Happy Possums
I'm pleased to report that Maggie is back up to her usual Diva self this morning. It's a big relief to all concerned.
I realized last night, that the reason her reaction seemed so unusual to me had nothing to do with HER reaction to the anesthesia, but MY reaction to watching the recovery process.
In the U.S., and in the UK as well from what I've been told, we would never have seen Maggie from the moment she was taken back for surgery until 5 or 6 hours later, when I would have been brought a dog who was fully, or mostly, recovered from the anesthesia.
Here, I first held her while the vet gave her the anesthesia and until she zonked out. Then, I went out in the waiting room and sat there while she had the surgery, going back as soon as they were done and sitting with her until she started to wake up, when we were then able to take her home.
That part is all hidden behind the curtain in a typical, urban veterinary practice in the U.S., so you never really get to see how your dog reacts until the worst is over. It means we are relatively ignorant about the entire procedure, which also means we have no idea what is normal and what isn't.
Most of my Anglo-Saxon friends who are suddenly introduced to this different French system of veterinary surgery react in the same confused way that JM and I did yesterday. We think our dog (or cat) is not recovering, when, in fact, they are reacting quite normally to the whole process.
The fatal flaw in the plan, however, is the uninformed pet owner. Because we don't know what is normal and what isn't, we're not really prepared to deal with the recovery process and can either under react or over react, possibly not taking our pet back to the vet when something really is wrong, because we don't recognize it as a problem.
I feel lucky that Maggie is a healthy dog who doesn't seem to have any problems with anesthesia, even though she is getting up there in years. I do think that watching her recovery yesterday makes me even more wary than I was before about subjecting her to any unnecessary medical procedures.
I don't know which method is better, to be honest. In the U.S./UK system, it's true that there may be closer monitoring of post op vital signs. On the other hand, your pet is subjected to a strange and stressful atmosphere for a far longer time, which may make the recovery process more difficult. Therefore, I would have to say that for the pet owner who can afford to spend the entire day watching over their newly operated on pet, the at-home care system does win out for me.
Ciao for now.
Randy
I realized last night, that the reason her reaction seemed so unusual to me had nothing to do with HER reaction to the anesthesia, but MY reaction to watching the recovery process.
In the U.S., and in the UK as well from what I've been told, we would never have seen Maggie from the moment she was taken back for surgery until 5 or 6 hours later, when I would have been brought a dog who was fully, or mostly, recovered from the anesthesia.
Here, I first held her while the vet gave her the anesthesia and until she zonked out. Then, I went out in the waiting room and sat there while she had the surgery, going back as soon as they were done and sitting with her until she started to wake up, when we were then able to take her home.
That part is all hidden behind the curtain in a typical, urban veterinary practice in the U.S., so you never really get to see how your dog reacts until the worst is over. It means we are relatively ignorant about the entire procedure, which also means we have no idea what is normal and what isn't.
Most of my Anglo-Saxon friends who are suddenly introduced to this different French system of veterinary surgery react in the same confused way that JM and I did yesterday. We think our dog (or cat) is not recovering, when, in fact, they are reacting quite normally to the whole process.
The fatal flaw in the plan, however, is the uninformed pet owner. Because we don't know what is normal and what isn't, we're not really prepared to deal with the recovery process and can either under react or over react, possibly not taking our pet back to the vet when something really is wrong, because we don't recognize it as a problem.
I feel lucky that Maggie is a healthy dog who doesn't seem to have any problems with anesthesia, even though she is getting up there in years. I do think that watching her recovery yesterday makes me even more wary than I was before about subjecting her to any unnecessary medical procedures.
I don't know which method is better, to be honest. In the U.S./UK system, it's true that there may be closer monitoring of post op vital signs. On the other hand, your pet is subjected to a strange and stressful atmosphere for a far longer time, which may make the recovery process more difficult. Therefore, I would have to say that for the pet owner who can afford to spend the entire day watching over their newly operated on pet, the at-home care system does win out for me.
Ciao for now.
Randy
Labels: Veterinary surgery in France
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