Franky Got "Tutored" Today

Franky is a darling little weiner dog, in today to have a big lump taken off his back. It is probably just a cyst (we had drained it a few times to take some pressure off it, but this last time it was harder to do and it had grown a bit, so I really thought we should just get it off him once and for all.) He is a bit of an older guy, so his owners were understandably nervous about his anesthesia. They had been so concerned about it for so long that he never did get his much needed castration (neuter) surgery done. Then there was the matter of his dental hygiene. Franky hadn't likely used a tooth brush in a very long time, if ever. He had a lot of dental calculus build up, receding gums and some nasty halitosis. It seemed like a prime time to make good use of that anesthetic procedure and have all three procedure done. There is a risk, of course, to doing three procedures at one time-this extends the duration of the anesthesia, potentially dropping blood pressures and body temperatures. But with good monitoring and proper attention to those parameters, these risks become less of a concern as is a complete second or third anesthetic procedure. Remember, every patient is an individual, and after a thorough examination and pre-anesthetic blood work, we determined Franky healthy enough to tolerate the relatively lengthy procedure.

He came through like a champ. He'll have a scar where we removed the large lump on his back; we are sending that tissue to the lab to find out exactly what it is so we don't have to worry about it any more. His teeth are all cleaned up and some source of obvious pain and infection were removed, some broken and loose teeth hidden below the calculus and now he has nice fresh breath, too. I'll bet the removal of those sources of pain will improve his, at times not so friendly disposition. And now he won't have to worry about the babes any more.

I remember an old Gary Larson "Far Side" cartoon where a happy, goofy, and clueless dog was bragging to his pals that he was getting to go to the vet's to get "tutored." In a way, I guess it does make some dogs smarter. Brain surgery and all. Now, we shouldn't joke about this to poor Franky. He did great with all three of his procedures and didn't even drop his body temperature or blood pressure thanks to the good anesthesia monitoring and management of his nurses. His owners are on their way to pick him up and spoil him rotten tonight. He deserves it, as we all do.

Peace,
DrReneigh