We understand that bringing your pet in for surgery can be worrying for you but please rest assured we will take the very best care of your pet.

Surgery is an important part of our work at LBVC, and we pride ourselves in providing a first class service.

Whether your pet is coming in for planned neutering or a caesarian, fractured leg or other other emergency, it will be individually assessed and you will be kept updated by phone throughout the hospitilisation period.

01948 662424 Whitchurch

01270 652121 Wistaston     

24hrs

All animals undergoing surgery are first given either a general anaesthetic or sedatives. Although there is always some risk giving these drugs to animals, we take the following steps to minimise those risks:

1. Cardiac and General Examination by Operating Vet
   

2. Pre-anaesthetic Blood Tests
   

3. These are carried out on older or ill patients if deemed appropriate by the vet. The tests can be performed at the practice on the morning of surgery with our in-house biochemistry machine.
   

4. Intravenous Fluids
   

5. Fluids help boost the patients blood pressure, help eliminate drugs and toxins and correct fluid imbalances. Patients may be put on a drip for a number of reasons. For example:
   

6. •If they are due to be under the anaesthetic for a long time.
   

7. •If pre-anaesthetic blood tests show any kidney or liver impairment.
   

8. •If the patient is showing signs of fluid imbalance or dehydration.
   

9. Premedication with good pain relief
   

10. Ensuring an animal feels as little pain as possible is very important its welfare but also reduces the amount of aneasthetic agents required to perform surgery. This is why we give two different types of pain killer alongside a mild sedative as a premed. This also helps keep the patients calm and relaxed when they come through for surgery.
    

11. Modern Anaesthetic Drugs / Equipment
    

12. Veterinary anaesthesia has come on leaps and bounds in the last 20 years and we have a range of excellent drugs available for our patients.
    

13. All animals under anaesthesia are intubated (a tube placed in the windpipe to maintain an airway) and are given 100% oxygen to make sure that tissues, including the brain and heart are kept healthily oxygenated.
    

14. Careful Monitoring
    

15. All patients are carefully monitored by the nurses during all stages of the anaesthetic and their parameters recorded to make sure subtle changes are picked up on early. We also have a specialist piece of equipment which measures blood pressure, temperature, Carbon dioxide and oxygen levels to supply the nursing team with the maximum amount of information to ensure a smooth anaesthetic.The nurses stay with the patients until there are fully round and continue to monitor them, along with the vets for the remainder of their time with us to make sure they are up and about and free from pain.

Anaesthesia

Surgery

Facilities

We have a dedicated surgical theatre at LBVC which we maintain as a separate sterile area from the rest of the rest of the practice. This means no-one is allowed in this room with outdoor clothes on. We wear surgical scrubs suits, hats and surgical clogs.

Our theatre is equipped with a hydraulic surgical table and operating light. We also have specialised equipment such as radiothermy and AO/ASIF orthopaedic kit. We are constantly investing in new kit to enable us to offer more solutions to our surgical cases.

All out instruments are sterilised in our autoclave every single time they are used.

All three of our vets have a keen interest in surgery and constantly strive to learn and improve even more. Andy has been working towards the Royal College Small Animal Surgery Certificate for the last 5 years and will hope to sit the exam in 2009. While working towards this qualification Andy works alongside specialists, learning new techniques which he then can bring back to LBVC.

Surgeons