Clinical - Recent Threads

Complications from dog castration

Beats — Thu, 28 May 2026 21:29:58 GMT

What complications (things happening as a result of the castration procedure that otherwise wouldn't have occurred) do you see from dog castrations?

Surgical site infections (SSI)

Other wound complications (if so what)

Clipper rash / Inflamed skin on scrotum or where shaved

Vomiting or diarrhoea

Scrotal haematoma

Other (please specify)

Thanks!

PS - I'm trying to audit outcomes for these going forwards, but really struggling to decide what a bad outcome looks like and how to go about this - I'm not interested in just producing some meaningless figures going "aren't we great" but some actual genuine figures looking at positive and negative outcomes from a more objective and scientific outlook. My suspicion over the years is that we see more clipper rash problems with dog castrates causing obvious distress than actual wound infections, but the various classification schemes I have seen to-date only focus on the wound itself (aiming at SSI incidence). Interested to hear other folks thoughts!

anyone using Vetoquinol's 'Phovia' system for wound healing?

ian bates — Tue, 26 May 2026 14:21:35 GMT

Hello all,

Opinions / experience welcomed please

Thank you

Ian

Is there any evidence that dental powders improve dental health?

Nicola Cole — Wed, 20 May 2026 17:51:34 GMT

So really as the title says! I’m not currently in practice, so things may have moved on, but I’m being bombarded on a certain algorithm-based platform with adverts for a dental powder.

The claim is that seaweed, epicor, and charcoal will break down the oral biofilm, so preventing plaque etc. It also claims to be better than tooth brushing (because pets won’t like that) and dental procedures (because your pet could die). It is accompanied by really quite hardcore marketing that putting a dog under anaesthetic is signing a death waiver. Presumably the concern is still what’s going on under the gum line rather than how sparkly the teeth look? And presumably a powder can’t affect that?

So have things moved on? Is this a legitimate claim? I would usually ignore the long video adverts but the death waiver part caught my attention.

Preferred Colon Prep for Colonoscopy in Dogs

Judy M — Wed, 13 May 2026 14:55:49 GMT

Hi all,

I was wondering if people could advise me of the current thinking re colonoscopy prep for dogs and those methods preferred by those endoscopists out there please? Pros and cons of protocols would be fantastic,

Thank you :-)

Post op complication Urethrotomy

An On MRCVS — Thu, 07 May 2026 10:04:27 GMT

I would very much appreciate any help with this case, especially if anyone has come across this before.

7 year old male entire german short haired pointer.

Had a cystotomy last year, which recovered well from.

Seen this year, initially for collapsing episodes, cardiologist referral, SVT and now on sotalol which appears to have sorted this.

Couple of days after had seen the cardiologist started to struggle to pass urine, initially had enlarged prostate so given ypozane. Did not resolve this and further work up revealed lots of stones in urethra. Stopped urinating, so performed a pre scrotal urethrotomy. I did close this with monocryl.

Recovered ok, just seemed quite sore. ! week post op, passing urine, some blood still. Incision site healed well but is very sore here and around testicles. Temperature is normal. Urine sample, awaiting culture but no white blood cells.

Last 24 hours now urinating frank blood again. Anyone come across anything similar? Any ideas what we do next. Not insured.

I have done 2 prescrotal urethrotomies before and both recovered well,

Treating you own dog? Exp. of Onion toxicosis?

Stigen — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 13:23:54 GMT

I just wonder if someone can share cases and experiences of treating onion toxicosis here please. Every story I hear it seems like something simple and self resolving, but in my case it was just completely aggressive and unhaltering.

I am riddled with self-guilt, and in a really bad place now for what happened to my dog. She was my everything. The cutest Yorkie in the world - I saved her from euthanasia 6 years ago from owners that didnt want to pay for a simple treatment( full mouth extraction).

I did everything for her and she was as healthy as rain. She would have been 11 this week.

Case:
So this started last week when I gave her some pork meat that had been used for taco. She always eats everything, and tolerates everything, so I have become very lax about this. For this whole week I realised that she had onion toxicosis as she had Heinz bodies (and had not had any Zinc or paracetamol), but I didnt know how it happened. That is until today when I checked the taco spice that was used contains 25% onion and garlic powder.

