Hi All, My dog Sophie (11 year old pit bull/chow mix) is going to have a
fairly large cyst removed from her side tomorrow, and I'm wondering if there
is anything I should ask the vet about after care. The vet has been watching
the cyst for several months and decided to remove it now. Sophie does have
regular vet visits, but she has been a very healthy dog, so I don't really
have a lot of experience with various pain meds, antibiotics, etc. She did
pull a muscle several years ago and was given Rimadyl, but I don't think it
helped that much.

Does anyone have recommendations or things I should ask the vet? The cyst
removal will be in a spot that she can't reach with her mouth if that
matters with pain management. TIA

--
Cheri

Cheri wrote:

Does anyone have recommendations or things I should ask the vet? The cyst
removal will be in a spot that she can't reach with her mouth if that
matters with pain management. TIA

Very smart of you to ask. You can call your vet now and ask what
s/he is planning for post-op pain management. Personally I'm a
big fan of Fentanyl patches for post-op pain relief; they're a
narcotic that's absorbed through the skin and so provide continuous
pain relief and not the ups & downs that oral drugs do. If that's
an option, it's definitely the one that I would go for.

Oh - another question to ask is the kind of anesthesia the vet
is going to use. Gas anesthesia is most typical these days and
has minimal side effects. Injectable anesthesias (with the
exception of propofol, which is very short-acting and thus is
only used for very quick procedures) sometimes leave dogs very
disoriented and sometimes have the side effect of nausea and
vomiting; thus, when they're used, vets will often keep the
dog/cat in question overnight.

Hope that helps, and good luck to Sophie with her surgery.
Please post us a followup, OK?

Dianne

"Cheri" wrote in
:

Hi All, My dog Sophie (11 year old pit bull/chow mix) is going to
have a fairly large cyst removed from her side tomorrow, and I'm
wondering if there is anything I should ask the vet about after
care.

It's not after care, but I'd have them do a pre-anaesthetic blood panel
(they'll probably recommend one, but just in case they don't, you can
ask for it).

For after, I'd want to know how soon she can resume normal activity.
Make sure you know what to look for if the incision starts to get
infected, or isn't healing properly.

She did pull a muscle several years ago and was given Rimadyl, but
I don't think it helped that much.

My dog had a large tumor removed last fall. The vet gave her
antibiotics and Rimadyl. She didn't seem to be in much pain after the
surgery, but I went ahead and gave her all but the last two doses of
Rimadyl.

The bigger problem for my dog ended up being that the antibiotics put
her system out of whack. She ended up with a post-op skin infection,
then was put on another round of antibiotics, and is now suffering from
yeast infections in her ears and feet. That isn't a normal response to
antibiotics, but it's something to keep an eye out for.

The cyst removal will be in a spot that she can't reach with her
mouth if that matters with pain management. TIA

I'm assuming that she also can't scratch the area? I'd also keep an
eye out, so that she doesn't rub the stitches against something. Dogs
can be sneaky and creative when trying to relieve a discomfort.

Oh, and do a good visual check after the stitches are removed, to make
sure none are missed. I'm pretty happy with the care my dog has been
getting at my vet, but the tech who removed her stitches missed one.
It was *very* small and had gone almost entirely under the skin. I
didn't even notice it until I took a macro photo of the site. Oops!

Good luck with the surgery!

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

"Cheri" wrote in message
...
Hi All, My dog Sophie (11 year old pit bull/chow mix) is going to have a
fairly large cyst removed from her side tomorrow, and I'm wondering if
there is anything I should ask the vet about after care. The vet has been
watching the cyst for several months and decided to remove it now. Sophie
does have regular vet visits, but she has been a very healthy dog, so I
don't really have a lot of experience with various pain meds, antibiotics,
etc. She did pull a muscle several years ago and was given Rimadyl, but I
don't think it helped that much.

Does anyone have recommendations or things I should ask the vet? The cyst
removal will be in a spot that she can't reach with her mouth if that
matters with pain management. TIA

--
Cheri
Had a large cyst removed from Madison a few years ago. We took her back to
have stitches removed but didn't do anything else and she recovered just
fine.

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z...rankendog2.jpg

"Shelly" wrote in message
09...
"Cheri" wrote in
:

Hi All, My dog Sophie (11 year old pit bull/chow mix) is going to
have a fairly large cyst removed from her side tomorrow, and I'm
wondering if there is anything I should ask the vet about after
care.

It's not after care, but I'd have them do a pre-anaesthetic blood panel
(they'll probably recommend one, but just in case they don't, you can
ask for it).

Yes, they're doing a pre-surgery blood panel, and also a biopsy on the cyst.

For after, I'd want to know how soon she can resume normal activity.
Make sure you know what to look for if the incision starts to get
infected, or isn't healing properly.

I will keep a very close eye on it.

