Surgery is a big event in your pets’ life and we understand that it can be somewhat stressful. We would like to do everything possible to help alleviate that stress for you and your pet and let you know what you can expect for their big day.

For starters, we recommend that all dogs and cats that are not used for breeding should be spayed (female) or neutered (male). There are numerous benefits, including population control, reducing behaviour problems such as running away, urinating in the house, jumping on people, aggression, as well as many health benefits, such as reduction of reproductive disorders, cancers of the prostate or mammary glands and prevention of trauma associated with wandering to look for a mate.

The night before surgery your pet should be fasted, meaning they can have dinner, but no food after 9 pm (that means no breakfast!), water is OK up until admission. Admissions for surgery take place between 8:30 am and 9 am at which time we can go over any questions or concerns you may have and book a pick up time for that afternoon. Almost all surgeries, with the exception of feline declaws (they stay 2 nights) will go home the same day. We are happy for you to call for an update on your pet any time during their stay. We also include complimentary toe nail trims and therapeutic laser treatment on all of our surgery patients. The therapeutic laser is used to reduce inflammation and improve healing times.

The morning of surgery, you can let us know if you are interested in two of our optional procedures. The first one is pre anesthetic bloodwork. This is bloodwork that will look at basic organ function and a complete blood cell count, which gives us more in depth information that your pet is healthy and their organ function is optimal to filter the anesthetic drugs we use. It will also give us a baseline of normal values for your individual pet, for use in the future if they are ever sick. The second option is a microchip. A microchip is a tracking device that is about the size of a grain of rice. If your pet gets lost and is picked up by animal control, taken to a veterinary clinic or animal shelter, it can be scanned. Once scanned, an individual identification number appears and the microchip company is called, where your contact information is confidentially stored and then you will be contacted so that you and your pet can be reunited. The microchip can be implanted at any time, however, it is a slightly larger needle required for the insertion, and therefore the time of surgery is ideal- they will never know it is there!

One of our registered veterinary technicians will discharge your pet in the afternoon. You will receive a Discharge sheet with written instructions so everyone in the household gets all the necessary information, since we know that sometimes things can seem overwhelming and exciting when coming to pick up your loved one. We do our best to follow up with you on how you and your pet are doing the following day. Please note that if you have any concerns at all, we encourage you to call us so that we can address your concerns immediately.

Please note that we require that all surgical patients be up-to-date on vaccines and have been examined by one of our veterinarians prior to surgery day.

Please call our office with any questions or to book an appointment – 705-286-2919