No one likes to hear that their pet needs a veterinary procedure. But if the procedure requires anesthesia, for many pet parents this adds a whole new level of worry.
Anesthesia is simply a controlled level of unconsciousness. Unlike sedation (which usually makes a pet feel sleepy or calm), while a pet is under general anesthesia, they are unable to see, consciously move, or feel pain. Anesthesia also helps prevent the body’s “surgical stress response”, an involuntary reaction that happens during surgery that causes the heart rate and blood pressure to increase, which can lead to excessive bleeding and other complications during surgery.
In veterinary medicine, anesthesia is most commonly used for surgery and dental cleaning, but it may also be needed for certain types of diagnostic procedures that require a pet to remain perfectly still for an extended period of time. Because many people are apprehensive about their pet undergoing anesthesia, they may choose to put off necessary procedures that may be vital to their pet’s health and well-being. However, understanding what actually happens during the anesthesia process can help alleviate some of those fears.
The Veterinary Anesthesia Process
Veterinary anesthesia is a carefully-controlled process. It’s customized specifically for each patient, depending on the procedure being performed and the patient’s age, physical condition, even their breed. Some breeds of dogs and cats with shorter noses and flatter faces (such as Bulldogs and Persian cats) have different anesthetic requirements since they tend to experience more difficulty breathing while under anesthesia, so there are special protocols designed just for them.
If your pet needs anesthesia, it’s helpful to know that there are 3 stages of the anesthesia process:
- Before anesthesia: Your veterinarian will perform a thorough physical exam on your pet to make sure he or she is healthy enough to tolerate anesthetic. This should include a blood test to check the health of your pet’s liver, kidneys, and other organs. During this time, it’s important to mention any medications (including dietary supplements) that your pet is currently taking.
If you’re instructed to make sure your pet has no food for a certain period of time prior to the anesthetic procedure, and you either forget and feed your pet or he gets into the food supply, tell your veterinarian immediately. Vomiting food while under anesthesia can cause the food to be aspirated into the lungs, resulting in pneumonia or other life-threatening conditions. It’s always better to have to reschedule a procedure than to put your pet at risk.
- During anesthesia: Anesthesia is usually done through the use of a customized mix of injectable medications and anesthetic gas (although in some cases only injectable medications are used). First, an IV catheter will be placed in your pet’s leg. This provides an open port directly into a vein, through which IV fluids and medications can be delivered.
Next, your pet will be given pre-anesthetic medications, which usually consist of a sedative to reduce stress and, if the patient will be receiving gas anesthesia, a drug to slow down saliva production and keep the heart rate in a safe range during the procedure.
Finally, your pet will be “induced” by giving him either an injectable medication to put him completely under, or a drug called an induction agent that will cause him to lose consciousness just long enough for a flexible rubber or plastic endotracheal tube to be inserted down his throat and into his airway. The tube is then hooked up to a gas anesthetic machine that delivers oxygen and anesthetic, which he will receive for the remainder of the procedure. During the entire process, your pet will be kept warm and his vital signs and breathing patterns will be carefully monitored to ensure his safety.
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This cat is being induced. An anesthetic is injected into the IV catheter in her front leg while an endotracheal tube is inserted into her airway. After anesthesia: Once the procedure is over, your pet will be allowed to wake up on his own. He will be kept warm in a quiet, semi-dark area while he recovers. During this time, pets are very closely monitored to make sure that they are waking up smoothly and there are no problems. Patients wake up at different rates; some may be fully alert by the time they’re released from the hospital, while others may be groggy for several hours after coming home.
Are There Risks With Anesthesia?
Anesthesia, whether for humans or pets, always comes with risks. These can be minor (such as post-procedure vomiting) or serious (cardiac arrest, stroke, or sudden death). However, it’s important to remember that serious complications from anesthesia are rare. If they do occur, the veterinary team is right there to monitor any issues and administer emergency care.
That being said, the benefits of putting a pet under anesthesia should always be weighed against the risk. Veterinarians usually exhaust all other alternatives before the decision is made to put a pet under anesthesia, but oftentimes it’s a necessity. In those cases, the risk of anesthesia is minimal compared to the benefits of performing the procedure.
