Surgery Options at Wetaskiwin Animal Clinic
The following are optional but highly recommended services that may be performed before,
during or after your pet’s anaesthetic and surgery. These services help us better monitor and treat
your pet throughout his/her surgical experience. Please ask us about them.
Blood Work or Lab Tests
- Strongly suggested for pets that are ill, having lengthy procedures or are older than 6 years of age.
- Looks at function of internal organs most likely to be affected by anesthesia
- If abnormalities are found, we are able adjust protocol to make anesthesia as safe as possible
- These results will gives us a baseline for future reference
- These tests are run the morning of surgery and for some cats after the initial sedation to ensure a better clinic experience for them
Junior Pre-Anesthetic Panel uses 10 tests and a CBC to check the most important body functions. The liver and kidneys are the main organs affected by anesthesia and are needed to clear the drugs from the system.
Senior Pre-Anesthetic Panel uses 17 tests, a CBC and for cats a thyroid test to give us more detailed information about your pets overall body functions. These tests will be recommended for patients that are older or we suspect underlying disease problems.
Intravenous Catheter and Fluid Administration
- Strongly suggested for pets that are ill, having lengthy procedures or are older than 6 years of age. .
- Allows immediate access to the bloodstream if emergency medications are needed.
- Fluids help us make sure that patient stays hydrated. This means better overall health in post-op period and faster recoveries.
- Allows us to better regulate blood pressure and body temperature during surgery.
Pain Medication **All animals receive pain medication the day of surgery**
- Take-home pain medication. If our doctors feel it is necessary we will send your pet home with 3-4 days of oral pain medication. This additional pain medication and anti-inflammatory drugs helps your pet heal faster, feel more comfortable while healing, and be less likely to bother his/her incision. Most animals are quite sore after a spay or neuter even though they may not show it. If we do not send it home and you feel your pet is painful, please contact us.
Options not required specifically for surgery:
Identification: All of our spays and neuters get a complimentary spay/neuter tattoo in the left ear. Due to the possibility of tattoos fading and becoming illegible, we do recommend a microchip as well for all dogs and cats. We can implant a microchip the day of surgery.
Vaccines: Should be done before the stress of surgery but we can do vaccines on the day of surgery. Remember that if it is their first set of vaccines they will need a booster in 3-4 weeks.
Complimentary nail trims are usually done with all surgery procedures so there is less chance of them scratching out sutures or opening up incisions.
YES we have a special interest and expertise in Bulldogs or brachycephalic breeds because of their higher anesthetic risks…but we also do surgery on all other breeds
