We brought our 8-month-old male GSD to get neutered. The vet stated they couldn't complete the surgery due to premature vantricular contractions. Your thoughts?

Hello Cindy!

My husband and I had quite the scare this week and would like to know if you have heard of this situation before.

We brought our 8 month old male GSD to get neutered - We got a call at 1pm from the vet stating they could not complete the surgery as he went into premature ventricular contractions within 5 minutes of being under. They kept him on the EKG all day and he had 3 or 4 episodes of arrhythmias during this time.

He is in great health and comes from a long line of healthy dogs. I called the breeder and she stated none of her dogs have this congenital defect and she has done many genetic studies as she is breeding panda shepherds. We are worried as the vet stated our dog may just drop dead one day due to this or may need a pacemaker.

My question is: Is it possible that this PVC was due to the anesthesia and the acepromazine given to him. He also had his flea and tick tx given 2 days prior to surgery. For such a healthy pup and so well behaved we would hate to lose him - also are there alternatives to the conventional surgical neuter

Yael