sedation question - larger dog

[donthasslethehoff]

First post on this board

We have an English bulldog who HATES going to the vet. Last time we were there for a well visit they couldn't take blood because it was impossible to keep him still for more than 10 seconds. They gave us a sedation pill (I can't remember the name right now. Begins with an "A") so that next time we had to bring him there he would hopefully be calm.

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. His eye was swollen shut so we brought him in. Anyone who is familiar with bulldogs knows that eye problems are common. We gave him the pill before we went with hope that he'd allow the vet to do the dye test. The pill did nothing. The vet sent us on our way with antibiotics and some pain medicine. We're able to get the medicine in his eye on our own. It's now 10 days later and we have to bring him back in because his eye is just as bad as it was.

We don't want him to undergo anesthesia, mainly because we know he's going to need eye surgery, so he'll have to get it again anyway. The vet said there was a drink they could give him that is basically the middle ground between the pill and anesthesia. Does anyone have any experience with this? Did it work for your dog? Any other advice on what we could do with would just about knock him out completely, but not anesthesia?

Thanks!

[InBetweenDays]

Was the sedative acepromazine? How long before the appointment did you give it to him? And how much did you give? We have that for our dogs because they are terrified of fireworks and thunder. To the point their teeth chatter and they go to the bathroom in the house. Our dogs are 65lbs and 75lbs. Our vet suggested to give 1-1.5 tablets (tablets are 25 mg) so we started with 1. It made it so they couldn't even stand up so now we give them 1/2 a tablet as needed. Takes almost an hour to kick in but it definitely calms them.

[momof2boys]

Is your dog trying to bite or just wiggly?  I work at a vets office and there are very few pets we've had to sedate to examine/treat etc.  And all of them were extreme caution dogs or feral cats.  There is no way we'd sedate a dog to check his eyes unless he was trying to bite our faces off and we couldn't get close to him.  Why can't they just take a tech or two, put him on his side and hold him still?  Maybe wrap him in a blanket, use something to distract him etc