Surgery
Admission times for surgeries and dentals are between 7:30am and 8:45am Monday through Wednesday.
Preparing your pet for surgery
1. Remember not to give any food or water after midnight the night before surgery. Your pet's swallowing reflex diminishes during and after anesthesia, so we want to minimize the risk of vomiting. Vomit that ends up in the lungs can cause complications and fasting your pet greatly reduces the risks. If you are currently administering any medications, withhold the morning doses unless otherwise instructed by the doctor.
2. Please make arrangements for your pet to be dropped off on the morning of the scheduled surgery between 7:30 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. We'll confirm your pet's discharge time when you check-in. At drop off, our team will be happy to answer any questions/concerns you may have.
3. As a part of our goal to provide you and your pet with the best possible veterinary care, we strongly recommend a pre-anesthesia blood profile before placing your pet under anesthesia. This profile alerts the doctor to the presence of dehydration, diabetes and/or kidney or liver disease. Our in-house laboratory is able to provide the doctor quick and accurate results the same day.
4. We highly recommend any pet not currently on heartworm prevention be tested prior to anesthesia. There is an increased risk for possible life threatening complications during anesthesia if your pet is heartworm positive.
5. We care about your pet's comfort and strongly believe pain relief is important. After a surgical procedure pain medication is given to your pet. For most surgical procedures we also recommend additional take home pain relief medication.
6. In order to protect our staff, all pets being admitted to the hospital for surgery must have a current rabies vaccination or be vaccinated no less than 2 weeks prior to surgery.
Surgical Release download
Pre-anesthetic Safety Screening: (These are recommended optional services)
A pre-surgical physical examination will be performed before anesthesia is administered. Some pets have pre-existing internal problems that may result in surgical complications, yet are not evident on physical examination. These problems include anemia, lack of clotting, and problems with the liver, kidney heart or other organs.
We recommend the following health and safety screening tests prior to surgery to decrease the chance of complications and exposure to disease while hospitalized. These tests are the same as those performed on people before any surgical procedure.
Pre-anesthetic blood & safety profile (includes complete blood count and checks liver and kidney function)
Pre-surgical coagulation test (helps to identify conditions that may result in excessive bleeding, this test is mandatory for Dobermans)
EKG (electrocardiograph screen for heart health)
Heartworm Testing (dogs) (we highly recommend any pet not currently on heartworm preventative be tested prior to surgery. There is an increased risk for possible life threatening complications during surgery if your pet is heartworm positive.)
Feline leukemia / feline aids test (cats) (we highly recommend any cat undergoing anesthesia be tested prior to anesthesia. There is an increased risk for possible life threatening complications during surgery if your cat is positive)
IV catheter placement (This will help maintain blood pressure and will ensure immediate IV access in the case of emergency. It may be necessary to shave a small area on your pet's front leg)
Post operative pain medication is recommended for both cats and dogs.
Bordatella Vaccine (dogs) (This vaccine helps to protect your pet from an upper respiratory infection commonly known as kennel cough. It is recommended that this vaccine be given 2 weeks prior to elective surgery)
Rabies Vaccine - This vaccine is required by state law and must be given 2 weeks prior to elective surgery)
If fleas are seen on your pet, it will be given a Capstar tablet to kill the fleas.
Microchip Identification: Very few lost pets find their way home without permanent identification. We can help your pet find their way home by implanting a microchip. The fee includes lifetime registration in 24PetWatch's national databank