1. Soft Tissue Surgery
Good Shepherd Pet Hospital offers many soft tissue surgery services that are incorporating the latest Equipment and Techniques. Soft tissue surgery refers to surgery on any body part excluding: bones/joints (orthopedic surgery), heart (cardiac surgery), or nervous system (neurologic surgery).
Examples of common soft tissue surgeries include gastrointestinal surgery (to remove foreign objects or removed diseased sections of intestine), bladder surgery (to remove stones or polyps), liver surgery (to remove masses or diseased lobes), and spleen surgery (often to remove diseased spleens or masses).
There are many other soft tissue procedures that our veterinarian may discuss upon your pet’s needs.
2. Spay and Neuters
Good Shepherd Pet Hospital routinely performs Spays and Neuters, the surgical sterilization of female and male dogs and cats.
Both procedures are performed under general anesthesia and both involve a surgical incision. Pain management medications and cold laser therapy are used routinely to ensure your pet’s comfort.
Good Shepherd Pet Hospital recommends that these surgeries to be performed at a younger age. Ask our staff about spaying or neutering your pet to help prevent unwanted sexual behavior and pregnancies and to decrease or eliminate the possibility of certain disease conditions later in life.
Quality Surgical Care Plan
Pre-Surgical Treatment Plan: Communication with pet owners is key to providing the very best care for our patients. After your pet’s examination, if surgical intervention is recommended, we will discuss with you the appropriate treatment plan for your pet. Our team members will include in the consultation, what procedure will take place, check-in procedures, and cost of the surgery. We will also address any questions or concerns you may have about surgery, including concerns about anesthesia, pain management, or postoperative care.
Patients who undergo a surgical procedure with us will also need to have the proper diagnostic steps taken to ensure the best possible surgical outcome, which includes pre-surgical bloodwork.
Surgical Procedure: During surgery, doctors and technicians closely monitor vital signs including heartbeat, oxygen level, and blood pressure. As a part of our excellence and compassionate care, we use the most safe inhalational anesthetic Sevoflurane for faster, safe and better quality compared with isoflurane. It allows very precise control of a pet’s anesthesia level. Since it leaves the bloodstream very quickly, pets often experience a very quick recovery.
Afterwards, pets awaken in our heated recovery area for warmth and comfort. Technicians are present during the entire recovery process to ensure patient safety.
Post-Surgical Care: Cold Laser Therapy and Pain management medications may be incorporated to shorten post-surgical recovery time and improve mobility. Each treatment option is presented with the same goals: to reduce discomfort, improve mobility, and maintain the highest possible quality of life.
Our team members will contact pet owners with updates throughout the day before a scheduled pick-up is determined to review follow-up care during discharge.
Follow-up Instructions: Follow-up care is very important to the overall success of the surgery. During the patient discharge, our team will consult with you, the pet owner, about take-home instructions. These discharge orders will address pain management and any medication schedules that are necessary, physical and dietary restrictions (if any), activity levels, and more. Our team will also be available to answer any follow-up questions or concerns that you may have throughout the post-surgical process. If any questions arise after your pet returns home or at any other time during the postoperative period, call us for assistance.
Our mission statement, “We Walk with Your Pet Every Step of the Way”, is infused into every part of how we provide services to our patients, including with surgery. We look forward to the opportunity to care for your pet’s surgical needs. If you would like to make an appointment to have your pet evaluated for a surgical procedure, please call our office at 813-920-0303.