It is highly probable that sometime during his or her lifetime your pet will need to undergo general anesthesia. Routine surgeries such as spays and neuters are done this way. Although small, there are always risks with general anesthesia. We have a series of criteria that we follow to ensure that your pet is as safe as possible.
- We will ask you a series of questions about your pet regarding previous health problems.
- We strictly make sure you do not allow your pet food the night prior to surgery.
- We do a full physical exam beforehand.
- We recommend diagnostic blood work, even in animals that appear to be healthy. The blood work can serve as a baseline to what is normal in that particular animal since there is a range of normals. We can then use that as a reference later if your pet does in fact become sick. It also comes at a reduced cost when undergoing anesthesia.
- We will use the appropriate drugs for any condition your pet may have.
- We place a tube in the trachea to administer the gas agents and to keep the airway open.
- We continually monitor vital signs while under anesthetic.
- We have a group of emergency drugs and trained staff always ready and waiting if the need arise. Fortunately, we seem to only make contact with these when we are dusting.