1. What happens when your pet needs an operation?

We will give you an appointment to explain everything concerning the surgery and the anaesthetic, and to answer any question you may come up with.

Then, we will examine your pet properly to assess the anaesthetic risk and choose the adequate procedures to decrease that risk as much as possible. 

We will schedule an appointment to drop your pet early in the morning (about 9am) the day of the surgery.

2. What you have to do before the surgery appointment

You will have to keep your dog or cat fasted (ask for information concerning other species), that means the last meal has to be at 8pm the previous evening, making sure they won’t be able to steal any food, and keeping cats indoors. They can keep access to the water bowl until 2 hours before dropping them in.

Your pet has to be as clean as possible the day of th surgery to ensure sterility, they don’t actually need to go to the groomer the day before, but a very soiled coat will need washing. Please ensure that your pet has had a chance to go to the toilet the morning of surgery if possible.

3. What happens the morning of the surgery?

On the morning of the surgery we will admit your pet. You will be asked to sign a consent form – a legal document permitting us to perform the anaesthetic procedure and surgery on your pet.

You will also be offered the option of a pre-anaesthetic blood test, which is done in the clinic before the operation. This gives us important information on your pet’s kidney and liver function – the organs which will process the anaesthetic. In younger animals we would expect them to be normal but there are exceptions. While physical examination tells us a lot about your pet’s health it doesn’t tell us everything. We would urge all pet owners to consider pre- anaesthetic blood testing, particularly in animals over seven years of age.

4. Anaesthetic and surgery

We will ensure your pet has a free of stress experience, and we will give the medications needed to avoid any kind of pain. 

Anaesthetic procedure is continually monitored by a specialised nurse throughout surgery, and your pet will be closely watched until fully recovered. 

We will ring you when your pet is fully awake and recovered from the anaesthetic.

5. Home time

When you come to take your pet home, one of our vets will go through any discharge instructions including; medication, wound care, guidelines for feeding, exercise and more. We will explain what you should look out for. Some surgeries require a lampshade collar. 

We will schedule an appointment to recheck that everything is going as expected, and if stitches are in place, another one for your pet to have them removed.