My dog had a large tumor removed last fall. The vet gave her
antibiotics and Rimadyl. She didn't seem to be in much pain after the
surgery, but I went ahead and gave her all but the last two doses of
Rimadyl.

The bigger problem for my dog ended up being that the antibiotics put
her system out of whack. She ended up with a post-op skin infection,
then was put on another round of antibiotics, and is now suffering from
yeast infections in her ears and feet. That isn't a normal response to
antibiotics, but it's something to keep an eye out for.

I will.

I'm assuming that she also can't scratch the area? I'd also keep an
eye out, so that she doesn't rub the stitches against something. Dogs
can be sneaky and creative when trying to relieve a discomfort.

Yes, I hadn't thought about that, I believe she could reach it with her back
paw.

Oh, and do a good visual check after the stitches are removed, to make
sure none are missed. I'm pretty happy with the care my dog has been
getting at my vet, but the tech who removed her stitches missed one.
It was *very* small and had gone almost entirely under the skin. I
didn't even notice it until I took a macro photo of the site. Oops!

Good luck with the surgery!


Many thanks for the information.

"(null)" wrote in message
...
Cheri wrote:

Does anyone have recommendations or things I should ask the vet? The cyst
removal will be in a spot that she can't reach with her mouth if that
matters with pain management. TIA

Very smart of you to ask. You can call your vet now and ask what
s/he is planning for post-op pain management. Personally I'm a
big fan of Fentanyl patches for post-op pain relief; they're a
narcotic that's absorbed through the skin and so provide continuous
pain relief and not the ups & downs that oral drugs do. If that's
an option, it's definitely the one that I would go for.

Oh - another question to ask is the kind of anesthesia the vet
is going to use. Gas anesthesia is most typical these days and
has minimal side effects. Injectable anesthesias (with the
exception of propofol, which is very short-acting and thus is
only used for very quick procedures) sometimes leave dogs very
disoriented and sometimes have the side effect of nausea and
vomiting; thus, when they're used, vets will often keep the
dog/cat in question overnight.

Hope that helps, and good luck to Sophie with her surgery.
Please post us a followup, OK?

Dianne

Thank you for all the good information. I am going to call the vet now. I
will post a follow up after the surgery.

Cheri

"tom" wrote in message ...

"Cheri" wrote in message
...
Hi All, My dog Sophie (11 year old pit bull/chow mix) is going to have a
fairly large cyst removed from her side tomorrow, and I'm wondering if
there is anything I should ask the vet about after care. The vet has been
watching the cyst for several months and decided to remove it now. Sophie
does have regular vet visits, but she has been a very healthy dog, so I
don't really have a lot of experience with various pain meds,
antibiotics, etc. She did pull a muscle several years ago and was given
Rimadyl, but I don't think it helped that much.

Does anyone have recommendations or things I should ask the vet? The cyst
removal will be in a spot that she can't reach with her mouth if that
matters with pain management. TIA

--
Cheri
Had a large cyst removed from Madison a few years ago. We took her back to
have stitches removed but didn't do anything else and she recovered just
fine.

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z...rankendog2.jpg


Thanks to all, I feel much better about it now. I've been worrying like an
old hen.

Cheri

"Cheri" wrote in
:

Thanks to all, I feel much better about it now. I've been worrying
like an old hen.

That's inevitable. I know that for me, I didn't realize just how
worried was until I picked Harriet up at the vet, after her surgery.
I wasn't expecting anything to go wrong, but it was still a *huge*
relief to have her back home.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

Cheri wrote:
Hi All, My dog Sophie (11 year old pit bull/chow mix) is going to have a
fairly large cyst removed from her side tomorrow, and I'm wondering if
there is anything I should ask the vet about after care. The vet has
been watching the cyst for several months and decided to remove it now.
Sophie does have regular vet visits, but she has been a very healthy
dog, so I don't really have a lot of experience with various pain meds,
antibiotics, etc. She did pull a muscle several years ago and was given
Rimadyl, but I don't think it helped that much.

Rimadyl is dangerous for dogs and I'd never allow my dogs to have it.
Too many alternatives out there to risk it.

Indeed, Pfizer was sued over what Rimadyl did to pets.

http://www.dogsadversereactions.com/...itsettled.html
http://www.dogsadversereactions.com/...deEffects.html
http://www.sueeasy.com/class_action_...hp?case_id=228

"chardonnay9" wrote in message
m...

Rimadyl is dangerous for dogs

Rimadyl is actually pretty safe. The risks are minute (.02% Rimadyl
related deaths), and generally affect senior dogs (70% of the .02%
affected are geriatric). Cheri's dog is a senior (as is mine), but if
it were me, I'd still give it to my dog. I'd rather take my vet's
advice over that of a Usenet crank, any day of the week.

and I'd never allow my dogs to have it. Too many alternatives out
there to risk it.

Sure, lots of alternatives, but how safe are they?

Indeed, Pfizer was sued over what Rimadyl did to pets.

It's easy to sue, at least in the US.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)