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Help! My pet is having surgery!

August 14th, 2024|By: Dasha Perry, DVM

Did your veterinarian recommend an anesthetic procedure for your pet at your last visit? Does your pet need to have a lump removed? Or, perhaps your pet has dental disease and needs to have his or her teeth cleaned and possibly extracted.

Anesthesia – whether for people or for pets – can be a stressful experience. Knowing what to expect for your pet’s procedure can help reduce some of this anxiety.

Before Surgery

When your veterinarian recommends an anesthetic procedure, they will also recommend preoperative bloodwork. We check blood work before surgery to assess for changes to red and white blood cell counts and the health of internal organs, such as the liver, kidneys, and pancreas. When we evaluate labwork results, we weigh any changes seen on labwork against the risks for postponing an elective procedure or not performing it all together. In our conversation with you about the labwork results, we may recommend delaying a procedure to allow for treatment of an underlying abnormality and a recheck of labwork to see if our treatments have improved the labwork results.

We may refer patients with underlying conditions to a veterinary specialty hospital for an elective procedure to allow for increased monitoring and expertise in making sure the anesthetic procedure goes smoothly. At Union Vet, we also check a proBNP test on our cat patients. proBNP is an enzyme released by stretched heart muscle and can help uncover underlying heart disease that we might not hear readily with a stethoscope.  Occult heart disease in cats is much more common than in dogs, and this test helps ensure that the feline patients we put under anesthesia can handle the procedure.

Surgery Day

Your veterinarian will ask you to fast your pet before the upcoming procedure. This is to ensure that there is no food in the stomach, reducing the risk of vomiting and aspiration under anesthesia. We may also recommend that you give calming medications to your pet before bringing them in to help reduce anxiety while they wait for the procedure.

A surgical technician will review the aesthesia consent form with you at intake. We review what anesthetic procedures your pet is having that day and answer any questions you may have. We also verify any non-anesthetic procedures you are requesting. Once your pet comes to the surgical suite, the surgical technician will place an intravenous catheter and your surgical veterinarian will perform a pre-operative exam. At this time your pet may receive medications to help prevent postoperative nausea and decrease postoperative pain. When it is your pet’s turn for the procedure, medications are given to help sedate your pet and to control intraoperative pain. These “premedications” help decrease the need for increased inhalant anesthetic gas.

During Surgery

When your pet is under anesthesia, a team member is dedicated to monitoring anesthetic parameters such as blood pressure, respiratory rate, heart rate, temperature, and oxygenation. A surgical technician prepares your pet for soft tissue surgery or performs dental scaling, polishing, and radiographs. The surgical veterinarian supervises the entire dental procedure or performs the surgery. We strive to move quickly and efficiently through procedures, keeping patients under anesthesia for the shortest time possible, without compromising the thoroughness and care needed for a successful outcome.

When your pet’s procedure is finished, we recover them in a comfortable cage and make sure he is waking up appropriately (sitting up, looking around, etc.). We also check your pet’s temperature every 15 to 30 minutes until your pet’s temperature has normalized after anesthesia. We generally keep patients in the hospital for 2 to 3 hours after surgery to make sure they are recovering appropriately.

After Surgery

After surgery, we send patients home with an Elizabethan collar (e-collar) and a recommendation for a surgical suit or shirt. The e-collars we recommend are hard plastic ones because it is very difficult for patients to get around these and lick/chew at the incision site.

While donut-style e-collars and soft cones seem more comfortable, our pets are able to get around these types of collars, chew out stitches, causing complications and delayed healing. Surgical suits and shirts for soft tissue procedures, such as spays, neuters, and mass removals, add a second layer of protection. We recommend purchasing surgical suits online before your pet’s soft tissue procedure.

After Care at Home

When your pet gets home from surgery, he may still be under the effects of medications given at the hospital. Your pet may appear sleepy or groggy. Allow them to recover in a quiet, dim place, away from rambunctious playmates and any areas where he or she may trip and fall. Your veterinarian will instruct you when to give any medications you are sent home with – some you will start the evening of the procedure, others you will start the next day. We recommend feeding your pet half of what he eats for the evening meal as anesthesia can upset your pet’s stomach.

Disinterest in food, lack of defecation, or even urination in the first six to twelve hours following anesthesia is not usually concerning, but you should reach out to your veterinarian if you have questions or concerns – we are here to help.

Finally, it is also important to restrict your pet’s activity after a soft tissue procedure for a minimum of two weeks. We send patients home with pain medications and sedatives to help keep energy levels to a minimum while your pet heals. Exercise restriction post-op helps your pet’s body heal more quickly and decreases the risk of dehiscence (surgical site coming apart).

For dental procedures that have extractions performed, we recommend feeding softened kibble or wet/canned food only for two weeks while the mouth heals and the stitches inside the mouth dissolve. By following these guidelines, you can help ensure a smooth recovery and a quicker return to your pet’s normal, happy self.

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