I had my yellow lab with ME neutered in the summer and I printed out the guidelines from this group which the hospital followed. He did fine. But I got the vets to agree to these guidelines beforehand since they were unfamiliar with ME. I have pasted Dr. Kathy Morris’ guidelines below:
Oh and the tube goes down the trachea, not the esophagus.
And had the vet give an injection of Reglan not a pill since he will be fasting for the surgery.
Becky and Nemo, vet tech and volunteer with www.lab-rescue.com.
While we all worry about any dog undergoing anesthesia, isofluorane, if used, is one of the safest, and even dogs with mega-e have only slightly increased risk of aspiration pneumonia. Bailey has his teeth cleaned about once a year, and his risk of other infections from bad teeth and gums far outweighs any risk from anesthesia. Inform the DVM, AND the techs who will be assisting that day that extra care is required. I make sure that Bailey’s post anesthesia cage is within easy earshot of the receptionist while the rest of the office is out for lunch, for example, so that if he starts hacking or regurgitating, someone will attend to him. The head may need to be lowered or elevated, during the procedure, depending. As for the ears, this is a personal matter. They can probably be done at the same time as neutering.
It would appear that all forms of gas anesthesia should be avoided! Isoflurane is apparently commonly used (at least in South Africa) and is on top of the avoid list!
Happy needed surgery about two months ago and as he also was a MG patient I was concerned about the anaesthesia, got the vet to use intravenous drugs only. It went fine however, as the vet warned me, Happy took a bit longer to wake up. It took almost 24 hours for it to completely work out.