Surgical Procedure: What to expect.- Part I

Your vet has recommended a surgical procedure for your pet, such as a spay, neuter, abdominal or mass removal surgery, and you don't know what to expect? . These are very common procedures. Here’s what you can expect at our hospital.. 
WEEKS LEADING UP TO SURGICAL PROCEDURE

• Booking: you will schedule your pet’s surgical procedure with our reception staff. To secure the procedure you will place a $200 deposit that can be refunded if you cancel your pet’s procedure at least three business days in advance. 
• Bloodwork: you will also book an appointment to have pre-anesthetic bloodwork done. This is to ensure that any pet going under anesthesia has properly functioning kidneys and liver, since these are the organs that metabolize anesthesia drugs. We also check blood for abnormal blood sugar, diabetes, hypoglycemia, anemia or evidence of infection to make sure your pet is healthy enough to undergo their surgical procedure. Generally, blood work should be done within a month or so of the procedure depending on the age and health of your pet. 
• Prescriptions: your veterinarian may prescribe Cerenia if your pet is at risk of becoming nauseous while under anesthesia. Cerenia is an anti-nausea medication that will greatly reduce the risk that your pet will vomit and aspirate (breathe the vomit into his or her lungs), which can lead to pneumonia. Be sure to pick up Cerenia and any other pre-procedure medications that your veterinarian prescribes. 
• Keep us posted: watch for any signs of illness, such as vomiting, diarrhea, incontinence or lethargy. We only want to move forward with the surgical procedure if your pet is in tip top health, so please reach out if you observe any health issues and we’ll align with you on a plan of action

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EVENING BEFORE AND MORNING OF PROCEDURE

• Eating and drinking: the night before your pet’s procedure you should stop feeding your pet at 6pm. If you need a very small amount of food to administer any medications the evening before or the morning of the procedure that’s ok. You can provide water both the evening before and the morning of your pet’s procedure – they will be better prepared for their procedure if they are hydrated. 

• Dropping off: unless otherwise aligned, drop off is at 8 a.m. One of our team members will confirm the surgical procedure. If there are masses to be removed, we may circle or shave the areas to make sure we are fully aligned on masses for removal. We will do this even if your pet was recently seen by a veterinarian - we want to triple check that while your pet is under anesthesia we are removing all desired masses. We will also ask about your pet’s last meal, any medications your pet has received in the last 48 hours and whether they’ve experienced any symptoms of illness in the previous 72 hours. 

Our team members will also ask whether you’d like us to move forward with CPR in the very unlikely event of an emergency. We always want to contact you before performing anything outside of the scope of the procedure we’d planned with you, but in the case of an emergency we want your permission in advance so we can begin CPR immediately. We would reach out as soon as possible to align on next steps.

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