What’s Your Pet’s Life Worth? A Pet Owner’s Perspective on Safely Getting Your Pet Through Anesthesia

Update (2026): I first wrote this in 2011, and I recently read back through it. The good news is that almost none of it has changed — the core of safe anesthesia care is the same today. Everything here still lines up with the American Animal Hospital Association’s current (2020) Anesthesia and Monitoring Guidelines: pre-anesthetic bloodwork, an IV catheter with fluids, proper injectable induction rather than “masking down,” and continuous monitoring throughout. A few things have advanced — good clinics now monitor even more closely (pulse oximetry and capnography alongside the ECG, blood pressure, and temperature I mention below), and a newer induction medication, alfaxalone (Alfaxan), was approved in the U.S. in 2014 and is now common alongside propofol. But the heart of it is unchanged: an informed owner and a careful, well-equipped clinic are still what keep a pet safe under anesthesia.

(This is a piece I originally wrote on August 9, 2011. It’s information I think every pet owner should know.)

I’m writing this article to pass on some information, from the viewpoint of an educated pet owner, about procedures that require anesthesia — whether it’s a dental cleaning or surgery for another reason. I originally wrote it as a guest blogger for a blog called VetTech, as additional information to go along with an article titled “Before a ‘Routine’ Surgery.” That article covers a number of these issues from the viewpoint of a Registered Veterinary Technician. I recently had two of my dogs in to the vet for several procedures: a dental cleaning, removing teeth (including a slab fracture), and a neuter.

My two dogs that went in were ages 4 and 7. The four-year-old had known problems with his liver function due to a condition called MVD. Fortunately, his blood test results the morning of the procedure were almost perfect — quite amazing, considering most of his previous tests were five times that. My vet personally discussed his case, and any modifications that might be necessary, with a board-certified internal medicine doctor and with the anesthesia department at the state university. Both of my dogs did extremely well and didn’t have a single complication — in part, I believe, thanks to good planning and being a well-informed owner.

Why every pet owner should care about anesthesia

A bit of what I have to say will be redundant with the article above, but I think it’s important to be complete. I believe every pet owner should learn at least some basic information about anesthesia, because it’s very likely your pet will need it at some point in their life. Healthy teeth are vital to your pet’s health and longevity, and unless you have religiously brushed your pet’s teeth every day, they will need a dental cleaning at some point — I don’t care what kind of food, treats, or chews you give them. Even dogs whose teeth are brushed very well may eventually need professional dental work. Injuries and other medical emergencies can require anesthesia too, though here I’m talking more about the kind of procedure you can plan for, like dental work.

I strongly believe that, just like everywhere else in life, with veterinary care you generally get what you pay for. If you want top-quality dog food, it’s going to cost you; if you want top-quality veterinary care, it’s going to cost more than what the humane society charges on a discount spay-and-neuter day. That doesn’t mean you have to go to the most expensive vet in town — in my experience, the most expensive clinic isn’t necessarily the best.

I’m convinced that a large number of anesthesia deaths in pets are preventable. I have no hard studies to back that up; it’s my opinion after many discussions with different vets and reading many hundreds of pages of studies, reports, blog posts, and discussions. Most often, I think it comes down to an owner’s unwillingness to spend money on preventive measures. Sometimes they genuinely can’t afford it; other times, they just don’t understand how important these things are.

The three things you should never skip

Some items are generally sold as optional, but in my opinion they shouldn’t be:

1. Bloodwork before the procedure, to check that the vital organs are functioning properly.
2. An IV catheter, with fluids running before and after the procedure.
3. An ECG before and during the procedure.

It’s in your animal’s best interest to have all three of these done, and I would not consider a procedure without them. Each one earns its place: the bloodwork tells the team whether it’s safe to proceed and lets them tailor the anesthetic protocol; the IV catheter gives instant access for fluids and emergency medications and helps support blood pressure; and monitoring catches a problem early, while there’s still time to act on it.

Equipment, drugs, and who’s in the room

It’s also critical that your veterinary office has the proper equipment for anesthesia and monitoring. Isoflurane or sevoflurane should be used to maintain anesthesia, and an injectable medication should be used to start it (induction). They should not simply use gas to sedate your pet (“masking down”) — it exposes both your animal and the staff to unnecessary risk, and should only be used in emergencies where there’s no other option. There’s no excuse for using it for a planned, elective procedure. I’d also ask how monitoring is handled during the procedure — pulse, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and so on.

You should discuss who will be monitoring your pet before, during, and after the procedure. You should also clearly understand who is doing the procedure and what their qualifications are. Don’t assume the vet will be doing it — that’s often not the case, and it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There are many qualified technicians who do dental work all day long and will do a much better job than a vet who rarely does them. Ideally, you’d have two people present at all times: the vet or a dedicated anesthesia technician, plus the person performing the procedure. In the case of my pets’ recent care, the technician did the dental work and extractions while my vet supervised the anesthesia.

I like to have an idea of what’s going on, and how busy the clinic is, when they’re going to be working on my pet. Basically, I want to be reasonably sure there’s enough qualified staff on hand to deal with any emergency. In my dogs’ case, that was a very experienced veterinary technician and our veterinarian, who has nearly 20 years of experience. I felt confident that between the two of them, they could handle any situation as well as anyone could. The day my two dogs went in, they were the only procedures scheduled.

Some reports I’ve read estimate anesthesia deaths in pets to be as high as 1% or more, and that seems far higher than it should be. With all the safeguards in place, serious anesthesia complications should, in my opinion, be rare. With good protocols for pre-testing, induction, and monitoring before and after, I don’t think the risk should be anywhere near as high as I’ve read.

