Surgical Services
Our state-of-the-art surgical suite with the most modern equipment provides for the performance of a wide variety of surgical procedures, including spay/neuters and feline declaws.
When you book your surgery, you will be given a handout that will outline the procedures you will need to follow before bringing your cat to the clinic the morning of surgery. You are also able to drop your cat off the night prior if you are unable to bring him or her in the morning of surgery.
Prior to surgery, each patient receives a thorough physical examination to identify any existing medical conditions that might endanger your pet's health. Because not all problems can be detected on examination, all patients undergo pre-anesthetic blood testing prior to the day of surgery. These tests not only give us a more complete picture of your pet's health, but also allow us to tailor an anesthetic regimen that is specific for your pet.
During surgery, we use state-of-the-art monitoring equipment, such as blood pressure monitors to monitor your pet's vital signs. IV fluids are also used for surgical procedures in order to support the vascular system and provide an open port for rapid medication administration. All surgical patients, including those undergoing routine procedures, receive pain control medications. We urge you to discuss operative pain management options with our staff.
Our Surgery assistants, working along with Dr. MacMillan, are professionally trained to observe and monitor your pets throughout the entire procedure, from induction until recovery. They will also assistant in adjusting the anesthetic levels according to the patient’s vital signs and ensuring your pet remains stable throughout their procedure.
The different surgical procedures that we offer our outlined below.
Spay
Once your female cat is 5 months of age it is time to have her spayed. She will need to stay with us for the entire day; her surgery will be in the morning and she will be monitored all afternoon until you can pick her up in the evening. When the anesthetic has worn off and your cat is fully awake, she will be offered food and water and her IV will be removed. At this point he will be resting comfortably and waiting eagerly for his parents to come and take him home. When you arrive to pick her up you will be given written instructions on home care and signs of pain. She will then need to return in one week so that the Dr. can look at her surgical site and ensure that everything is healing nicely.
Neuter
Neuters are performed on male kittens once they reach 6 months of age. He will need to stay with us for the entire day; his surgery will be in the morning and he will be monitored all afternoon until you can pick him up in the evening. When the anesthetic has worn off and your cat is fully awake, he will be offered food and water and his IV will be removed. At this point he will be resting comfortably and waiting eagerly for his parents to come and take him home. When you arrive to pick her up you will be given written instructions on home care and signs of pain.
Declaw
Cats have a need to scratch items in order to keep their nails sharpened and to shed old nails. It is recommended that you have a scratching post available for them to reduce the possibilities of them scratching your furniture. Although as hard as you might try, sometimes it is difficult to stop them and declawing them might be the better option for you. Having them declawed at the same time as their neuter or spay is the most efficient route to go. Your cat will only have to undergo anesthetic one time and it is more cost affective. Your cat will be given pain medication prior, during, and after the declaw, nerve blocks will also be injected in each paw just prior to the surgery. Your cat will stay with us for two days during which time he or she will receive pain medication. Alleviating any pain is our main focus to ensure your cat has a safe and speedy recovery.
Exploratory Surgery
There are different types of exploratory surgeries that some cats will have to go through. Cats are curious animals and tend to chew on items that we would rather they not. Unfortunately, this chewing can lead to swallowing items that do not want to pass through their systems naturally. They will become sick and perhaps start vomiting quite a bit, some cats may become lethargic, while others might experience constipation. Once it has been determined that your cat has swallowed some foreign object it will be necessary to operate on him/her to remove this object. Unless this is an immediate emergency will would like your cat to be fasted for 12 hours prior to the surgery. The doctor would then operate and remove any and all foreign bodies from your cat. He/she will stay with us overnight to be monitored to ensure a smooth recovery.
There are other reasons where exploratory surgery might be necessary and aid our Doctors in treating your cat. Cats with a repeated history of chronic vomiting, constipation, severe abdominal pain, just to name a few, where blood work, urine or x-rays cannot determine the cause would benefit from exploratory surgery. The Doctor would operate and explore the inside of the abdomen in order to see if there are any tumors, lesions or abnormalities. Depending on their findings, it might be necessary to send out biopsies to assist and confirm their diagnosis. Your cat will stay with us overnight and will receive pain medication ensure he/she is kept comfortable and free of any pain.
Dental Surgery
Just like humans cats need to have their teeth checked on a regular basis. The first step would be an examination by one of our Doctors during their annual exam. The Doctor will check all the teeth to determine the amount of tartar, gingivitis or if there are any teeth which will need to be extracted. This is not as easy as it sounds and unfortunately during the cleaning process extractions might be necessary that were not detected during the exam.
Your cat will be put under full anesthetic and placed on IV fluids. The doctor will then do a complete examination of the mouth to determine which, if any teeth will need to be extracted. If there are extractions your cat will receive nerve blocks to help alleviate any pain. The technician will then scale and polish the teeth, after which the Doctor will extract the necessary teeth. During the waking up process your cat will be given two types of pain medications to ensure his/her mouth is not sore due to the extractions. Upon release you will be given full instructions on how to brush you cat teeth to help maintain their nice white smile. Our staff will show you the correct technique for brushing your cat’s teeth, along with recommending a healthy dental diet.
To get a better understanding of the dental procedure please click HERE to go to Jasper's Dental Adventure! And if you would like to see a video on how to brush your cat's teeth, then please click HERE.