We believe surgical procedures performed on your pet are as serious as those performed on humans. Any time a pet is administered anesthesia and undergoes surgery, our staff abides by strict protocols to ensure that stress and discomfort are minimized and your pet’s safety is assured before, during and after the procedure. The following are brief yet through descriptions of our surgical protocols and how they benefit your pet.

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Exam: We require each pet to have a pre-op exam prior to the surgery. The doctor needs to access your pets’ health and ensure that your pet can undergo the procedures. At this time we need your pets’ vaccine history, ALL pets having a procedure done must be current with his/her vaccines. For dogs this means the DHPP, Bordetella and Rabies vaccines must be current. For cats, they must have the FVRCP and Rabies vaccines.

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Pre-Anesthetic Blood Panel: We require mandatory blood tests for all our surgical patients prior to general anesthesia administration. Our in-house laboratory can provide us with blood panel results before surgery begins and allows our staff ample time to notify pet owners of any blood abnormalities before anesthesia and surgery is performed. These pre-anesthetic panels can provide vital information about a pet’s liver, kidney, blood sugar levels, red blood cell count and platelets. These results allow our staff to tailor your pet’s pain management treatment and anesthetics accordingly.

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IV Catheter and Fluids: All surgical patients receive an intravenous catheter to enable our doctor and staff to administer medications more comfortably and allow easy access to a vein should an emergency arise during surgery. Every patient receives IV fluids during surgical procedures to maintain blood pressure and proper blood flow through the kidneys, as well as to replenish normal fluid loss during anesthesia.

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Anesthesia: Based on the individual needs of each patient, our doctor chooses from a number of sedatives, local and/or general anesthetics and pain management medications to make certain that the surgery is performed safely and the patient remains comfortable during and after the procedure.

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Surgical Monitoring: All patients under anesthesia are monitored with an ECG, blood pressure, pulse oximeter (measures oxygen saturation in the blood) and respiratory monitor. All surgeries are performed on a heated surgery table and after the procedure our staff ensures that your pet remains warm and comfortable in our recovery area. Throughout the entire surgical process, a surgical assistant monitors and records the patient’s vital signs and remains with your pet until fully recovered.

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Pain Management: Proper pain management involves not only anesthesia, but also a variety of additional medications given to relieve the pain associated with surgery. Based on your pet’s individual profile, our doctor chooses the safest and most effective pain medications to ensure pain and discomfort are minimized during and after surgery.

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