While I’m sure it happens, I can’t recall reading a single report where all the proper precautions were taken and the animal still died from routine, planned anesthesia. When I read about an animal that died under anesthesia, there’s almost always some critical element that was missed or a serious misjudgment — skipped bloodwork, proceeding with standard anesthesia despite abnormal labs, not enough staff, undertrained staff, no IV, or improper monitoring.

The veterinarian or staff may want to reach you for a decision if something goes wrong — or, in the case of dental work, to decide whether teeth should be removed, repaired, and so on. If you choose to have them call you during the procedure, it’s very important to be reachable, because you don’t want your pet under anesthesia any longer than necessary. I told my vet he didn’t need to call me, that he should just take care of everything — but I’d only do that if you have a very clear understanding with your vet about your wishes. Mine clearly understood that everything was to be done to properly care for and save my pets in an emergency. The cracked or bad teeth needed to go, so there was no point in calling to discuss it; I simply told him to extract any teeth that were bad or likely to become a problem soon.

What I had done that day

At the end of my dogs’ procedure day, here’s what had been done:

• Two dogs in for dental cleanings and polishings (they looked amazingly good)
• Four tooth extractions
• One dog neutered
• All pre-op testing, including ECG
• Full monitoring, during and after
• Nails quicked (a good idea if the nails are too long)
• Ears examined internally and cleaned (strongly suggested for long-haired dogs)
• Injectable pain meds, plus three days of Metacam suspension
• A week of antibiotics (due to the more extensive dental work and the nail quicking)

I also had a third dog in for an ear exam and cleaning (no sedation) the same day, which took up some of my time there. Between drop-off in the morning (I helped draw blood and place the catheter in one of the dogs) and the pick-up appointment, I spent over two hours at the clinic with the vet or a tech. Our two dogs were the only surgical patients that day, and they were continuously monitored through recovery. Both did great — not a single hint of a problem. So, on top of everything above, I took up a large amount of the vet’s and the tech’s time, which you have to factor in when you look at cost.

A note on cost

I was going to mention what all of this cost me, but I decided against it. Veterinary prices vary so much depending on where you live that a fair price in my area might set an unrealistic expectation in yours. I don’t want your decision to be about price — I want it to be about quality and trust, and knowing that your pet is coming home with you. If you’ve read this far, chances are you’re not just shopping for the lowest price on the procedure anyway.

A few extra tips

I strongly encourage you to get all of your questions answered before the procedure — not just by your vet, but by the technician who will be working on your dog. If you’re uncomfortable because they seem rushed, or they don’t give you answers you’re comfortable with, keep asking or look elsewhere. There are lots of vets; your pet only has one life.

A couple of tips for the day of a procedure. Always inform them, in writing, of any medications or supplements your dog is on — even something as simple as fish oil, which can affect clotting time. And if your dog wasn’t fasted per their directions, or you’re not sure whether it was, tell them, so the procedure can be delayed or they can prepare for any problems that might arise from a full stomach.

Unless you’re willing to put a price limit on your dog’s life, please don’t decline any of the tests, and don’t complain about prices — ever. Ask what things cost, do what you can afford (hopefully all the suggested tests and precautions), and discuss the costs — but don’t walk into the vet and complain about how high a price is. You do not want your vet thinking about what a stingy customer you are while he’s making decisions that could mean life or death for your dog.

I also strongly suggest taking the time, in advance, to build a good relationship with everyone in the vet’s office. Get to know all the staff — it’s genuinely helpful to be on a first-name basis with them, even the front-desk people. Stop by with some food or ice cream for the office on a hot summer afternoon once or twice a year (I do it a little more often, but I also need my vet’s services pretty regularly) — they’ll remember it.

You want the staff to care about your dog and the outcome, not just go through the motions. I’m not saying they should be overly emotionally invested in your pet — just that I think they’re much more likely to go above and beyond if they know, respect, and like you, rather than if you’re someone who shows up every four years for a dental.

The only catch with everything I’ve described is that a lot of people don’t want to, or can’t, pay for this level of care. I don’t feel I could have gotten better care for my dogs anywhere — not at a university, a specialty hospital, or anywhere else. My vet and the staff I know were far and away the best and safest option. As I said, I took up a huge amount of their time that day, and I do feel they were fairly compensated; I paid exactly what they asked, which I still think was a good deal.

The ID-tag idea

One more thing I’ll share. Though I felt a little silly about them at first, I made special ID tags for each dog — in color, printed double-sided, laminated, with holes punched in the top, attached to each dog’s harness with hair ties. Each tag had all the vital information about that dog: who they were, with a photo, and why they were there. It also had contact info and special directions for how to handle each dog. Everyone at the clinic already knows me and my dogs, so it may have been a bit excessive — but several techs who saw them that day thought it was an excellent idea. Every one of them, even the vet, stopped to read both sides of the tag and talk about it. I’d highly recommend doing something similar if your dog is going in for an elective procedure, just to be sure there’s no confusion.

I have some photos of the tags, and of my dog Vasco wearing his. When you see it, you’ll understand how it made it virtually impossible to confuse him with another dog or to perform the wrong procedure.

A close-up of the ID tags (front) — click either image to view it larger:

The bottom line

I hope some people find this information helpful, and that it encourages you to take all the proper safety precautions before a surgical or dental procedure, so your dog makes a prompt, safe, and healthy recovery.

Lastly, I want to say it once more: if you’re not comfortable with your vet or vet tech for any reason — or if you’re not comfortable talking with them about these things — stop, and seek out a new vet.

We’re talking about your dog’s life. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. I don’t want to read about your dog dying, especially due to an error, a lack of preparation, or a careless veterinarian. If you’re not comfortable with your current vet and their staff, start looking for a new one right now.

I know how scary it is to send your dog in for a procedure. But when you prepare like this and take all the precautions, I think the chances of a good outcome are extremely high.

Best regards,
Jamie Dolan