Scheduled surgeries are performed Monday through Friday at Queen City Animal Hospital. Surgeries are commonly recommended when your pet’s yearly examination reveals medical problems correctable by surgery and in other situations that may require immediate attention. Our team of doctors at QCAH are highly trained for many of the routine surgeries your pet may need. They include:
- Sterilization surgeries: Sterilizations are the most common procedures at Ebenezer Animal Hospital. These include neutering for males (castration) and spaying for females (an ovariohysterectomy).
- Stomach tacking: This is a protective surgery performed on large, deep-chested dogs (i.e. Great Danes) that lowers the incidence of stomach bloat. This is commonly performed at the time of a spay or neuter.
- Mass removal surgeries: These include cancerous masses (tumors of the skin or mouth), warts, and skin tags.
- Wound repair: Your pet may have injuries including lacerations, abscesses, or punctures. We are skilled in repairing all of these.
- Abdominal surgery: These include advanced procedures such as bladder stone removal, removal of a foreign object from the stomach or intestinal tract, organ removal (i.e. spleen, uterus), biopsy of internal organs (liver, spleen, intestine, etc.), and emergency reproductive surgeries (cesarean section).
- Eye surgery: Common procedures include eyelid mass removal, cherry eye correction (prolapse of the gland of the third eyelid), enucleation (removal of the eye), entropion surgery (removing excessive skin around the eye which causes the eyelids to roll inward), and removal of abnormal hair growth on the eyelid.
- Limb & Digit Surgery: These include procedures such as dewclaw (front or back) removal in dogs, and other digit or limb amputations for other reasons.
- Laser therapy: In some instances, we may recommend laser therapy before or after a surgery to promote blood flow, alleviate pain, reduce swelling, and speed healing.
Your pet is admitted in the morning after being fasted the night before (water is fine). We then run pre-anesthetic blood work, which checks white and red blood cells and internal organ chemistry values such as kidney, liver, total protein, and electrolytes to ensure that your pet is a good candidate for surgery.
Following the labwork we administer a light sedative to your pet to help them relax prior to the procedure.
For all patients, we place and intravenous catheter prior to anesthesia. IV catheters allow for fast administration of emergency medications if an anesthetic reaction occurs. Catheters also allow your pet to receive intravenous fluids during the procedure, which maintains adequate hydration, increases blood flow to vital internal organs, helps maintain body temperature, and generally results in a faster and smoother recovery.
The doctor administers anesthetic drugs that are carefully selected based on your pet’s body weight, species, age, and breed. An endotracheal tube is placed into your pet’s trachea (or wind pipe) to allow him or her to breathe gas anesthesia carried by oxygen. This keeps them asleep during the entire procedure. During this entire process, your pet is monitored by a highly trained veterinary technician and monitoring equipment that assesses your pet’s heart rate, blood oxygen level, blood pressure, carbon dioxide levels, and body temperature.
While asleep, your pet lies on a heated surgical table to keep them warm during the procedure.
Pain control is VERY important to our doctors and staff! We typically use up to three forms of pain control before and during a surgery to ensure your pet is as comfortable as possible when he or she wakes up. These include local anesthetics, anti-inflammatories, and powerful pain control drugs. Pain control continues after your pet goes home! We will always dispense pain control for several days following any surgical procedure. Post-operative antibiotics are dispensed for your pet if deemed appropriate by your doctor.
After the surgery, we remove your pet from gas anesthesia and a technician sits with your pet until he or she wakes up on soft, comfortable bedding. We continue to monitor your pet’s vital signs throughout the day to make sure their recovery is smooth and uneventful. We will always call you shortly after your pet is awake, and your veterinarian will talk to you about the surgical procedure and how your pet did under anesthesia when you come in the afternoon to pick them up. Your veterinarian also will explain any special instructions about your pet’s after-care. We always encourage you to ask questions!
