Anesthesia

Most surgical procedures require general anesthesia.  We take anesthesia safety very seriously.  Anesthetic plans are tailored to each individual using only safe, modern anesthetics.  Pre-anesthetic lab work is done, patients are placed on IV fluids, every patient is on monitoring equipment and is watched carefully, and warming devices are used to maintain body temperature.

Common Procedures

Soft Tissue Surgery

Spays and neuters, abdominal, thoracic and orthopedic surgery; a complete range of services available. Contact us for details.

Please tap HERE for more information on Spaying and neutering your pet.

  • Spays and neuters
  • Tumor removal - internal and external
  • Laceration repair
  • Bladderstone surgery
  • Caesarian section
  • Stomach and intestinal foreign bodies
  • Many others

Orthopedic Surgery

We stay up to date on current techniques and are well-equipped to handle fractures, luxating patellas, ruptured cruciate ligaments and many other bone and joint problems.

A common disease in dogs that often times requires orthopedic surgery is Cranial Cruciate Ligament Disease. This disease is characterized by the failure of the cranial cruciate ligament resulting in instability in the stifle joint. A dog will often restrict it’s affected legs to a partial bent position when standing. The severity varies depending upon a number of factors; however, all dogs are susceptible with larger breeds and obese canines at increased risk. In order to diagnose, your veterinarian will perform a number of tests to assess the severity of the disease and to determine what method of treatment is best and whether or not surgery may be required.

Other Types of Surgery

Please speak with your veterinarian about additional surgeries for your pet.

Anesthesia

Only safe, modern anesthetics are used, and every patient is on monitoring equipment and is watched closely.

Cats

"Fix at Six" is the rule.

Males can be neutered and females spayed at 6 months of age.

Small breed dogs (under 45lbs estimated adult weight)

  • Female – spay at 7 months
  • Male – castration at 9 months

Large and medium-breed dogs (45+lbs) – doctors will discuss the timing of the surgery.

There are some benefits to waiting until a year of age in larger breed dogs:

  • Conformational differences (in dogs refers solely to the externally visible details of a dog’s structure and appearance, as defined in detail by each dog breed‘s written breed standard.)
  • Less joint problems
  • Golden Retriever FEMALE only – reduced incidence of cancer (except breast)

We do recommend some kind of pain medication with most surgeries. Studies have shown that pets given pain medication post operatively heal faster, eat sooner, have fewer infections, and are much less stressed than pets that don’t receive pain medication. Frequently they only need the pain medication given while here in the hospital. Sometimes they need medication at home too. If you are concerned that your pet may be in pain, the doctor will make a recommendation for pain control for your pet.

Just as your doctor would have you get a blood test before undergoing anesthesia, we do the same for pets. This simple blood test allows us to evaluate your pet’s basic physiologic condition and will let us know if we need to take extra precautions with your pet. If test results are within normal ranges, we can proceed with confidence, knowing anesthetic risk is minimized. But if results are not within normal ranges, we can alter the anesthetic procedure, or take precautions to reduce the risk of potential complications. It may indicated that we should avoid a procedure altogether until a discovered problem can be corrected.

An intravenous catheter is a device that allows for the rapid delivery of fluids and medications directly into the bloodstream. Although anesthetic emergencies are rare, when they occur an open line into the bloodstream can save precious minutes in the delivery of life-saving drugs. The catheter also allows for the delivery of fluids during the surgical procedure.

The administration of intravenous fluids into the bloodstream helps maintain blood pressure and preserves health and function of vital organs such as the kidney and liver. It also keeps the patient hydrated when they haven’t been drinking for a while.

We will monitor your pet’s heart rate, respiratory rate, and the level of oxygen in your pet’s blood during anesthesia to watch for any early warning signs of problems, so we can correct them before it becomes a problem.

We recommend that your pet does not eat after midnight the night before they are admitted for surgery, dentistry, or any other anesthetic procedure. They may have access to water until they are admitted to the hospital.

Diabetics should be given ½ of their normal insulin dose on the morning of surgery. If your pet is taking antibiotics, pain medications or other daily drugs, go ahead and give them, and bring the medications with them so we can administer it while they are here in the hospital. Do not give any drugs that can prolong bleeding such as aspirin.