Sedatives

[Guest Liz]

Our senior Momma Tess has been diagnosed with LP and while at the vets she had a severe attack. The vet gave her a sedative to calm her down and we brought her home, well its been 24 hours and she is still out of it. She has not been out to potty since 6:00 PM last night and she has not eaten since then either. We tried to call the vet but they are gone until Monday. Tess does not seem to be in any distress at this time but I am worried that she is still so groggy. The vet has told us Tess is not a candidate for the LP surgery and there will come a time when we will have to make a decision but for now we just want her to be comfortable. Does any one know how long a seadative should last, She was given a torbugesic injection and then acepromazine injection. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[DesiRayMom]

Geez, Liz, that's a long time. I'm afraid I'd be getting pretty worried about now.

 

Desi had a cracked nail last year, took him in to work with me at 9, they gave him a tiny bit of Domitor & some Torb so we could

cut that nail back past the crack. He laid there in the treatment area all afternoon. His heart went into this weird fluttery

arrythmia (doc was sure it was the Torb that did it) and they had to give him 2 more injections to try to steady his heartrate.

He finally managed to get up & make it to the car when I got off at 5, slept all evening/night, but was pretty much normal the

next morning. Needless to say, I'm not a fan of Torb, & it's noted on his chart never ever again.

 

Hope your sweet Momma Tess starts coming out of it soon.

[GeorgeofNE]

I'd be concerned too. My last dog took Ace for flying, and once he hit 10, my vet refused to prescribe it. Hopefully someone more Greyhound/drug savvy than me will chime in soon--

[Batmom]

Worth putting a call in to your vet.

 

Even as a younger dog, Joseph was remarkably slow to recover from anaesthesia -- but just kinda slow and snoozy for a couple of days.

 

 

Has she had anything to eat/drink since coming home? Sometimes that will help.

[tbhounds]

Agreed 24 hours is a long time to still be so groggy. Do you know what dosage was given? Gum color and capillary refill time ok?? Ace can drop their blood pressure. I would try to get your hound up and out and perhaps offer a yummy to spark an appetite.

Just curious why your vet claims your pup isn't a surgical canidate??

Edited because of my crazy auto correct on my phone-- you should have seen the subsitute words my phone chose to use!

Edited August 12, 2011 by tbhounds

[Guest Liz]

On the receipt from the vet it states for quantity .60 for the torbugestic and .50 for the acepromazine. Tess was in bad shape when she was at the vets and was fighting to breathe so they felt they needed her to calm down before she had any other issues. Tess is finally moving around a bit, she had been in the back bedroom and walked out on her own about a half hour ago. She is now lying on her bed in the living room and I am going to have DH help her outside. I am hoping once she gets outside into the air that she will come around more. She did take a little water and I have some soft food in front of her but she does seem interested so I am going to try one of her frozen yougart treats. She loves them. As for the surgery, the vet does not think she is a good candidate because of her age and I hate to say this but we really don't have that kind of money. I just returned to work after being off for a year and a half. She is up and moving I need to go see where she is going. I willkeep you all posted.

[Guest Liz]

Ok DH just came home and he tells me the vet gave Tess 5MG of the Ace. Dr. Micki does not like the ace but she said it was the best thing to give Tess at the time. She also said if my Greyhound family knew of anything that was better then she would be more then willing to listen and prescribe a better drug. She did tell us that the ace is a powerful drug and that is one of the reasons she is very careful when using it. She also said for Tess's weight that she could actually have up to 60MG's. I can't imagine giving her that much when I see what 5MG's has done to her and Dr. Micki agrees. Tess does not do well with anthesia so I am guessing the drugs have just knocked her for a loop, but she is breathing fine, so I am just going to watch her very carefully and hopeby tomorrow she is moving better. She had a little more water and gave her yougart a couple of licks so there is progress. Thanks for the feedback.

[Batmom]

Maybe valium (oral, injectable, or rectal)? Some info / food for thought in this thread: http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/274891-for-those-of-you-with-dogs-with-lp/

[Sambuca]

I would be most concerned that she hasn't peed for 24 hours. She also shouldn't be that groggy.

[tbhounds]

Yup-- valium. Still curious--not trying to pry-- but, does she have health issues that would make her a higher risk for surgery. Sorry, but, age alone should not prevent your hound from going to surgery-- if her health is failing well then, of course she might not be a canidate. I do, however, understand money concerns.

