1. there are never any guarantees in surgery and I do not know any veterinarian who has been in practice >10 years who has never had an apparently healthy, young patient die unexpectedly. Actually yesterday evening Michael and I stopped by my office so that he could look at some of the networking stuff that my boss was the only one to understand, and while we were there the other doc came out of an exam room looking pale and holding a chart out in front of her and said 'um, this cat can't be billed for an appointment, it died before I did anything.' And you know, usually, cats coming in for an annual exam do not die before you touch them! (though this particular one may have been ill and the owner never noticed, I don't know, I just know it was in for an annual, not a sick visit).
2. age is not a disease. If there is normal kidney, liver, and cardiovascular function, there's no reason to assume her risk of anesthetic complications are any higher than anyone else's. Commonly there IS some degree of organ compromise as we age, and therefore we see more complications in older patients. But on an individual level, she may not really be at any real increased risk, or she may, you have to see what her bloodwork looks like, and what the exam findings are on the day of the procedure.
Good luck. I've seen cats go from seeming old and decrepit and miserable to kittenlike sprites after having rotten teeth extracted.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-11-16 11:53 am (UTC)1. there are never any guarantees in surgery and I do not know any veterinarian who has been in practice >10 years who has never had an apparently healthy, young patient die unexpectedly. Actually yesterday evening Michael and I stopped by my office so that he could look at some of the networking stuff that my boss was the only one to understand, and while we were there the other doc came out of an exam room looking pale and holding a chart out in front of her and said 'um, this cat can't be billed for an appointment, it died before I did anything.' And you know, usually, cats coming in for an annual exam do not die before you touch them! (though this particular one may have been ill and the owner never noticed, I don't know, I just know it was in for an annual, not a sick visit).
2. age is not a disease. If there is normal kidney, liver, and cardiovascular function, there's no reason to assume her risk of anesthetic complications are any higher than anyone else's. Commonly there IS some degree of organ compromise as we age, and therefore we see more complications in older patients. But on an individual level, she may not really be at any real increased risk, or she may, you have to see what her bloodwork looks like, and what the exam findings are on the day of the procedure.
Good luck. I've seen cats go from seeming old and decrepit and miserable to kittenlike sprites after having rotten teeth extracted.