Not too old for anaesthesia! Geriatric anaesthesia considerations

Happily, our pets are living longer, which is amazing. The more time we have with our beloved pets, the better. However, we must ensure that this long life is still a happy, pain free, comfortable life.

Historically, there has been a fear and a commonly used statement ' We cannot perform anaesthesia on your cat/dog because they are too old for an anaesthetic'.

Is this statement fair? Does it allow our pets to have a high quality of life, right to the end?

Undoubtedly, there can be a higher risk when we place geriatric patients under a general anaesthesia- but this shouldn't mean we just do not do it. Realistically, there is a risk to all anaesthesia and surgery/treatment- but with proper planning, and an understanding of how to mitigate and reduce these risks- patients requiring treatment under general anaesthesia shouldn’t have that treatment excluded purely based on age.

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