19.04 ; - I noticed on a walk that she was really moving slowly, and not being herself , but figured she was just having an "off" day. this was noticed about 6-8 h after eating the pork.
20.04; - still lethargic , not really eating, and I stupidly still did`nt investigate much as she has had these bouts before.

21.04: even weaker , blood sample showing anemic by hematocrit 23,5 ,bilirubin also elevated. So from her healthy HCT 48 that is a 50% drop in 48 hours. otherwise fine on biochemistry, fever of 39,6. elevated heart rate and breathing. No anaplasma/erlichia/borrelia , no leucocytosis. Smear showing what looks like heinz bodies. I did`nt treat onion toxicoses before so took a while to connect the dots. I cant remember what exact I did, but think she had dexamethasone, doxycyline to cover, and supplements vitamin and weheamo.

22.04; HCT dropped to 13,5 , so another 24 hours and the HCT is halved. this is when I started to panick, and I got a blood donor, but only collected 250ml stupidly. I gave her 120ml to not overload her, cause she was getting Ringer fluids as well. She perked up and was being more herself again. she had more dexamethasone , about 0,3mg/kg. I also stupidly gave her 10mg/kg iv paracetamol as she had high fever (40+), probably from hemolysis. I did`nt know that this would probably increase the hemolysis even more. This was her first blood transfer and donor was DEA negative.

23.04: HCT at 19 after blood transfer , continued supplement treatments, but stupidly not given any N-acetylcysteine that could have helped with the oxidation. Her reticulocytes not really showing any movements, and platlets remain low.

24.004: HCT at 9,4 after 24 hours. she is really weak, all clinical parameters worsening, fever 39,6+ , tachycardia,tachypnoea, icterus, inappetant,not drinking. At this point I am panicking. Give her higher dose dexamethasone in case of sec. IMHA, and give her the rest of the blood from a new line 100ml . I know this is high risk as she probably already started making antibodies for this, but I see her dying for sure if I don`t do it. No acute reactions, she perks up a bit, starts eating. I know at this point that this is not gonna last long, but I thought it would give me 24 hours at least. I get some blood donor dogs come in in the afternoon, but they dont seem to be a good match as I did a major crossmatching with her blood and it was negative. So I make a plan to get more dogs in the following day and test against her blood which I found is DEA positive. But then in the evening she gets progressively worse (maybe exsasperated by me giving another 10mg/kg paracetamol cause I wanted to help with pain and fever). The last blood sample was taken in the evening, and gave me no hope that she could be saved. She was so weak that I think she would have died by herself within an hour, so did`nt get any blood donor dogs to come in as it felt too late.

I know my treatment was really insufficient, but I really did try, but should have sent her to someone less emotionally invested, as I did a lot of mistakes. But based on these blood sample do you guys thing there could have been hope ? Seems like onion toxicosis+Imha+DIC and whatever else. www.vetsurgeon.org/.../JOLIE_2D00_JENSEN_2D00_2026_2D00_04_2D00_24_2D00_0813.pdf

Second opinions

Vet2Vet — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 20:27:10 GMT

Hi , discussion recently in the workplace regarding how to disagree with the previous vets diagnosis ( if this is relevant ) - do people find this tricky or impossible in a more complaints orientated world . How do you navigate this if owner asks for written record of this ? Obviously , you have to make notes and owner has to be informed or your opinion if you take on the case .

Please help, my own dog - onion poisioning ?

Stigen — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:18:38 GMT

Hi, I dealing now with my own dog suddenly being very sick, and running out of options. So she is a 11 year old spayed yorkshire terrier. She has always been healthy, but last 2-3 days becoming progressively more lethargic, and today barely moving. Has still been eating and drinking, but somewhat less Took her to the clinic, and full check.
Bloods show anemia and low platelets and high bilirubin (presumably from Hemolysis) . Biochemistry is largely normal. I took blods a month ago, and everything was normal then. Ultrasund abdomen - nothing much of interest to see, no free fluid, no signs of tumors etc. Somewhat big gall blader. X-ray thorax - all normalt.
www.vetsurgeon.org/.../JOLIE_2D00_JENSEN_2D00_2026_2D00_04_2D00_21_2D00_1132.pdf www.vetsurgeon.org/.../JOLIE_2D00_JENSEN_2D00_2026_2D00_03_2D00_02_2D00_0935.pdf
HAd her hospitalised today and had her on a drip of Iv Ringer. Ran Anaplasma, erlcihia,babesia and Borrelia snap - all negative. Blood smear possibly heinz bodies, not seen schistocytes or typical anaplasma signs. No ticks has been seen on her. Agluttination test with saline - nothing.

