Bessie is now 14 years old and since Fly died she has moved up in the canine hierarchy to become my 'no.1 companion'. She accompanies me on my special photography trips and behaves impeccably which seems always to endear her to everyone. Sadly she is now quite deaf and a little jumpy at times but still enjoying life to the full. I regard her as very good for her age in most respects though a little weak on her rear end.
On Friday however I had a real wakeup call when she had a minor op to remove an epulis from her gum. Her blood test results were good so there was no reason not to give her a general anesthetic but despite only being given it for about 2 minutes her recovery was very slow indeed. 12 hours later she was still very wobbly when walking and couldn't stand for long - her back legs would just buckle beneath her. I was very fearful that this minor procedure was going to have serious consequences for her. However, yesterday she was much improved but now with very bad diarrhea and apparent associated discomfort. I gave her Diarrsanyl with several small meals of chicken and mashed potato which helped, and this morning she seems back on form. This experience showed so clearly how an older dog reacts to even very short anesthetic and definitely reinforces my view that its best avoided unless absolutely necessary.
