have been selfish, but I had to go see Riven LOL We let her out of the cage and she could have cared less that we were there, she wanted to get sniffies in and go visit all the other animals... oh well, at least she was ok lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickyP Posted April 21, 2007 Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 Alrighty, we picked Gypsy up at 9:00 this morning and she couldn't be happier to be out of the vets. She grabbed a good nap when she got home and we took her for a gentle 10 minute walk round the block when she woke up. Here's a few pics of her tummy and new tattoo if anyone's interested: Nick, Lisa & Gypsy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smileyzookie Posted April 21, 2007 Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 Wow the incision looks better than Rivens did. Plus she had massive black stiches outside. Very nice tatoo!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyoBC Posted April 21, 2007 Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 The incision does look good. She looks pretty happy. Welcome home Gypsy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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