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Please print out and give to your vet in advance of the cropping of your puppy.

Anesthesia Guidelines for Cropping
Prepared by

Sue Cates, RVT and Dr. LeAnn Lake-Heidke, DVM.

Also at this website are specific Surgery Guidelines for Great Danes (suitable for large/giant breeds). Again, print out and give to your vet in advance of any other elective or emergency surgery, and remind them at the time of surgery. This is the most updated info on what is appropriate for Great Danes (Giants).

An anesthesia protocol for the puppy to be cropped is a serious consideration, keeping in mind, that we are dealing with your babies! Long time breeders of cropped puppies or veterinarians have surely heard of un-explained anesthetic deaths during or just following a cropping procedure. I am hopeful this paragraph will not be too soon outdated, and helpful for the safety of the anesthetized puppy.

I have been involved with anesthesia for the cropping of puppies for about 25 years and have seen MANY different protocols used. As many veterinarians as there are, there are as many different ideas on what is used for anesthesia. This is a subject that the owner ha the right and duty to discuss with the veterinarian doing the crop procedure for you. Certainly as the years go by, anesthetic agents will keep on improving, so the current protocol in this article may become out-dated, (editorial comment - we will update as new info comes available), but for now, this is what I personally consider to be the absolutely SAFEST method.

Currently there are two really good anesthetic gasses available, ISOFLURANE and SEVOFLURANE., with Sevo being the absolute best/safest. Sevo at this time is more expensive but the very best choice. This protocol is what we use at our clinic, and I in no wan intend to be and instructor or anesthesia expert in this recommendation. I STRONGLY believe that NO pre-anesthestic be used on the puppy except a dose of Atropine per weight about 15-20 minutes prior to anesthesia. We ‘mask’ the puppy down on either of the gases, intubate, and maintained on gas during cropping. We also use pulse oxcimetry and a blood pressure monitor during surgery. When the puppy is cropped, cleaned and taped accordingly, and ready to be awakened, we have on hand a Torbutrol injection with a “hub” of Acepromazine, per weight, to be given IV upon extubation. This makes for a very smooth, pain free recovery! The puppy needs to be closely monitored immediately following anesthesia, needless to say.

Please print out and give to your vet in advance of the cropping of your puppy.