When it comes to anesthesia, some pets are more at risk than others. These include senior pets, very young puppies and kittens, birds, and smaller pets like rabbits, ferrets, and rats. Smaller dogs and cats are more at risk because of their lighter body weight, and brachycephalic dog breeds (such as Bulldogs, Pugs, Pekingeses, and Boston Terriers), as well as flat-faced cats like Persians and Himalayans, are also considered higher-risk.
Obese pets in particular are at greater risk because of their high amount of body fat, which causes them to metabolize anesthetic more slowly. This makes them slower to wake up and more prone to complications.
How To Reduce Your Pet’s Anesthetic Risk
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, there are several things you can do to reduce the risk for your pet when it comes to anesthesia:
- Keep your pet at a healthy weight.
- Make sure your veterinarian is always kept up to date on any medications (both prescription and over-the-counter) and supplements your pet is taking.
- Let your veterinarian know if your pet has ever had an adverse reaction to a drug or to anesthesia.
- Keep your pet healthy with regular preventive veterinary care.
- Always have blood work done whenever possible prior to your pet being put under anesthesia.
- Follow your veterinarian’s pre-anesthesia instructions to the letter, especially when it comes to withholding food (this includes treats) and water.

To further give you peace of mind, you can also ask the following questions of your veterinarian and/or veterinary technician prior to your pet undergoing anesthesia:
- When will we be running pre-anesthetic blood work?
- Will my pet have an IV catheter in place, and will he be receiving fluids during the entire procedure?
- Is there someone specifically dedicated to monitoring my pet while he is under anesthesia? Who? Are they trained and credentialed?
- What types of devices will be used to monitor my pet while he is under?
- What is the recovery process while my pet is waking up? Will someone be with him the entire time until he is awake?
Anesthesia Doesn’t Have To Be Scary
Anesthesia for pets has come a long way over the years. Many anesthetics currently being used in veterinary medicine are the same ones used in human medicine, and their safety ratings are high. Having a well-trained and well-prepared veterinary team further reduces anesthetic risk for your pet.
If your pet needs anesthesia, talk with your veterinarian about exactly what to expect. Feel free to ask any questions that will put your mind at ease. If your pet is in a particularly high-risk category, ask your veterinarian about the possibility of using a veterinary anesthesiologist for your pet’s procedure. These are veterinarians who have completed several years of additional specialized training in anesthesia and pain management, and their job is to be solely dedicated to managing every aspect of the anesthetic process for their patients.
Has apprehension about anesthesia ever caused you to put off a veterinary procedure for your pet? Please tell us about it in the comments below!
Great post Camille. I was always hesitant to put my pets under to get their teeth cleaned, but understanding the process and how it has come a long way has put my mind at ease. Very informative and I love the dog pic at the top of the article. 🙂
Thank you! Dental cleanings are one of the most common things pet parents put off because of fears about anesthesia. The good thing is, for dentals the level of anesthetic is kept extremely light since deep anesthesia (like what’s needed for surgery) isn’t needed to clean teeth. Pets are kept as light as possible under anesthesia, and veterinarians/veterinary technicians work very quickly to keep the time under anesthetic as short as possible.
And I’m glad you liked the pic! 🙂
Great article, Camille! I like your advice about remembering to tell your vet about medicines and supplements before surgery. So many of our pets are on supplements these days and some vets might forget to ask.
Also, I didn’t realize the issue that overweight dogs have with anesthesia. That’s one more reason to keep our dogs at a healthy weight. Very good advice and info!
Thanks so much, Elaine! When it comes to surgery, certain supplements can have a dramatic impact on the body – particularly when it comes to blood clotting. Giving your vet a heads up regarding supplements is just as important as it is for prescription medications!
My 16 pound jack russell mix, rescue dog that I had for 6 months, believed to be 8-10 years old, went in for a teeth cleaning, woke up from anesthesia then had a cardiac arrest….why?
