anesthesia for older dogs

[Cinda57]

My labrador is a little over 12  and a half years old, has a cyst on his lower eyelid that I have been treating with steroid antibiotic ointment from my vet,  It's been 9 days since I started treating him, but the cyst is not any smaller so they want to put him under to take it off.  Is there any other way, like maybe a local injection of anesthetic, to get this removed?  I am not comfortable with knocking him out :(  Thank you for any suggestions, Cinda

[BluCrystal]

You are very welcome.  Let us know what you decide, and how your furbaby gets along.  Blessings - Blu

[Cinda57]

Thank you for your reply, Blu.  I feel more confident now about it, right now I'm watching the cyst, it doesn't seem to bother him too much, he's not rubbing or scratching it.  It does look gross though :(  blessings, Cinda

[Cinda57]

Thank you for your reply, and yes he would be getting a pre-op blood work done so that would help :) blessings, Cinda

[BluCrystal]

Hi, Cinda.  I used to work for a vet.  If this were my dog, and he was still having good quality of life, and generally otherwise healthy, I would question the anesthesia. ( The vet I worked for used one of two possible anesthetics: Isoflourane or Propofol.  One of these, I don't know which one, is supposedly better to use on elderly animals.. I think it might be the iso.  Any how ANY TIME you use anesthesia, there is a possibility of something going wrong.)  Then I would ask myself if it was really necessary for his life to have it removed.  If so, I would have the surgery done.  I have seen LOTS of 'high risk' surgeries done.  Honestly, in my 8 years working there, we only lost somewhere less than TEN animals due to intolerance to anesthesia.  This ten is out of hundreds.  This being said, I would say his chances are reasonably low that something would go wrong.  BUT he's your dog, trust your gut.  No, a local anesthetic would not work on such a delicate area: dogs are not like people who would sit still for a tooth-pulling.   A local would only make things worse all around, because your dog would still be able to react to what is being done, even if he doesn't feel it.  I would hate to see a scalpel in his eye.  Blessings to you and your dog - Blu

[Margot49]

I certainly understand your concerns.  You should go on the recommendations of your Vet.  I am sure he dies not want to take a chance of the dog moving while operating an eye.  I'm not sure if a heavy dose of Ace might suffice or not.
Anesthesia at any age can be risky.  I have had procedures done on older dogs over the years, even our 11 year old Greyhound and they are very sensitive to anesthetic.
I assume your Vet would be doing pre-op blood work to see if everything is functioning properly, kidneys, liver, etc.
I just don't know how he could work on an eye with a local, not to mention how stressful that would be for the dog!
Ask how long the procedure would take.  If relatively short, then possibly a lighter anesthetic can be given.