General Anesthesia

As with any procedure requiring general anesthesia, certain risks may result in serious complications or even death. To minimize such risks, we highly recommend pre-anesthetic blood testing for ALL animals.

All patients receive narcotic pain meds prior to anesthesia. Additional post-surgical pain medication is recommended to help control the discomfort from surgery and aide in recovery.

Pre-anesthetic blood testing assesses liver and kidney function (responsible for metabolizing anesthetic drugs), red blood cells (check for anemia), white blood cells (check for infection) and platelets (affects clotting ability). This can be done on the day of the procedure. Anesthetic drugs and dosages are modified depending on the age, size, and breed of your pet, as well as any pre-existing disease conditions.

While anesthetized, your pet’s heart, breathing, blood oxygenation, blood pressure, body temperature, and depth of anesthesia is monitored at all times by a trained staff member. An IV catheter provides fluids throughout surgery to help maintain blood pressure and aide in recovery. We use state-of-the-art monitoring and anesthesia equipment to ensure that your pet’s anesthetic procedure is performed as safely as possible.

Recovery occurs in a heated ICU kennel, where your pet is closely monitored as he or she is waking up from anesthesia.