Bulldogs World

I know Dr Ball is recommended by the Bulldog Club of Canada and he's about an hour away, actually the ones on this list are about the same distance. I am probably the worst client a vet could have because I question everything...lol. I definitely will be interviewing vets..lol.

Who decides which vets get on this list of bully vets? and how do they determine they are good bully vets? I think I am starting to drive my husband crazy with all my vet craziness!!!

That really sucks, seems they can do whatever they want. I just received an email from the owner of the clinic, I had asked him about the Phenobarb use and if he would use it for his French Bulldog and his response "was It works very well as a sedative and relaxant.  We use it in combination for sedation when we need sedation without using other sedatives that may be hard on the heart.  So to answer your question, I would use it on my frenchie if I needed to.  It is not used all of the time though as a premedication before surgery." Really?? Then why use it on my mine?? I am waiting for my niece to send my a copy of her bill for her Shitzu's neuter, which was performed by the same vet and is a brachycephalic breed. Should be the same drug wise right? Just venting...thanks for listening

So 2 wks later she has emailed me back and this is her response

I know we already discussed that I will routinely use phenobarbital as pre-medication for many of my routine procedures (neuters, mass removals, etc).  It is a technique I learned during an anesthesia course taught by a board certified anesthesiologist (Dr Nancy Brock) - not every veterinarian will use the same anesthetic protocols all the time, we will fit them to each patient.  The choice of medication depends on many things (pain associated with the procedure, length of time under anesthesia, medical conditions, etc). This is a protocol I have found myself using more and more as I find the results very reliable and safe.  Duke's blood work was normal and other than being brachycephalic I felt he was healthy. It's hard to say if a different protocol would have changed Duke's recovery but I am doubtful. I feel the relaxation in his neck and airway muscles caused him to have some issues with respiration after the anesthesia but this is a risk with any sedation in the brachycephalic breeds. Because he was an older intact male his face was especially muscular and I think this also contributed to his respiratory noise when waking up, along with his elongated soft palate and closed nostrils.It was miscommunication on my technicians' part to say the phenobarbital was used because Duke had seizures - I had not seen any notes in his file regarding this and that was not my intention (to prevent seizures) when using this medication. As an aside for its use with sedation, I have also sent home oral Phenobarbital for traveling pets (as it does not affect their hearts adversely when flying) as well as for anxious and hyper pets to allow them to come into the clinic for their exams. She claims she was away for 2 wks and thats why she didn't respond (no out of office reply?) Could it maybe she was consulting someone on this matter or just realized that I transferred the kids to their competition? So had anybody heard of this before, with the Pheno? Still dont believe her and getting angrier by the second. Thanks for letting me vent!! :-)