Blood pressure really high 215/90 , and hr 160 , temperature is up now in 4-5 hours from 39,4 to 40 , suspect due to hemolysis!?

Then i remember this weekend she could have gotten hold of some onion and garlic from a dinner I made...

So I am left with thinking onion toxicity og some myeloprolifirative leukemia or similar (which I really dont want) , or some other infection destroying blood cels ,or a case of IMHA that doesnt cause agglutination (Or I did it wrong). I gave her som amlodipine to get BP down, but really lost now for what do further. Thinking to give her Dexadreson IM and clamoxcyl IM in the lack of any other options..... If anemia progress she will need a blood transfer, and possibly to get bone marrow sample.

Anyone have an idea ?

Another what would you do question

janine redman — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 00:00:37 GMT

Small independent practice, ( one and a half vets) , who cover 90% of their own OOH work on top of daytime schedule.
clinic closes at 6.00pm

phone call from client who has just got home . They have gone to take their headache medication which they took out the blister pack that morning (containing 500mg paracetamol and 30mg ephedrine ) , and cannot find it . No one else in the household admits to taking it . Client has a 4 year old nervous female neutered exotic short hair cat and concerned it may have eaten the tablet between 10 hours ago and 1 hour ago .

you see the cat as an emergency at 6.30 pm and though anxious it appears clinically normal . The practice does not stock acetyl cysteine but you have established that the local 24/7 out of hours clinic that you sometimes use does .

Do you

1) send cat home and ask them to monitor closely overnight for any signs of facial oedema , respiratory issues or any other signs of being unwell and arrange to re examine the following morning . If any signs develop they are to phone in

2) admit for overnight observation knowing you will have to check the cat regularly overnight and that you do not have the appropriate antidote available .

3) Refer for observation and management to the OOH clinic

if you do refer would you expect them just to monitor or to administer prophylactic treatment just in case there had been ingestion of the medication?

How aggressive should treatment be in an asymptomatic patient ?

if you phone the VPIS are you then obliged to follow recommendations that may be based on worst case scenario/ defensive medication or would you feel confident enough to take all the advice on board but make your own judgement with regards the clinical case you are monitoring?

how many paracetamol poisoning cases in cats have you seen ? The only two I have seen and treated were cats given paracetamol by well meaning owners

Does you place of work stock acetyl cysteine, just in case ?

Necrotic lesions in mouth.

Charlotte Marshall — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 07:08:46 GMT

I have a client with a French Bulldog. Unfortunately he is typical in that we cannot examine his mouth conscious. 6 weeks ago my colleague knocked him out to investigate pain and smell from the mouth She found a necrotic lesion on the right maxilla and had to remove 104,105 and 106 she thought he had had a foreign body which had caused secondary changes. She checked the rest of the mouth at the time and found no other lesions.

He appeared to make a full recovery 4 - 5 weeks later the owner noticed a smell again. I knocked him out 6 weeks from the original sedation to discover 2 new necrotic lesions one on the left maxilla and one on the left mandible. I had to remove 206,207 and 208 and 306 and 307. The lesion on the mandible was particularly bad with necrotic bone with loose spicules of bone. The original lesion had healed completely.

Any ideas why the dog has had these repeated lesions which developed very fast?

Use of UCDA long term post-cholecystectomy for GB mucocoele, yes or no?

Yantha Smyth — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 18:54:10 GMT

Hi, I recently saw a dog who several months ago had cholecystectomy for GB mucucoele via referral. The dog is doing very well clinically. The owners had asked the referral centre what they recommended long term regarding diet but they were told to ask their primary vet. They have settled on a low fat diet (unsure of %) and smaller more frequent meals than prior to surgery.

I looked into it after seeing the dog, to help confirm this was the right thing to do/ see if was necessary, and it seems to be the case. However, I also saw mentioned that some patients are treated medically with UCDA long term as well, but there was no further explanation as to what circumstances you would choose to do this or not.

Does anyone have advice or experience on this please? Perhaps clinical signs, persistently raised liver enzymes?

thanks in advance

What would you do?

Kate Richardson — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:53:32 GMT

I thought this might be a useful idea- post a case scenario then post what you would do if working on a budget.

