The surgery department at Animal Hospital, Inc. consists of two trained assistants and the veterinarian assigned to perform surgeries on a given day. All elective surgeries are scheduled ahead of time. Clients who have a preference for a particular veterinarian will be scheduled on the requested doctor's surgery day. Pets that are scheduled for elective surgeries must be current on their vaccinations and must have been recently examined by one of our doctors. You should discuss concerns about your pet's surgery ahead of time with your veterinarian to avoid last minute changes. The most common elective surgical procedures are:
- Ovariohysterectomy (spay) female patient, removal of ovaries and uterus
- Castration/orchiectomy (neuter) male patient, removal of testicles
- Onychyectomy (declaw) feline patient, removal of claws usually front only
Other non-elective surgeries that we perform here at Animal Hospital include:
- Growth or tumor removal, with or without histopathology (lab test to identify type of growth and assess for malignancy and completeness of removal).
- Cystotomy (urinary bladder surgery) usually to remove bladder stones or biopsy tissue with stone analysis, culture to assess infection, or histopathology
- Abdominal Exploratory usually to remove a foreign object that the patient has swallowed or to look for the cause of illness in the digestive tract, liver, or spleen and to remove the object or damaged organ/tissue. Sometimes this is performed to obtain tissue samples of vital organs to get an accurate diagnosis.
- Caesarean Section, performed on a female pregnant patient at full term for difficulty in delivery due to many causes.
- Prolapsed nictitans ("cherry eye") surgical tacking of the gland of the third eyelid that becomes exposed from the underside of the lower eyelid. Certain breeds of dogs are usually affected more than others.
- Blepharoplasty (eyelid resection) to correct entropion, a condition where the eyelids roll inward and traumatize the cornes from eyelash contact.
- Gastropexy (stomach tacking) in large breed dogs to prevent twisting of the stomach, a common and deadly event.
