15 yr old GSD w/hypercalcamia needs Surgery

[4leggedmom]

I have a 15 year old GSD whom I love soo much.. much like a child since I am not able to have children. I took him into the vet to do a blood panel. Everything came back good EXCEPT..his calcium levels. That came back at a 16.0 in which the NORMAL levels are between 8.6 and 11.8. So after the vet did some checking he found a pea sized tumor around his anal sac. Now I have noticed that my boy has been drinking ALOT of water and urinating more frequently in which are symptoms of the hypercalcemia. So my vet suggested surgery for him to remove the tumor and said that more than likely if I chose NOT to have the surgery done it will end up calcifying his vital organs. In Which I have read up on. My WORRY is that he is 15 and I am concerned about the anesthesia. He sleeps more soundly now to where i have to sometimes make sure he is breathing. His hips are starting to give out a bit to where he has a little trouble coming up the stairs and he is getting a bit moodier. SO I am kind of at a loss.. not sure if I should go ahead with the surgery planned for this Monday the 17th or not? Any suggestions??

[Lola1969]

Boy do I feel your pain. Wish I had an answer for you. I lost my 5 year old Springer Spaniel to anaesthesia from a teeth cleaning (this was in the 80s) so I am VERY paranoid about that. On the other hand, a friend's beagle just had surgery at 12 and came out fine.

My vet has said that anaesthesia and techniques are pretty sophisticated these days. I suppose there is no way to do it with some sort of local?

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

Welcome! Wow - 15!

Surgery can go bad at any age...but...if you do the pre-anesthetic bloodwork, fluids, they use the old dog type stuff (I think propofol is one), have a monitor going the whole time, and other people in the OR who will be watching it...

It's a tough choice.

I had bloat/torsion surgery done on a 15 year old dog, but it was one of those do or die decisions. He bounced back like a pediatric spay - in fact tried to run away from them when they took him off the table, but that was how he was. He lived a year after that, so well worth it. He had no other health problems (known). So I did it!

Good luck - keep us posted.

[Gib Laut]

we had a 15 yr old girl in our family, so I totally no the"omg is she breathing" sleep!lol...this is a tough one....In this kind of situation I always recommend a second opinion...is that possible, later today or tomorrow? I know Monday is soon, but I think you need to ensure you are comfortable with any decision you make......sometimes second and/or third opinions can help with that.....good luck to the both of you.