Preparation can make everything a little less frightening – for humans and for pets. The more you know about what to expect when you bring your pet in for surgery, the calmer you will be and the calmer your pet will be. See our Surgery page to learn more about our standards of care, and keep reading to learn more about what to do before surgery.

The Day Before Surgery

Keep the following in mind the day before surgery:

Bathing: Your pet won’t be able to have a bath for at least 12 days after surgery. If your pet needs to be cleaned, get it taken care of beforehand.

Vaccinations: To protect all of our pets, we only accept vaccinated pets for surgery (except in emergency situations). Make sure your pet’s vaccinations are up-to-date before surgery.

Microchipping: Microchipping is non-invasive and a safe way to identify your pet if he or she ever runs away or gets lost. If your pet is going to be having surgery anyway, now is a great time to complete the microchipping procedure.

Food & Water: Your pet must fast before surgery for his or her safety. Take food away at 8pm the night before surgery. Make sure your pet uses the toilet before surgery as well.

About Anaesthetics

Using anaesthetics for pets is extremely safe, just as it is for humans. Many pets bounce right back once the anaesthetic wears off, especially if they were healthy before the surgery. However, pets who aren’t healthy may have complications.

To assess your pet’s health and prevent complications, we’ll often perform a blood test before the surgery. This bloodwork allows us to know ahead of time if there is likely to be a problem and to tailor our anaesthetic to provide the best results for your pet.

At the Clinic

After your pet has been admitted, we’ll perform a check-up and administer a sedative. We’ll monitor your pet’s vitals throughout the surgery and recovery to make sure he or she is performing well and that there are no complications. We might need to clip the hair around the surgery site to allow us better access.

After the surgery, your pet will be taken to a comfortable, fluffy bed to recover. We’ll give your pet all of the medical attention he or she needs for recovery – as well as lots of love and cuddles to help him or her feel better.

What You Should Do

Many ‘pet parents’ want to know if they should stay home to care for a pet after surgery. The simple answer to this is that it depends. Often pets bounce right back after routine surgery such as desexing, so you don’t necessarily need to stay home with them. Just make sure they have someplace warm and comfortable to rest.

If the surgery is more complicated or you simply want to make sure you’re there for your pet, we recommend that you take the day after surgery off. We can perform the surgery and the first part of recovery while you’re at work, and you can pick up where we leave off when you bring your pet home. One of our staff members will explain to you just what you need to do when you come in to pick up your pet. And if you have any questions, all you need to do is contact us.