Sedation and Cardiomyopathy - Need help!

[littleM]

Sorry for the short, frantic, notice here, but I'm getting desperate and cannot find an answer anywhere.

My buddy, Mieszko, is a 10.5 year old brindle boxer. Almost three years ago now, he had some fainting spells, and we took him to Michigan State where he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. He's on a combination of

Well, last week his eye was shut and weeping clear, and when I took him to our vet, she found (and showed me) a boxer ulcer on his eye (due to the lip on the ulcer). We've been giving him a gel for his eye for a week to see if we could get it to respond and it does not, so her alternative is a grid keratotomy. She is not going to put him fully under, but will sedate him for the procedure. We've been able to avoid sedation since his diagnosis, but it doesn't seem we can avoid this one, and his eye is getting worse and I want to catch it before the risk of infection grows.

My question is this... I know to avoid Ace, but with his cardiomyopathy, are there any sedatives that are safer than others that I should suggest? I've been reading here for a bit now and have seen many suggestions - Valium being the most common. Does anyone have any history with having to sedate their boxer even with cardiomyopathy?

His procedure is today, and starting to get pretty freaked out at the whole situation. :(

Thanks a lot in advance for any help or advice you might have!

 

[littleM]

Just a quick follow up to this... I called my vet and made sure that ACE was on Mieszko's sheet and the response was "oh my gosh, we would NEVER use ace on a boxer!"

I love my vet!

M came through the procedure doing fine today and is resting comfortably in front of the fireplace wearing his cone of shame (soon to be cone of stink).

 

[Cami]

Didn't catch this until it was too late but I am glad to hear he is home!
For future reference you can request the cardiologist send your regular vet (or anyone doing a procedure) recommendations with what specific drugs they will authorize/suggest for their heart patients.
My girl had cardiomyopathy and her cardio would send specific instructions of what drugs she wanted used, in what dose and how they were to be administered. She also told them what various protocol to follow during surgery as well (monitoring and drugs waiting already in syringes for an emergency situation).
Sending along healing vibes that the procedure was a success.

 

[Gatorblu]

I'm glad your boy is home and resting. My boy also has heart issues and had to have kerotomy just over a year ago. Like Susi said the cardiologist was consulted before surgery. The surgery went great, and he was home recovering. The one thing I will tell you is if your boy is on an NSAID to keep an eye out for any increase drinking and urination, or any vomitting or diarrhea. NSAIDs can cause liver problems, or problems with the kidneys. If any of this happens contact you vet immediately! This where we ran into problems with Thor. Thankfully he was treated quickly, but it was very serious and became life threatening for him. That being said that was him, and many dogs can take NSAIDS without any problems. I just thought you should be aware of the possibility. Sending lots of positive healing (((vibes)))!