Heart Attack In Greyhound Waking From Anaesthetic

[Guest SnozzlesMother]

My heart has been ripped from my chest. I haven’t slept properly in 4 days. My little girl (Snozzle) was going in for a routine spay (which I reluctantly booked and committed to.) She was perfectly healthy, and the operation was a success until she started ‘coming to’, here I was told she suffered a ‘massive’ heart attack’. Dr Tim said she went blue and her heart stopped, the wonderful vet performed nose to snout and gave her an adrenalin shot to the heart, he worked on her for 1 hour. I got the call at approx 1.05pm, to inform me he had some terrible news and asked if I was sitting down. I don’t remember much more as I was on the floor in such a state..crying and beside myself with shock. She was cremated this morning and although I am slowly coming to terms with she’s ‘never coming home’ Im at a loss for answers as to why? Dr Tim said it is quite rare, and that the incidence is about 1:2000. I can’t win a scratchy or lotto ticket, by my beautiful 6 month 3 week and 5 day beauty can die? Does any one out there have any info on this phenomena? Has this happened to anyone on this forum? I don’t blame anyone, I just want some answers as to ‘how it happens’. Thanks.

[greysmom]

I'm sorry I have no answers for you. I have heard of this happening a couple times over the years, and it is truly heartbreaking. It's hard to find peace when there isn't something to grab on to as a cause.

 

You'll be in my thoughts tonight. {{{hugs}}}

[seeh2o]

I am so sorry, what a terrible gut wrenching way to lose her. My heart goes out to you.

[Busderpuddle]

I am so very sorry..........

[3greytjoys]

I am so deeply sorry about the sudden loss of your young Snozzle.

 

Your vet, and perhaps Snozzle's breeder are the only ones who could truly offer their best guesses to answer your question. It might have been linked to a hereditary heart condition or many other possibilities.

 

I'm not a vet but there is very rare condition called malignant hyperthermia. We don't see it often on this forum because most of our adult retired racing Greyhounds have already been placed under their first anesthesia for surgery previous to being adopted. MH is caused by a rare, severe allergic reaction to certain anesthesia and would be seen during the dog's first surgery (usually a spay/neuter surgery). If a dog successfully recovers from their first surgical anesthesia, the dog is typically considered safe for future surgeries throughout the dog's life. MH presents with an extremely rapid elevation in body temperature which can lead to fatal levels within seconds to minutes.

 

Isoflurane or Sevoflurane are considered among the safest anesthesias for Greyhounds. (We ask vets to monitor Greyhounds' temperature very closely before, during, and after surgery.)

 

Again, not being in the operating room, we really don't know what may have happened to your beloved young Snozzle. My sincere heartfelt condolences to you. I can feel your crushing pain through your post. Our supportive thoughts are with you during this terribly difficult time.

Godspeed Snozzle.

[Batmom]

What an awful shock for you. I'm so sorry for your loss.

[Guest SnozzlesMother]

Thank you all so much for your heartfelt condolences. I never imagined I would be so blessed to be privileged enough to own one of the most beautiful dogs on the planet. A Greyhound is by far the best dog I have ever owned! We live on a cattle property and have had lots of ‘working dogs’, but when introduced to a greyhound for the first time, I was besotted. I picked Snoz out at 1 day old, and we had to paint her with a little pink stripe of colouring to tell her from her other 7 siblings. Snoz was the ‘runt’ of the litter and stole my heart immediately.

I have read about MH and other various ‘possible’ causes, but my guess is I will probably never ever know. I have to stop beating myself up, but I miss her so very much. Im afraid I will be very reluctant in the future to have any procedures performed on my next ‘grey’ addition. The word Anaesthesia strikes fear into my heart now.

I had the following inscribed on her little urn:

My Snozzle, My little ray of Snozshine . Shining Forever. 2016.

[Beachbum1]

So very sorry for your loss

[Guest Sportingfields]

I am so very sorry for you loss. May time be gentle and ease your aching heart.

 

My Granny's litter sister died due to MH during her spay. She'd had a fantastic racing career, two litters and adoptive family was waiting for her. She was 6+ years old. Her owner was an absolute fantastic person, the spay was done by his long time vet, whom is about as grey savvy as they come. Everyone was crushed, while this shouldn't have happened, it did. All surgery comes with risks, human or animal. I pray as time goes by that you'll feel differently, about any of your dogs having any type of surgery. There are so many advantages to spay/neuter, having teeth cleaned and so forth. Broken bones need to fixed. As horrific as it is to have lost your Snooze under these circumstances, I hope you know in your heart, this is not the norm. My heart truly aches for you and I share your grief, as we've had sudden losses in our family too. ETA, the rest of her siblings never had any problems, neither did her pups. This was literally a one off, terrible outcome, that no one could have predicted.

Edited October 24, 2016 by Sportingfields

[MP_the4pack]

My heart just aches for you.

 

I can't offer any insight into why this happened.

[teri_d]

Sincere sympathy -- how shocking

[GeorgeofNE]

Well, I'm a little confused. Was this dog bred to be a racer? Was she an NGA hound? Or was this a backyard operation? Not that it matters to you--I'm sure you adored her and she was lovely.

 

Sounds to me like possibly a congential heart defect that no one could have known about. I'm terribly sorry. I had a beautiful six year old cat literally fall over dead in my living room once. They said it was probably a defect that was undetected.

[schultzlc]

I am so, so sorry for your sudden loss. Rest well, little Snozzle.

[LBass]

I'm so sorry for your heartbreaking loss.

[racindog]

My deepest sympathy. Maybe she will send you a message. Some hounds do. As you know greyhounds are very special.

:f_pink

[dante2zoe]

I am so very sorry. I lost a greyhound after a dental the same way while coming out of anesthesia. It totally rips your heart out of your chest. Many, many hugs.

[FiveRoooooers]

My heart goes out to you. It is clear from your post how very much you loved your baby girl. She returned that love 10-fold for sure. It's what greyhounds do.

[Remolacha]

I am so sorry, what a terrible shock for you. I am afraid you are right, you will probably never know. There are many possible causes, but at this point, anything would be a guess

[Houndtime]

I am so sorry for the loss of your little girl.

[ramonaghan]

I am so sorry for your sudden loss; my heart breaks for you. Rest well, Snozzle.

[greytpups]

this is so heartbreaking, I'm so sorry. Can you call your vet and ask for details or a possible explanation?

[robinw]

How awful. I'm so very sorry

[Vampiric_Conure]

OH NO! Poor Snozzle **Huge Hugs to you and the family**

[Guest greymama002]

I am so very sorry for the shocking sudden loss of your precious Snozzle. How devastating that your time together was so short,

[carronstar]

I am so very sorry for your sudden, unexplained loss of your Snozzle.