I'll start with this one:

15 yo MN DSH comes in- owners concern is he is struggling to jump up and down off sofa and occasionally urinates inside on the mat. On questioning, is eating ok, and has been drinking more over the past 6months. Faeces unknown as he goes outside. Occasional vomits, but no more frequent than 'normal' for this cat.

Clinical exam- BCS 3/9, used to be 5.kg, now 3.7. Coat a bit stary and matted in places. Muscle atrophy hindlimbs, nails a bit over grown. Obviously very stiff on hindlimbs.

Teeth- more tartar then tooth. Heart rate 160, soft systolic murmur, no arrhythmia, lungs clear. No palpable goitre. Abdominal palpation unremarkable.

Owners love the cat but haven't got a lot of money.

What would you do?

Be as specific as possible.

I'll let you know what I would do later

Ban the 3-way tap!

Beats — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 08:21:08 GMT

I've always hated 3-way taps.

For draining fluid, I use the Active Drainage Extension | Infusion Concepts

where I can hold the needle where I want it and just suck and squirt with the syringe.

For ear flushing, what would be the equivalent product?

Ear Cleaners safe in middle ear

Beats — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 07:36:49 GMT

Hi all,

I know we have some really experienced dermatologists as well as seasoned GPs (new and old) in our midst, and would appreciate the thoughts and reasoning from both!

1) Do you worry about whether you have seen the whole tympanic membrane before using an ear cleaner?

2) If you know there is a hole (or if your answer to question 1 is "yes" and you haven't seen the whole TM), what cleaners do you consider to be safe for use in ear nonetheless?

We're reviewing this and suggestions so far here are: TrizNAC, TrizAural, Otodine, saline for dogs (none of which I think are great at cleaning) and trizaural or saline for cats.

I believe squalene (Otoact) also safe based on it was safe in ear when injected into it in dogs and guinea pigs (not condoning doing this in any way...) and I've always considered it to be safe in middle ear in both dogs and cats on that basis. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9358414/ but wasn't in a recent list we read and wondered if something more recent to suggest otherwise.

I find that inspection of the TM is dermatology's equivalent to the controversy of inspection of the meniscus for orthopedics. Given that it is often impossible to know whether the TM is intact or not, and we rarely identify any problems associated with widespread use of a myriad of cleaning products in dogs ears (though unilateral deafness may not be readily apparent unless looked for with BAER...) I sometimes wonder if we over-worry about this and that may lead to use of less effective cleaners in some cases (I like epiotic!) and in others the use of marbofloxacin (which seems to be widely touted as safe where the status of TM cannot be established) when less critical antimicrobial products may be more appropriate if looking from the angle of responsible antimicrobial use?

Thoughts and advice gratefully received!

Do you think it's OK to 'have a go' at surgery any more?

Arlo Guthrie — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 08:40:53 GMT

We live in an era of refer-all, and from time to time I hear vets saying they are frightened to give something a go (either because of repercussions from client or from RCVS if it goes wrong), or just that it's not the done thing any more.

Would you agree that far fewer vets are happy to give something a go these days?

Do you think that is a good or a bad thing?

If you think it is a bad thing, then what do you think are the main drivers of the refer-all culture or barriers to 'having a go'.

Prescribing anti-parasitics: should we ignore the guidance and should it be enforced?

Clive Ansell — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 09:28:56 GMT

I work across many different practices as a locum, and what I am seeing is that most practices are following the guidance and will only prescribe anti-parasitic drugs when seeing a patient, usually at the annual vaccination where they prescribe for the following year to be dispensed either monthly, or every 3 or 6 months.

There are, however, a few practices that are not following the guidance at all, they are dispensing POM-V anti-parasitics without animals being seen or more usually they are not being prescribed when the patients are being seen.

It creates a difficult situation for a locum; I was recently faced with a large list of repeat prescriptions to sign off, most of these routine flea and worm treatments included on health care plans for patients. In almost all cases these had not be prescibed or pre authorized, meaning I would need to see the patients to be able to prescribe, if following the guidance. On a practical level, if the odd one slips through the net I am not overly worried, but when it is the whole list, not really

What would others do?

Choline deficiency and tartaric acid toxicity

Beats — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 08:36:45 GMT

Another gap in my education needing plugged!

So, I read this week that calcium tartrate tetrahydrate uroliths are possibly on the increase (from exceptionally rare to very rare).

