Pre Operative

Anesthesia – Safety

Anesthesia is very serious, and we take every precaution to ensure the pet’s safety. Any pet undergoing anesthesia gets a minimum of a physical exam and pre-anesthetic blood work within a month before the scheduled procedure. Other tests to help evaluate your pet may be recommended or even required.

Pre-Anesthetic Tests

Physical Exam

Everything always starts with a physical exam from head to toe and listening to assess the heart and lungs.

Bloodwork

Just as your doctor requires pre-anesthetic blood work before undergoing any anesthetic or surgical procedure, so do our veterinarians. Your pet can’t talk and can sometimes not show any signs that something is wrong. Preoperative testing is the best way to ensure your pet’s health. We check many parameters that evaluate vital organs that help to process anesthesia such as the liver and kidneys.

EKG

An electrocardiogram can be performed to evaluate the heart specifically the beats and rhythm.

Imaging

Sometimes it may be required to perform some sort of imaging such as x-rays, ultrasoung or echocardiogram prior to undergoing an anesthetic procedure. It helps to evaluate the integrity of the heart and lungs but depending on the case, we may be looking for abnormalities in the abdomen as well.

Post Operative

During their procedure, every pet gets an intravenous catheter to administer fluids, adequate pain control, sedation, and induction medication. We use up to date monitoring equipment during the anesthetic procedure,  and additional pain medication when the procedure is complete to ensure your pet wakes up comfortably and at ease. When your pet is ready to go home, a technician will go over all postoperative instructions for continued care at home.

We do everything we can before, during and after any procedure to make sure your pet is safe, healthy and pain free. Call us if you have any questions regarding any recommendations. We are here to help.