Preparing for surgery
When your pet is admitted
Bandage care
Exploratory surgery
When your pet is admitted
Bandage care
Exploratory surgery
Preparing for surgery
- No food after 8:00 p.m. the night before surgery.
- Free-choice water should remain available at all times.
- Exercise your pet the morning of surgery before bringing to the clinic to encourage movements.
When your pet is admitted
- Be sure to tell the vet about anything concerning your pet that they should know before surgery.
- Ask any questions you might have.
- Consider additional simple procedures that are much cheaper to do when your pet is already anesthetized for other surgery. Such as: lump removals/dentals/ear cleaning or dewclaw removal. These procedures do not greatly increase surgical time or cost.
Bandage care
At home bandage care is important for your pet's recovery.
Helpful tips:
- The bandage needs to be kept clean and dry. To do this you may need to tie a plastic bag around the foot of the bandage before walking your pet outside.
- Don't let your pet lick or chew at the bandage. If this occurs, your pet may need an E-collar or "lampshade."
- If the bandage slips or moves, it needs to be replaced as well.
- Monitor for swelling in the toes or above the bandage. If any of these occur, it is very important to have the bandage changed.
Exploratory surgery
Often when other diagnostic tests have brought no answers, an exploratory surgery is recommended. An exploratory surgery is where the doctor must surgically discover the cause of a problem. Usually biopsies are taken of various tissues in order to microscopically determine if there is a disease present.
View our facilities, including our surgery room.