Surgery

A nurse monitors your pet under anaesthesia under the direct supervision of the operating vet.  We have a number of monitors that are connected up to your pet while under anaesthesia, which help us to detect any changes in your pet.  Your pet is NEVER left alone while under general anaesthesia, there is ALWAYS at least one person present at ALL times.

Analgesia (pain relief) is initially provided within the premedication, as described above.  Additional analgesia is sometimes administered during the procedure (eg local nerve blocks during dental procedures), and always administered after the procedure as a long acting pain relief injection (lasts for 24 hours).  These different modes of analgesia allow your pet to have the most comfortable procedure as possible.  Depending on the procedure, pain relief may be continued at home in the form of tablets or a liquid.  This is generally the case for particularly painful procedures, or those with a lot of inflammation and swelling at the site of the surgery (eg an abscess).

Surgery

We perform many surgical procedures in house here.  Some examples are briefly described below:

Desexing

Spey (females) and castrate (males):  This is the removal of the ovaries and uterus (spey), or removal of the testicles (castrate).  These are the most common procedures we perform here.  This is a day surgery. 

Dental scale and polish

This is routine cleaning of the teeth, without any surgery (extractions or restorations) being performed.  All dental procedures are performed under general anaesthesia.  This is also a day surgery.   

Elective procedures

This can involve anything from eye surgeries (eg entropion), upper airway surgery and orthopaedic surgeries.  These procedures involve an initial consultation and discussion about the procedure.  An estimation of cost can be provided at this consultation.  The length of hospital stay will be dependent on the procedure performed.

Emergency procedures

Emergency procedures are just that – emergencies.  These are often related to trauma (eg being hit by cars and dog fights), or other causes, eg infection, internal bleeding, twisting gut and many more.  These cases often involve a lot of medical and surgical care. 

You need to have a clear understanding of any medications that are required, as well as any special diet or exercise (or restriction of exercise!) requirements.

If there are any problems relating to an anaesthetic or surgery, it is so important that you contact us immediately.

Anaesthetic Risk 

There is a risk with EVERY anaesthetic and surgical procedure.  This risk is low in young and healthy animals, and is increased in older animals, sick animals, debilitated animals, or animals with chronic disease (eg heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, Cushings disease, etc.).  Every animal has a pre-anaesthetic examination performed prior to anaesthetic, where we assess the individual patient’s anaesthetic risk, and we often identify some of these problems.  

We will often recommend pre-anaesthetic blood tests and other diagnostic tests which can further identify potential problems and risk factors prior to the anaesthetic.  These tests are usually only recommended in the higher risk patients (older or sick).

Despite the higher risk of anaesthetic complications in some of these patients, we rarely have catastrophic complications.  We select drugs and dosages that are very safe for patients, and we continuously monitor the patient throughout the entire anaesthetic, so that any problems are identified immediately.  Most of the time, the benefit of a particular procedure (eg a dental procedure to remove rotten and painful teeth in an old dog) far outweighs the risk of the anaesthetic.

If you have any questions regarding a surgical or anaesthetic procedures, please do not hesitate to contact the clinic on 02 6884 9900.

Pre-Surgery Information

If your pet has been booked in for surgery, the following are very important:

FAST your pet (unless your pet is a rabbit or you have been asked NOT TO FAST)

·         Give a normal dinner the evening before surgery.

·         Take away ALL food sources when you go to bed.  They CAN have water the morning of the surgery.

Fasting is important because the drugs used to put the dog under general anaesthesia relax the muscles of the stomach and can cause them to vomit.  The risk with this is they may breathe some of the material into their lungs and cause an infection.

Take your pet out for a TOILET WALK the morning of the surgery

This lets your pet be more comfortable in the kennels before and after surgery, and helps to keep the kennels clean!

If your pet is dirty, ideally if you could give them a BATH, the day before (not on the day) of surgery. This helps keep our surgery room clean and sterile.

Drop your pet off between 7.30am-8.00am at the clinic (Unless another time has been arranged)

·         Consent forms to be singed at reception

·         Earlier drop off times can be arranged prior if necessary.

A Nurse or Vet will call you to let you know how the procedure went and what time you can pick up, usually between 4-5.30pm

·         Instructions for surgery after-care will be provided when your pet is discharged.

Desexing

If your female pet is coming in for desexing and you think they may of come on heat or pregnant, please contact the clinic at your earliest convenience. We do postpone these, or if necessary to be done there will be an increased cost due to the prolonged surgery and extra precautions we take.

There will also be an increased cost for OBESE female desexing’s based on their condition score. Again there is added time, risks, and extra pair of hands needed for these.