I read that choline tartrate added to "fresh" dog foods could be a factor (choline chloride being harder to mix in).

I read that choline is an essential nutritional component for dogs, and thus needs added to their ready meals.

I read that the tartaric acid in calcium tartrate is totally different from the tartaric acid which was the most recent thing to be blamed for the infamous grape toxicity (which I still haven't ever diagnosed, but I finally have met a vet in real life who has seen a case).

All this reading led me to ponder the following:

1) Have I been missing cases of choline deficiency in dogs? Has anyone ever seen this? What would it look like?

2) In what way is the tartaric acid in choline tartrate totally different from that in grapes?

What is the oddest thing you have taken out of a dog's gut?

Lesley Strong — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 21:38:34 GMT

Arlo asked for some new topics for reboot

Lots of serious issues in the vet world the last few years but as I am.close to retiring and wont have deal with it much longer here is something a bit lighter

Plenty more but these are 3 I still remember almost 15 to 20 yrs later

3 4kg of dry food out of a 8kg Pug's stomach that had solidified so hard it needed a tablespoon to dig it out.At 1am

Presented as a dyspnoea case initially. Owners hadn't noticed the food was missing

2 Twenty seven 3-4 inch beach pebbles. Followed 6 months later by exactly 27 again. Owners refused to muzzle so we took a further 2 lots of pebbles out over the next 2 years until insurance refused to pay out and he bought a muzzle.Maybe 27 was the dogs favorite number or no more would fit. He crunched as he walked into the room

And the number one

A completley INTACT Hedgehog wrapped in 3 meters of nylon garden netting. You could see all it's toepads and the dog still wanted to eat but had been intermittantly vomiting 2 weeks but otherwise fine until it perfed

Any better ones??

Neuropathic Pain Treatment choices in cats

Anthony Dennison — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 13:52:47 GMT

15 year old DSH, diagnosed with a possible polyp/neoplasm in the left tympanic bulla end of last year that is causing some compression of the trigeminal nerve and skull base.

Owner opted for palliative treatment with meloxicam after being referred to a local neurologist, and is doing very well. Saw her for a check up this morning and she is great, apart from squinting and epiphora. No corneal ulcer present, I think it may be almost like a headache, or cranial nerve neuritis (especially if compressing the trigeminal nerve).

I'd like to consider adding in some medication as trial to help neuropathic pain - I was considering either amantadine or gabapentin. Does anyone have any alternative options or recommendations?

VICE

Arlo Guthrie — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 10:19:29 GMT

As I am sitting here buried under the hood building all sorts of new things into VetSurgeon and VetNurse, I have been giving some (more) thought to the purpose of these forums.

It's not 'somewhere other than Facebook or Linkedin' because that battle is lost.

But actually, the one thing I still believe passionately, is that VetSurgeon offers a far superior platform for scientific discussion.

Provenance of author
Long form responses allow for nuance
Easy to refer back to (ie creates a knowledgebase)
No algorithm manipulating what you will see, so less of an echo chamber.

These are all things which really are better than other platforms.

I've joked recently about the profession needing an equivalent of NICE for assessing the cost-benefit equation of, well, everything, objectively.

And as I was walking in the hills this morning, I thought perhaps that's it. VICE. We could just have regular discussions about any aspect of clinical care or equipment, analyse the cost-benefit equation, and then summarise. Possibly then drop the summary into a new knowledge base, but we can get to that later.

Whaddyathink?

Anyone up for giving this a trial run? I'm minded to start with something dental, or something orthopody. Maybe dental radiography, the discussion started the other day would be a good starting point.

I am thinking it could run as follows: Topic opens with a summary of available evidence today. Follow by discussion introducing any other evidence. Challenging existing evidence. Getting some data on cost. Then finally concluding with some kind of rating, based on the cost/benefit analysis. Or perhaps better than a star rating system, a standardised cost per annum figure. I'm thinking: cost of procedure amortised over extended lifespan (or cost of procedure over extended qol).

Where are we on oclacitinib in cats?

Sara Ramsey — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 23:06:37 GMT

I had been advised from a dermatologist that it's not recommended due to risk of adverse effects. This was in the last year.

Looking quickly, there does seem to be some evidence that 1mg/kg SID for 28 days is tolerated well.

AKI if over dose (they like the pork flavour tablets unfortunately)

Risk of infections/toxoplasma would worry me too..especially outdoor cats.