Glad she seems like she's improving.

Edited August 13, 2011 by tbhounds

[Guest Liz]

Yup-- valium. Still curious--not trying to pry-- but, does she have health issues that would make her a higher risk for surgery. Sorry, but, age alone should not prevent your hound from going to surgery-- if her health is failing well then, of course she might not be a canidate. I do, however, understand money concerns.

Glad she seems like she's improving.

 

Her health is failing, she has weakness in her back end and artrhitis. I am going to call her vet on Monday and ask about the Valium, Dh and I are not happy about how the Ace has affected her. I will still keep it on hand just in case she has a serious issue but if the valium would be gentler for her I am all for it.

 

Maybe valium (oral, injectable, or rectal)? Some info / food for thought in this thread: http://forum.greytal...h-dogs-with-lp/

Thanks for the link lots of info and we are going to ask the vet for valium. We really do like our vet and she has been wonderful to our girls, she is also always very open to hearing other suggestionsand willing to try differant things. We just want our senior baby to be comfortable and hopefully hang around for a long time. We are not ready for her to leave us but we will do what is best for us when the time comes.

 

I would be most concerned that she hasn't peed for 24 hours. She also shouldn't be that groggy.

 

DH carried her out to the yard and she laid down for a bit but then she got up and finally peed, when she was done DH carried her back in and laid her on the couch, she is now sleeping, hopefully she will be doing much better tomorrow. She is also taking a little bit of water so things are improving, just as quickly as I would like, but she does not seem to be in any danger at this time.

[JJNg]

Ok DH just came home and he tells me the vet gave Tess 5MG of the Ace. ..... She also said for Tess's weight that she could actually have up to 60MG's.

Acepromazine is actually one of the better options in a case of a laryngeal paralysis attack. Valium is a good option too although it will not last as long (sometimes you want the sedation to last longer to keep the dog relaxed, although not 24 hours!)

 

However, when using the injectable form, 5 mg is a lot of ace, especially for a greyhound. It sounds like your vet is using the doses for ace given on the manufacturer's label, but most vets feel that these doses are way too high. This is a quote from Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook, "Note: The manufacturer's dose of 0.5–2.2 mg/kg for dogs and cats is considered by many clinicians to be 10 times greater than is necessary for most indications."

 

Some sources state a max injectable dose of 3 mg regardless of the size of the dog, and I wouldn't give a greyhound more than 1 mg. I routinely use acepromazine along with butorphanol (Torbugesic) as a pre-anesthetic medication. And when combined with a regular dose of butorphanol (which is a relatively mild sedative), 0.5 mg of acepromazine is enough to knock my girl out for hours.

 

By the way, it is possible that the back end weakness is related to the laryngeal paralysis, and some people have reported improvement in the weakness after tieback surgery. Here's a previous thread where this was mentioned. I do understand the financial restrictions, but if you're inclined to try to find a way to do it, I wouldn't necessarily rule out the possibility of surgery just based on her age.

[Guest BrianRke]

I know of dogs that have been groggy up to 3 days after taking ACE.

[Neighsayer]

At least your vet now knows about your dog's reaction to that much ace and is willing to discuss options with you. Some dogs may not have anything close to that extended sleepy time on the same dose...not uncommon.

 

Not just dogs, either. I have a horse who does fine on a small amount of ace. I have another that shows no response to even a much larger dose. My vet now does not even suggest that I try it for her. I still have half a bottle to use if needed for my other horses, but the vet comes out go give her a shot of something else when needed.

 

Not sure if this applies to dogs, but several horse vets have told me that ace doesn't do anything for a horse already in the midst of a serious anxiety attack. It works best when given prior to an event that usually triggers high anxiety so the horse doesn't get to that point. Does anyone know if this is the same in dogs?

[Guest Liz]

I posted in Remberance, but wanted to let everyone know that Our Sweet Momma Tess passed away tonight. Thank You all for the help and support.

[Guest peacehound]

I posted in Remberance, but wanted to let everyone know that Our Sweet Momma Tess passed away tonight. Thank You all for the help and support.

so sorry for your loss

[tbhounds]

Oh no...... So sorry

[Guest eaglflyt]

Oh my. I am so very sorry.