Surgery
Finding out that a beloved companion needs surgery is often frightening for pet owners.
Even if it’s a relatively minor procedure, the thought of entrusting your pet’s life to someone else can be scary. At Pressly Animal Hospital, we understand and are here to provide not only our expertise in surgical procedures to Matthews and Indian Trail area pets but also our compassion and comfort as pet owners and lovers ourselves. We are equipped to perform a wide range of soft tissue and orthopedic surgeries in-house, and we strive to keep both you and your pet comfortable when they are in our care.
At Pressly Animal Hospital, we perform many routine and emergency soft tissue surgeries, such as spaying or neutering, procedures to remove bladder or kidney stones, and wound repair. We are also equipped to perform select orthopedic procedures in-house. For orthopedic surgeries that we are not able to perform, we have a referral relationship with Dr. Marian. Dr. Benitez is a board-certified surgeon, and we fully trust her to provide service for our patients. With that being said, she performs these procedures in the comfort of our surgery suite.
What to Expect
When you bring your pet to us for surgery in our Matthews animal hospital, we will conduct an in-depth exam and perform blood work to make sure that your pet is healthy enough for their surgery. We’ll walk you through every step of the procedure to make sure you understand the process and recovery involved. During surgery, your pet will be closely monitored to ensure their safety. Afterward, they’ll be moved to a sterile recovery area where they’ll wake up in the care of one of our team members. We understand how stressful it is when your pet needs to have surgery, and we will do our best to ensure your comfort and peace of mind at all times. We will let you know when your pet is ready to come home and provide you with detailed aftercare instructions and medication, as needed. If your pet is in need of surgery, our veterinary team can help. Please contact us today to learn more.
Anesthetic Procedures & Risks
We use a combination of pre-anesthetic medications/injectable and/or inhalant anesthetics to achieve optimum levels of anesthesia that are safe for your pet.
Short Procedures:
An injectable anesthetic is given alone that produces a good plane of surgical anesthesia with a quick recovery.
Most Procedures:
Your pet is anesthetized and then intubated (insertion of a tube in the trachea/windpipe). An inhalant gas anesthetic is then used to achieve the optimum plane of sedation. This will also ensure that your pet is able to receive oxygen at all times and prevents aspiration of any fluids into the lungs.
Monitoring & Pain Management:
Monitoring of patients during anesthesia is done in two ways. First, a veterinary nurse is with your pet continuously from the beginning of anesthesia to recovery. Second, we have a computerized monitor that records heart rate, pulse rate, oxygen levels, respiration, blood pressure, and EKG.
Our hospital strongly believes in compassionate, quality medical care for our patients. As a result, all surgery patients will receive pain management appropriate to their procedure. Additionally, pain medication may be prescribed to go home. Additional information will be given at discharge. We hope this program will reduce any discomfort experienced and aid in a quicker recovery.
Intravenous Catheterization & Fluids:
We use an IV catheter and IV fluids during all major anesthetic procedures. This allows us to have quick, available access to the circulatory system (blood) in case of an unforeseen emergency. The fluids help provide support to the circulatory system and prevent dehydration, as well as aid in a quicker recovery from anesthesia.
It is important for you to understand that there is always a risk of anesthetic and surgical complications anytime these procedures are performed. We strive to take the highest quality care of your pet and take all the added precautions you allow to avoid potential problems. Thank you for entrusting your pet to us.
Night Before Surgery:
Canine and Feline
- Withhold all food, water, and treats after 9 PM, UNLESS OTHERWISE INSTRUCTED BY THE DOCTOR.
- If you are currently administering any medications, vitamins and/or injections, withhold the morning doses, UNLESS OTHERWISE INSTRUCTED BY THE DOCTOR.
Other Species
- Other species call for instructions.
Day of Surgery:
REQUIRED DROP OFF TIME IS BETWEEN 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM.
Please make arrangements for your pet to be dropped off the morning of surgery during those times in order for our surgery team to remain on schedule. Our veterinary nurse will escort your pet to the surgical prepping area to wait for their surgery. The nurse will collect any required blood samples and tests prior to surgery.
If any questions arise, the doctor may need to call or text you at the number you provide on the Consent/Release Form.
Contact:
You are welcome to check up on your pet’s status, however, we request that you allow plenty of time for your pet’s procedure to be completed. You may call or text our main number anytime between 11 AM – 12:30 PM. Keep in mind, someone from our veterinary medical team will be in touch with you once the procedure has been completed.
Discharge:
All surgery pets must be picked up by 4:30 PM, unless we notified you that the pet may stay overnight. Pets not picked up by 4:30 PM will be required to stay overnight with an overnight fee. Most surgeries are able to be picked up between 2 PM – 4 PM.
At Pickup:
- Call inside to inform of your arrival
- Receptionist will alert the veterinary medical team to inform them you are here to pick up
- Veterinary Nurse will come and go over all medications, discharge orders verbally with you and give you a written copy as well.
- Receptionist will invoice you for the services
- Veterinary Nurse will bring your pet to you
If you do not understand any instructions, please do not hesitate to ask them to go over them one more time.
