Dear Dr. Forsythe: I had my pet fixed last week and she was up all night after her operation whimpering and moaning. I think she must have been in a lot of pain. I tried calling the vet, but the recording told me to contact the emergency hospital if there was a serious problem. She was much better by the following morning, but I still wish I could have given her something for the pain. Do you think she was suffering all night long or was I just imagining it?
Worried mom
Dear Mom: Pets respond to pain and anesthesia in many different ways. Following a spay (or removal of the ovaries and uterus from the abdomen) a female dog has to recover from the general anesthesia as well as cope with the abdominal pain that is similar to a human woman recovering from a Cesarean section. As you can imagine, different pets have different thresholds for pain and recover differently following the effects of anesthesia. In my opinion, such an operation warrants either a post-operative pain injection or a prescription of pain medication to keep the pet comfortable for a couple of days after surgery.
It is quite possible that your little girl was more disoriented than in pain and this could have been the cause of her bedroom vocalizations. Moaning all night long (and not out of pleasure) surely meant that she could have benefited from a tranquilizer or pain medication. Since there are some really good and safe medications available to keep pets calm and out of pain, the next time she needs to have a procedure done, discuss this issue with your veterinarian and be sure to have something on hand for her in case she has a difficult time getting through the night. None of us want to have our pet in pain with all the good medications available today!! Thanks for a good question.
Dr. F.
Dear Dr. Forsythe: Should I get pet health insurance? I asked one veterinarian and she told me I’d be better off just setting up a bank account especially for her for when she gets sick. Do you agree with that or is insurance worth it?
MW, Sonoma
Dear MW: I think that pet insurance is a really good idea, and apparently, so do many of my clients. I sign insurance claim forms for clients every day, and rarely do I hear any complaints or regrets from clients with these policies. There are several different companies that offer pet insurance, and you can simply Google “pet insurance” to see the number of different offerings. VPI and Pets Best are among the most popular, and they cover many different tiers of pet care from basic to comprehensive. Pet’s Best is an 80/20 plan, similar to Blue Cross, and it covers 80 percent of virtually any type of veterinary care you seek, so if you are with a more aggressive, comprehensive veterinary hospital, the bulk of your pet’s care will still be covered. In other words, you do not have to price shop extensively and find the “low price leader” and then hope that your insurance will cover a $5.00 rabies vaccine. You can actually relax, take comfort knowing that you can seek excellent care for your pet, and the insurance company will support you financially. These policies do work on a reimbursement basis, so you do pay for services up front to the veterinarian and get reimbursed afterwards, but you should still come out ahead financially. The feedback I’ve gotten from clients is that they are very happy to know that their beloved pets have good quality health insurance. Let me know what you decide to do, I’m interested in this hot and timely topic.
Dr. F.
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