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 Murphy Road 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. 

Preanesthetic blood testing is important in reducing the risk of anesthesia.  Every pet needs 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 can perform pre-anesthetic blood testing in-house on the day of surgery or we can use our outside lab for more extensive testing, which can be done as little as a few days or as much as a month prior to surgery.   

Animals, just like people, will handle the anesthetic better if they receive IV fluids during surgery. At Murphy Road Animal Hospital, we place an IV catheter for all anesthetic procedures.

It is important that surgery be done on an empty stomach to reduce the risk of vomiting during and after anesthesia.  Dogs and cats should not have food after 8:00pm the night prior to surgery, and water should be taken up at bedtime.

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 for a time and no baths are allowed for the first 10 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.  Providing whatever pain relief is appropriate is a humane and caring thing to do for your pet.

Prior to surgery, we often administer an injectable pain medication, which insures that your pet will be comfortable as he or she wakes up from anesthesia.  After surgery, pain medication is given on a case by case basis.  Any animal that appears painful will receive additional pain medication.

For dogs, we may recommend an oral anti-inflamatory for several days after surgery 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 from $20 to $30, depending on the size of your dog.

For cats, we often use a different type of pain medication because cats do not tolerate non-steroidal anti-inflammatories as well as dogs do.  Recent advances in pain medications have allowed for better pain control in cats than ever before.  This will also need to be given for several days after surgery, and the cost ranges from $15 to $25, depending on the weight of the cat.

What other decisions do I need to make?

While your pet is under anesthesia is the ideal time to perform other minor procedures, such as 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.

We have pets arrive at 7:30 am for procedures involving anesthesia.  When you bring your pet in, we will need 5 to 10 minutes of time to fill out paperwork and make decisions on the blood testing and other availalbe options.  At drop-off, we will schedule a discharge appointment for that afternoon.  At that pick-up appointment, you can plan to spend about 10 minutes with your pet's nurse going 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 don't hesitate to call us with any questions about your pet's health or surgery.