Surgery & Anesthesia
Our Skilled Surgical Procedures
From minor to major surgeries, Snowden Animal Hospital offers experienced surgical care in our modern, updated, and sterile surgical environment. Our skilled veterinarian conducts every surgery with the utmost care and eye to detail to ensure that your pet’s experience goes as smooth as possible.
In order to make your pet’s surgery as safe as possible, we offer sedation and anesthetic in a controlled and precise environment. We tailor your pet's anesthesia to them specifically, paying attention to many different variables such as their heart rate, breathing rate, temperature and much more to ensure they are getting exactly what they need.
There is a wide variety of issues we can treat, including some such as:
- Spays and neuters
- Abscess repairs
- Removal of tumors
- Lumpectomies
- Wound/laceration repairs
- Orthopedic surgeries (TPLO, MPL surgery, fracture repair, etc. – performed by mobile orthopedic surgeon)
- Oral and dental surgeries
- Eye and Ear surgeries
- Bladder stone removals
- Pyometra surgeries and Cesarian sections
- Foreign body removals
- Urinary blockage repair
Anesthesia: The anesthetics used during surgery are selected depending upon breed, size and preexisting conditions of the pet and help to minimize the risk of surgery complications while still maintaining maximum pain control. Regular monitoring helps to make sure your pet is safe at all times. An IV-line is placed as a standard of safety, providing fluids and a quick administering site for medications. IV fluids also help to speed up the recovery process following a major surgery.
Pre-Surgical Instructions for Your Pets
Surgery and Sedation: The night before surgery, please do not give your pet any food or water after 9pm including no breakfast the day of the procedure. , or otherwise directed by the Veterinarian. This is important before going under anesthesia. When you drop off your pet in the morning, we will require you to fill out a consent form. On this form, we will indicate which procedure will be performed as well as provide you with options that are typically done while your pet is under anesthetic. These options include a nail trim, ear cleaning, microchipping, anal gland expression, etc. We will require 2 phone numbers where we can reach you during the day, the second phone number being for emergency purposes when we are unable to reach you. This number is not only to give you updates on how your pet is doing, but also in case we have any questions for you, or run into anything unexpected during surgery. Procedures are typically performed between 10am-2pm depending on the day's schedule. You are welcome to call and check in on your pet, but please allow us plenty of time for the procedure to be done. We will give you an update after your pet has awakened completely from anesthesia and is in recovery so that we can give you our best estimate for pick up time.
When you come to pick up your pet, please remember that they may still be in a groggy state. Generally by the later evening they are back to “normal”, but take it easy with them and let them rest. Only give about half of their normal amount of food for dinner, and very little water (they may be a bit nauseous).
If they are going home with medications, the assistant and/or the doctor will go over their dosage and timing with you. Please follow these instructions carefully. Give all antibiotics for the full course. If you notice any vomiting after medicating your pet, stop giving the medication immediately and call us for instructions. Of course, if you have any questions at any time, don’t hesitate to call or drop by either!
If your pet is going home with a buster (Elizabethan) collar – generally after any procedure involving sutures – they will likely find this awkward at first. It is important that they keep it on until they have achieved adequate healing. An assistant and/or the doctor will go over the timeline of the collar with you, and at the 1 week re-check we can reassess your pet’s progress.