Should dental radiography be mandatory?

David Mills — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 20:15:19 GMT

I had a lovely debate on an ethics panel at the BVDA Congress yesterday (thanks Rob Davis) where the last discussion point was that dental radiography should be mandatory for practices carrying out dental procedures. I believe there are some moves to make this a RCVS requirement.

What do people think?

This article summarises it better than the above

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/.../

My take is that you need an incontrovertible reason (i.e. to as to be sure) to make anything mandatory. Equally, I can see the benefits of dental rads. But are the benefits so overwhelming and the risks so severe to justify the position?

Tooth resorption , extract in this case?

Stigen — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 09:33:51 GMT

So did a dental on a 13 year old domestic shorthair male cat. There was only one molar left (208) , all the premolars and molars has been extracted,or resorbed and there is no innflammation along the gum line. the 208 has neck lesion bleeding, partial root resorbtion and inflamed gingiva. So this one and the fractured incisors where extracted today.
But all 4 canines show signs of root resorption , but no macroscopic signs - no pain on probing/palpation, no gingivitis , no neck lesions, and no pockets. I did not extract/crown amputate these today...but does it need to be done at this point seeing that the cat is clinically fine, and no real macroscopic lesions or pain signs? I attended a dental lecture where the lecturer said that he had extracted some canines where the x-rays showed very diffuse/resorbed roots, but when extracting the roots seemed almost normal.
I`m inclined to just ask the owner to montior those teeth and have it back for a controll after 3-5 months ..... opions ?

Is it hard for practitioners to access good information?

Jim Connah — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 22:21:37 GMT

Dear All,

I have just finished creating a new EBVM website (www.ebvminpractice.org). It is a free resource for veterinarians and consists of a collection of all the free access veterinary consensus statements, clinical guidelines and knowledge summaries that I can find on the net. It is organised by body system and subdiscipline. I plan to regularly update it as new articles become available, as well as expand the species and language cover.

I would love for people to use it to quickly locate information on specific questions. My suggestion is to have it as a bookmark on your practice computers, so that if you need to find the ACVIM Consensus statement on MMVD for example, it is only a couple of clicks away. Everything is linked to the full text articles and they are also downloadable (if available).

I hope that the website will be especially useful for more recent graduates and that it will complement other web resources such as VIN (and VetSurgeon.org!).

There is no financial incentive or anything else in it for me. It started out as a very large file at work where I could find the information I needed quickly, and went from there. I am not asking for endorsement of the site.

Any feedback or suggestions would be most welcome. I would be very grateful if you could share the QR code so that as many veterinarians as possible can access it.

Kind regards and thank you,

Jim

Jim Connah BVSc MVetSci MANZCVS (Small Animal Medicine)

Farm Vet Services and Tasmanian Veterinary Hospitals,

11 Leslie Rd, Kingston TAS 7050 AUSTRALIA

EBVM in Practice

Low flow anaesthesia. Is it worth it?

Arlo Guthrie — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 09:58:22 GMT

I have a plan. Once a week, I'm going to try and post a question which challenges the prevailing veterinary orthodoxy. Not to criticise or judge, just to raise the question.

This week’s question was prompted by IVC Evidensia’s £500,000 investment into low-flow anaesthesia:

https://www.vetsurgeon.org/b/veterinary-news/posts/ivc-evidensia-invests-500-000-to-support-adoption-of-more-sustainable-low-flow-anaesthesia

The announcement very much led on sustainability. I dug a little deeper and discovered that UK veterinary anaesthesia emissions are estimated at under 100,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year. A single medium-sized coal-fired power station emits several million tonnes annually. One plant. Millions.

Even allowing for hundreds of such plants globally, veterinary anaesthesia is — in planetary terms — a very small contributor.

Which brings me to the question: is low-flow worth it?

People talk about smoother recoveries, reduced hypothermia, better airway humidity, lower volatile use. But is there hard data showing meaningful patient benefit? I can’t see evidence of improved survival rates, and mortality under modern anaesthesia is already low.

So the practical questions are:

How much more does low-flow cost once you factor in monitoring, consumables and training?

Does it actually shorten recovery in a way that changes discharge timing or cost to the owner?

Is there a clear per-case cost-benefit analysis?

I’m not taking a position. I’m simply asking whether the numbers stack up — clinically and economically — not just environmentally.