Nancy, please accept my deepest sympathies for what happened to your dog. 🙁 The recovery period when a pet is waking up from anesthesia is a very common time for animals to experience anesthetic complications. Sometimes they have issues while under anesthesia, become stable, then crash during the recovery period or shortly thereafter. And sometimes they do very well the entire time they’re under anesthesia, only to experience issues while waking up. Since, like humans, every animal is unique, unfortunately it’s impossible to predict precisely how their bodies will react to being under general anesthesia – even for something as simple as a dental procedure.
Although they are rare, anesthetic complications can happen for a few different reasons. Sometimes it’s a reaction to the combination of drugs used to put them under; sometimes (especially in older patients) there’s an underlying medical issue that doesn’t always show up on the pre-anesthetic screening. Heart problems are one of those issues. The pre-anesthetic blood tests look for underlying problems with the liver and kidneys (both of which act to process the anesthetic and remove it from the body), but it’s very difficult to identify heart conditions with that type of blood test. Your dog may have had an undiagnosed heart issue that, unfortunately, didn’t show up until his body was put under the additional stress of anesthesia.
These types of complications are rare, but obviously they do happen, and it’s tragic when they do. I’m very, very sorry that this happened to your dog. 🙁
I have a 3.8lb (9 year yorkie) that is my entire world. She unfortunately has periodontal disease and needs to have anesthesia to remove remaining 5 teeth and a tiny pink lump on gum (will be biopsied). She is having it done by the same vet practice she has been to all her life and has been spayed, and this will be her third dental procedure. I am terrified of losing her. She is pretty healthy other than a moderate collapsing trachea. She had most recent dental with many extractions last March and was fine after. A different vet in practice will be doing this dental and said she would follow exactly what was done last year as there were no issues. I am still terrified. Vet also said she can be on clindamycin until procedure (on the 19th) but I am worried it is too much for her tiny body with anesthesia. Dosage (.4ml twice a day (25mg/ml).) I am just terrified and don’t want the procedure done but two of her teeth are loose and I know there is a great risk of not having procedure done to her little organs. i am making myself sick over the worry about this. Any advice? Thanks!
It can definitely be nerve wracking when we have to consider whether to put our pets under anesthesia! The good news is, in the case of your little girl, the odds are in your favor. Although she is 9 years old, in Yorkie terms that is still comparatively young, so her risk would be less than if she were a few years older. She’s healthy, she has done well under anesthesia during previous dental procedures, and the veterinarian doing the dental has access to her prior medical records (so they can follow the same anesthetic protocol). She’s definitely a small dog, so that can sometimes be a worry, but there are specific anesthetic protocols for small dogs that work really well (which seems to be what her veterinarians have used in the past). If she isn’t experiencing any issues on the Clindamycin (such as vomiting, diarrhea, or lethargy/lack of energy), it should not affect her with regard to the anesthesia. However, if she develops any side effects from the Clindamycin, be sure to let your vet know so they can switch her to a different antibiotic.
You’re correct in that dental disease can cause lots of problems down the road (such as heart, liver, and kidney issues), especially for small dogs since they tend to suffer from more dental disease than large dogs. Although all anesthesia has risks, in my opinion, the risks of not treating the dental disease could outweigh the risks of the anesthesia in this case. If I was considering all of the factors you mentioned, and it was my own dog, I would most likely elect to have the dental done. But that’s definitely a choice that every pet parent has to make for themselves.
I hope this helps alleviate your fears a little bit! Wishing you and your little girl the best of health. 🙂
Hi, My cat is about 25 pounds he is on a diet but don’t loose much weigth. He is 8 yrs old is too dangerous for him to have its teeth clean up?
Hi Mariela, I wouldn’t worry too much about your cat’s age being a factor… dental procedures are usually very safe since the level of anesthesia is much lighter than it is for more extensive surgeries. However, if your kitty is 25 pounds, unfortunately that does put him at much higher risk for complications during anesthesia. Have you worked with your veterinarian to put him on a diet, or are you trying it yourself? Your vet will have the best suggestions for putting your kitty on a diet plan to help him lose weight slowly and safely. Once he has lost some weight and your vet feels it’s safe, then he would be a much better candidate for teeth cleaning. Good luck!!