Upon arrival to VSC the morning of your pet’s surgery, we will confirm all necessary forms are completed and signed. Then your pet will be admitted for their procedure. Your pet will be prepped for their procedure. After surgery, and once your pet is recovered from anesthesia, a member of our staff will call to give you a quick update. Then Dr. Rose will call to update you with a more detailed account of the surgery and the findings. If you have not heard from us, and would feel more comfortable checking in, please feel free to give us a call anytime. We will give you the most up-to-date information on the status of your pet.
The surgery schedule is determined the morning of surgery, and it is dependent upon many factors such as the complexity of each procedure, the patient’s estimated recovery time, special equipment required, etc. Changes in the surgery schedule may happen from time to time.
Similar to a human surgery facility, there is a great deal of preparation required before each procedure to ensure a smooth and safe surgery schedule. Allowing enough time for our patients to adjust to the hospital environment can often times help reduce their anxiety.
Each procedure requires preparation time, set-up of the operating room and instruments, procedure time, and recovery. We are able to provide rough estimates for most cases, however, there a multitude of reasons why a procedure or anesthesia duration may be longer than initially provided. Specifics about your pet and their surgery will be discussed with you before any procedure is performed.
Every anesthetized patient at VSC is monitored with a barrage of equipment. ECG, blood pressure, exhaled carbon dioxide, hemoglobin oxygen saturation, body temperature, pain/unconsciousness are all standard measurements at VSC. Every patient has a dedicated nurse stationed with them to adjust the anesthesia accordingly.
At VSC, we strongly believe in multi-modal pain control. We will address your pet’s surgery pain before they even experience any. We routinely use local anesthetics, regional anesthetics (such as epidurals), anti-inflammatory medications, and injectable opiate medications, as well as cryotherapy following surgery.
Much research has been done on the causes and sources of pain. There are a variety of medications that treat pain through different methods of action. Treatment of pain through different receptors and pathways is called multimodal analgesia (pain control).
Most of the necessary x-rays are taken prior to anesthesia to reduce the time that they are under general anesthesia. Following surgery, we will take additional radiographs to confirm accurate placement of any metal implants from the surgery.