What You Need to Know Before Your Pet's Upcoming Surgery

Many people have questions about various aspects of their pet's surgery, and we hope this information will help.  It also explains the decisions you will need to make before your pet's upcoming surgery.

Is the anesthetic safe?

Today's modern anesthetic monitors have made surgery much safer than in the past.  Here at Sunnyside Pet Healthcare Center, we do a thorough physical exam on your pet before administering anesthetics, to ensure that a fever or other illness won't be a problem.  We also adjust the amount and type of anesthetic used depending on the health of your pet.  The handout on anesthesia explains this in greater detail.

preanesthetic blood testing is important in reducing the risk of anesthesia.  Every pet needs blood testing before surgery to ensure that the liver and kidneys can handle the anesthetic.  Even apparently healthy animals can have serious organ system problems that cannot be detected without blood testing.  If there is a problem, it is much better to find it before it causes anesthetic or surgical complications.  Animals that have minor dysfunction will handle the anesthetic better if they receive IV fluids during surgery.  If serious problems are detected, surgery can be postponed until the problem is corrected.

The Sunnyside Animal Clinic has established a preventative "Wellness Program" that focuses on the "Life Stages" your pet will progress through:  Juvenile, Adult, Senior and Geriatric.  Our goal is to provide you with the knowledge and tools necessary to ensure that your pet has the longest and healthiest life possible.  The program emphasizes prevention and the early detection of disease whenever possible. We use these same guidelines in our pre surgical testing. With your consent, we can lower the risks in veterinary surgery. Your pet deserves the very best care.

    First, there are different types of "Wellness Testing", determined by your pet's "Life Stages". For pets less than one-year age, we recommend a mini-screen and pcv/TS test. The latter test detects the level of hydration, and red blood cell level. The i-STAT the world's first hand-held automated blood analyzer is capable of performing a panel of commonly ordered blood tests on 2-3 drops of blood in just two minutes at the patient's side.. These are simple blood test, which can be analyzed in-house, and results will be available within minutes. These tests are important because they can help us detect early onset of certain diseases, as well as establish a normal baseline for your pet's blood values in the future.

    The second type of Wellness Testing is for our adult and older pets. This type of testing is more extensive. A larger blood panel or General Health Profile is run in conjunction with a complete blood count, bleeding time, urinalysis, and electrolyte level (plus or minus Chest X-Rays and ECG's). These tests can help detect many of the problems caused by aging (kidney, liver, heart, arthritis, dental, etc.) Early detection can lengthen your pet's life, and treatment can improve your pet's quality of life

It is important that surgery be done on an empty stomach to reduce the risk of vomiting during and after anesthesia.  You will need to withhold food for at least 8 to 10 hours before surgery.  Water can be left down for the pet until the morning of surgery.

Will my pet have stitches?

For many surgeries, we use absorbable sutures underneath the skin.  These will dissolve on their own, and do not need to be removed later.  Some surgeries, especially tumor removals, do require skin stitches.  With either type of suture, you will need to keep an eye on the incision for swelling or discharge.  Most dogs and cats do not lick excessively or chew at the incision, but this is an occasional problem you will also need to watch for.  If there are skin sutures, these will usually be removed 10 to 14 days after surgery.  You will also need to limit your pet's activity level for a time and no baths are allowed for the first 10 days after surgery.

Will my pet be in pain?

Anything that causes pain in people can be expected to cause pain in animals.  Pets may not show the same symptoms of pain as people do; they usually don't whine or cry, but you can be sure they feel it.  Pain medications needed will depend on the surgery performed.  Major procedures require more pain relief than things like minor lacerations.

What if you were being neutered?  

Wouldn't you want pain medication?

Pain is not an option!

The Sunnyside Animal Clinic has established a preventative Wellness Program so that each patient receives a custom care plan that takes into account his health status and specific treatment needs. The result is a reduction in any pain or discomfort experienced by your pet.

We are dedicated to reducing or eliminating pain, whether that pain be from arthritis, surgery, cancer, injury, anxiety, or depression.

Multimodal analgesia

Advanced multimodal pain control involves the use of different classes of analgesics and different sites of analgesic administration to provide superior dynamic pain relief with reduced analgesic-related side effects.  Analgesics coupled with sedative/tranquilizers provide a more comfortable patient experience

Drug selection are specific each surgery but can include: Drug injections(Morphine, buprenorphine, Metacam ), Constant rate infusions, local anesthetic applications or a combination of the above.

The pain pathway is a tinderbox. Once in flames, it is difficult to put out. Intervening before the pain system becomes sensitized is an absolute necessity when your goal is optimal patient benefit.

Our goal is eliminate pain

 The cost will depend on the size of the dog.  Injectable pain medications may also be used after surgery on both dogs and cats.  Providing whatever pain relief is appropriate is a humane and caring thing to do for your pet.

What other decisions do I need to make?

While your pet is under anesthesia, it is the ideal time to perform other minor procedures, such as dentistry, ear cleaning, or implanting an identification microchip.  If you would like an estimate for these extra services, please call ahead of time.  This is especially important if the person dropping the pet off for surgery is not the primary decision maker for the pet's care.

When you bring your pet in for surgery, we will need to 10 to 15 minutes of time to fill out paperwork and make decisions on the blood testing and other options available.  When you pick up your pet after surgery you can also plan to spend about 10 to 15 minutes to go over your pet's home care needs.

We will call you the night before your scheduled surgery appointment, to confirm the time you will be dropping your pet off and to answer any questions you might have.  In the meantime, please don't hesitate to call us with any questions about your pet's health or surgery.