Surgery

Our experience and advanced training in this area help enable us to get the best possible surgical results in the safest possible manner.

In addition to soft tissue surgery (wound or laceration repair, abdominal exploratory, cystotomy, splenectomy, biopsies, etc.) we also offer many advanced orthopedic surgeries (fracture repair, patella luxation repair, cranial cruciate repair, osteotomies, hip surgery, etc) and exotic animal procedures.

All patients undergoing surgery are carefully examined prior to anesthesia and a specific anesthetic protocol is devised that is tailored to your pet. At Northwood Animal Hospital, pain management is a vital part of all surgeries. The medications we choose will keep your pet’s discomfort to a minimum, improve the safety of the anesthetic period, and speed recovery and healing in the post-operative phase.

Patients then have an intravenous catheter placed, into which IV fluids are administered throughout the procedure. This helps maintain blood pressure and protects against dehydration.

All patients are monitored by one of our trained technicians during the procedure, with vitals and overall response to anesthesia being constantly assessed. Patients are also connected to a multi-parameter anesthetic monitor throughout the procedure.

This machine monitors heart and respiratory rate, ECG, oxygenation saturation readings, blood pressure, end-tidal CO2, and core body temperature. These measures help ensure the safest anesthetic procedure available for your pet.

Postoperative Period

After surgery, patients will be closely monitored as they recover. They will then be moved to our ICU for constant monitoring and further treatment. Depending on the procedure, some pets will be discharged later in the day while others may spend a day or two recovering at our hospital.

Those that remain at the hospital have 24-hour care provided by our after-hours PETS Emergency staff. Detailed care regarding medications, feeding schedule, and activity, will be provided and follow-up visits will be scheduled at the time of discharge.