When your pet is discharged from the hospital you will receive printed instructions about the recovery process and any necessary follow up appointments. Typically, an appointment for the removal of any skin sutures is the first appointment at 10-14 days after the procedure. The cost of this appointment is covered by the surgery fee.
Yes, the initial appointment after surgery to remove a bandage or to remove sutures is covered by the surgery fee. Follow up appointments after that are not included in the original surgery cost unless otherwise stated in the initial consent forms.
Each procedure requires a different follow up schedule. VSC will give you detailed recovery instructions so you will know what to expect for your pet following surgery. For example, an orthopedic procedure would typically require you to see the nurse for the four week follow up, and then the doctor for the final eight week follow up when x-rays are taken. For a soft tissue surgery, your pet may only need to come back for suture removal.
In many surgeries radiographs (x-rays) or other diagnostic tests (e.g. blood work) may be needed to evaluate the healing of progress of the recovery or the disease. Your discharge instructions will outline these diagnostics tests and when they are recommended. We make every attempt to schedule these tests when they are convenient for your schedule.