What You Need to Know Before Your Pet's Upcoming Surgery

Many people have questions about various aspects of their pet's surgery, and we hope this information will help.  It also explains the decisions you will need to make before your pet's upcoming surgery.

Is the anesthetic safe?

Today's modern anesthetic monitors have made surgery much safer than in the past.  Here at Quartz Mountain Animal Hospital, we do a thorough physical exam on your pet before administering anesthetics, to ensure that a fever or other illness won't be a problem.  We also adjust the amount and type of anesthetic used depending on the health of your pet.  The handout on anesthesia explains this in greater detail.

Preanesthetic blood testing is important in reducing the risk of anesthesia.  Every pet will have blood testing before surgery to ensure that the liver and kidneys can handle the anesthetic.  Even apparently healthy animals can have serious organ system problems that cannot be detected without blood testing.  If there is a problem, it is much better to find it before it causes anesthetic or surgical complications.  Animals that have minor dysfunction will handle the anesthetic better if they receive IV fluids during surgery.  If serious problems are detected, surgery can be postponed until the problem is corrected.

Before anesthesia, we will need to draw some blood for a blood screen.  This can be done in-house on the day of surgery or, better yet, a few days prior and sent out to the lab.  Our doctors prefer to do a more comprehensive screen, because it gives them the most information to ensure the safety of your pet.  For geriatric or ill pets, additional blood tests, echocardiograms/ecg's, or x-rays may be required before surgery as well.

It is important that surgery be done on an empty stomach to reduce the risk of vomiting and aspirating during and after anesthesia.  You will need to withhold food for at least 12 hours before surgery.  Water can be left down for the pet until the morning of surgery.

Will my pet have stitches?

For many surgeries, we use absorbable sutures underneath the skin.  These will dissolve on their own, and do not need to be removed later.  Some surgeries, especially tumor removals, do require skin stitches.  With either type of suture, you will need to keep an eye on the incision for swelling or discharge.  Most dogs and cats do not lick excessively or chew at the incision, but this is an occasional problem you will also need to watch for.  If there are skin sutures, these will usually be removed 10 to 14 days after surgery.  You will also need to limit your pet's activity level, typically for 7-10 days post-surgery, and no baths should be given for the first 7 days after surgery.

Will my pet be in pain?

Anything that causes pain in people can be expected to cause pain in animals.  Pets may not show the same symptoms of pain as people do; they usually don't whine or cry, but you can be sure they feel it.  Pain medications needed will depend on the surgery performed.  Major procedures require more pain relief than things like minor lacerations.  For most surgeries (except the cat declaw where we require it) there is an option to use the laser in place of the scalpel.  The benefit of using the laser is that it seals off nerve endings and blood vessels up to about 1 mm in diameter as it cuts.  This provides for a less painful surgery, and more fastidious hemostasis (less bleeding).  The difference is obvious post-surgery in cats who have been declawed with the scalpel blade vs the laser.  Those declawed with the laser are generally much more comfortable and playful within hours of surgery.

For dogs, we may recommend an oral anti-inflamatory the night of surgery and for several days after to lessen the risk of discomfort and swelling.  We use newer medications, which are less likely to cause stomach upset and can be given even the morning of surgery.  The cost of the medication ranges, depending on the size of your dog.  Most commonly with dogs we use non-steroidal anti-inlfammatory drugs post-surgery, such as Rimadyl, Metacam or Previcoxx.

Because cats (and to a lesser degree dogs) do not tolerate standard human pain medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or Tylenol, we are limited in what we can give them.  Recent advances in pain medications have allowed for better pain control in cats than ever before.  We administer a pain injection prior to surgery.  After surgery, pain medication is given to the majority of cats, on a case by case basis.  Any animal that appears painful, or is likely hiding signs of pain, based on which surgery was performed, will receive additional pain medication (either an injection and/or more meds to go home).

What other decisions do I need to make?

While your pet is under anesthesia, it is the ideal time to perform other minor procedures, such as dentistry, mass removals, ear cleaning, or implanting an identification microchip.  If you would like an estimate for these extra services, please call ahead of time.  This is especially important if the person dropping the pet off for surgery is not the primary decision maker for the pet's care.

When you bring your pet in for surgery, we will need to 5 to 10 minutes of time to fill out paperwork and make decisions on the options available.  When you pick up your pet after surgery you can also plan to spend about 10 minutes to go over your pet's home care needs.

We will call you the day before your scheduled surgery appointment, to confirm the time you will be dropping your pet off and to answer any questions you might have.  In the meantime, please do not hesitate to call us with any questions about your pet's health or surgery.