FAQ

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 pain. The pain medications needed will depend on the type of surgery performed. Major procedures for example require more pain relief than things like minor lacerations.

For dogs and cats, we may recommend an injection for pain on the day of surgery followed by two days of oral pain medication to lessen the risk of discomfort and swelling. We use newer medications, which are less likely to cause stomach upset, and can be given safely to most pets. The cost of these pain management packages varies from $20 to $37 and are customized to each individual pet's needs. Because cats do not tolerate standard human pain medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or Tylenol, we are limited in what medication we can give them. However recent advances in pain medications have allowed for better pain control in cats than ever before. We now have pain management packages specially tailored to meet the needs of cats.

Procedures involving sutures require them to be removed in 10-14 days following the surgery.

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, however (especially tumor removals and lacerations), 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 their incision but this is an occasional problem that needs to be monitored closely. Please call if your pet licks or scratches their sutures. 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 for a period of time and no baths are allowed for the first 10 to 14 days after surgery.

Today's modern anesthetics have made surgery much safer than in the past. Here at Tri-City Animal & Bird Clinic we do a pre-anesthetic 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.

Preanesthetic blood testing is important in reducing the risk of anesthesia. Every pet would benefit from 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. If serious problems are detected, surgery can be postponed until the problem is corrected.

We offer in-house blood testing before surgery and for anesthesia, which we will go over with you when you bring your pet in that morning. For geriatric or ill pets, additional blood tests, electrocardiograms, or x-rays may be required before surgery as well. We recommend pre-anesthetic bloodwork for all pets over 6 years of age.

Anesthetic risks can be further reduced by the use of fluid therapy which maintains blood pressure to vital organs during surgery and helps prevent dehydration. Different methods of administering fluids are used and are based on the needs of your pet and the type of surgery being done. We recommend fluid therapy for all pets over 6 years of age.

It is important that surgery be done on an empty stomach to reduce the risk of vomiting during and after anesthesia. You will need to withhold food and water after 12 midnight the night before surgery.