Preparing For Your Pet’s Surgery
“The Best Preparation for Tomorrow is Knowing Today”
“Preparing For Your Pet’s Surgery
- NO FOOD AFTER 12:00AM (MIDNIGHT) THE EVENING BEFORE SURGERY
- If your pet is under 10 pounds or under 6 months of age please feed a small meatball size of food the morning of surgery to prevent hypoglycemia.
- Fresh water is fine for your pet to have before surgery.
You are welcome to bring a snack or food for your pet to have after their surgery. However, please be aware that many dogs and cats may have little interest in eating until later in the evening. Additionally, we do not recommend offering food immediately after anesthesia to reduce the risk of aspiration pneumonia. For your pet’s safety, we suggest withholding a full meal until their regular dinner time.
Day Admission Information
- Please allow approximately 20-30 minutes at check-in (for day admission) to go over the information.
- If you are on limited time in the morning, please complete all available consent forms prior to your morning appointment admission. These will be emailed to you.
- Surgeries are scheduled to begin during the morning and early afternoon hours, with procedures typically starting between 8:00 AM and 2:00 PM. To ensure we have ample time to prepare your pet for their procedure safely, we kindly ask that all patients be dropped off between 7:15 and 8:00 AM, regardless of their scheduled surgery time.
- Pets will receive a complimentary toe nail trim and ear check under anesthesia. Please let us know if you DO NOT want these services rendered at the time of drop off.
- Please text or call 775-853-6900 after 3:00 PM for progress reports and an estimated discharge time if you have not heard from our team by then.
- Patients admitted for routine surgeries should be picked up before 5:30 PM, unless other arrangements have been made. Please note: we do not have doctors or a medical team on site after 6 pm. If your pet is left at our hospital after 6:00 pm, you will be subject to additional charges of $50 for every thirty minutes that your pet is not picked up after 6:00PM. If we are unable to reach you entirely, your pet will be transferred to Animal Emergency Center (AEC) for continued care/monitoring at an additional expense.
- You will be provided with detailed home care instructions at the time of pick up. A complimentary recheck examination will be scheduled after the procedure between 5 and 14 days of the procedure. Your pet may be extra sleepy for the first 24 to 48 hours after surgery which is normal. It is best to closely monitor your pet closely during this time.
Morning Medications / Supplements
If your pet normally takes the following medications/supplements, please DO NOT give them the morning of surgery. You can resume giving them at dinner the evening after the surgery, or with breakfast the following morning.
- Glucosamine and /or Fish Oil Supplements
- Probiotics
- Denamarin
- Ursodiol
- Any Herbals / Homeopathics
- Non-Steroid Anti-Inflammatory (Vetprofen/Carprofen, Meloxicam, etc)
- Pain Medications (Gabapentin, Tramadol, Amantadine, etc)
- Antibiotics
If your pet normally takes the following medications/supplements, PLEASE GIVE their regular dose in the AM in a small meatball size of food (*not a full meal).
- Heart/Blood Pressure medications (Vetmedin, Lasix, Enalapril, Amlodopine, etc)
- Thyroid medication (Levothyroxine, Methimazole)
- Seizure medication (Phenobarbital, Zonisamide, Keppra, Potassium Bromide, etc)
- Addison’s medication (Prednisone, Fludrocortisone)
- Cushing’s medication (Trilostane)
For diabetic patients, please give insulin at the NORMAL time with their regular breakfast. If your pet normally takes insulin after your drop-off time, please bring the bottle of insulin, insulin syringe, and food and let our staff know exactly when you normally give it. We do not want dogs on insulin to have interruptions in their normal pattern.
If your pet suffers from a condition and/or medication not listed above and you are unsure if you should give the medication that morning, please confirm with our surgery nurse prior to the day of surgery by texting or calling 775-853-6900.
Additional Options to Consider:
- Yunnan Baiyao – This optional effective and extremely safe herbal helps to activate platelets that help blood clot. Blood clots are the first step in the healing process.They work to help stop hemorrhage/bleeding. If you are interested in starting this herbal prior to your surgery, please contact our pharmacy technician at 775-853-6900. We recommend giving at least 24 hours prior to surgery to help activate the clotting system and continue 24 to 48 hours post-surgery. This may give a higher safety margin to prevent excessive blood loss during surgery. Please note that in extreme cases, blood transfusions or other additional support may be needed, despite the use of this herbal.
- Microchip – A permanent form of identification for your pet in case they get lost. While a pet is under anesthesia is a great time to get this done!
- Radiographs – While not all surgical procedures require pre-operative x-rays, radiographs performed on animals under anesthesia are of much better quality. If your pet has symptoms of a condition where radiographs would be useful, x-rays can be done before or after the surgical procedure.
- Biopsy – If your pet is having a growth(s)/lump(s) removed, please help us identify any and all masses to be removed on the day of the surgery. If desired, the tumor tissue can be sent to the laboratory for evaluation to determine its composition and what additional treatment may be necessary after recovery from surgery.
Optional Integrative Services Post Surgery:
- Laser Therapy – This non-invasive light therapy called Photobiomodulation (PBM) occurs when a dose of light energy reaches the target tissue. A cellular response mediates mitochondrial mechanisms that reduce pain, and inflammation and accelerates healing.
- Rectal Ozone Therapy - This heavily studied treatment for over 150 years has proven a consistent, safe, and effective treatment to cleanse the organs of toxic build-up from anesthesia gases and medications while improving oxygenation to these organs via mitochondria to improve overall success and health during recovery.
- Ozone Gel Application - This helps improve inflammation of the tissue and reduce the overgrowth of bacteria.
- Acupuncture - Acupuncture improves healing by increasing the circulation of blood (red and white blood cells) throughout the body while also releasing a power surge of endorphins for pain relief.
- Chinese Herbs - Often, Chinese herbs can be used with western medications to improve the outcome of the surgery, detoxify the body of chemicals, and improve the immune system.
For additional information on our Integrative Therapy Options Post-Surgery, please visit:
