Safety and comfort is our primary concern at Azalea City Animal Hospital. Surgery and Anesthesia can be a stressful time for your pet; we do everything we can to minimize this stress and discomfort while implementing the safest procedures possible. We understand that cost is definitely a factor in choosing your pet's heath care, and want be sure that you understand some of the differences between our hospital and low-cost care providers.
 |
Proper Pain Control |
Pets experience pain in much the way we do. Proper pain control not only involves anesthesia, but a variety of additional medications given for the sole purpose of alleviating pain from surgery. We use an average of four medications for pain alone for most procedures. In addition, we send home pain medication for about 4 days after surgery.
|
Surgivet Forced Air |
(similar to what is used in human surgeries)
This allows us to keep our patient's temperature up during surgery, providing a safer and smoother recovery.
|
Proper Surgical Suite |
Our surgical suite has central oxygen, the same you would find in advanced human surgery suites. The doctors wear cap, mask and sterile gown for all surgeries; all assistants/technicians are fully capped and masked.
|
New Syringes |
Incredible as it may seem, there are no regulations preventing veterinary hospitals from reusing needles and syringes. We would never consider reusing syringes or needles on your pet. We use a new one each time.
|
Precision Instruments |
Our surgical instruments are top of the line. This means there is less of a chance for an instrument slipping causing unnecessary blood loss during surgery.
|
IV Catheters |
All patients receiving general anesthesia have an IV Catheter placed prior to the anesthesia. This allows us to administer medications comfortably to your pet. Also, the IV allows access to a vein should any complications arise during surgery.
|
Emergency Drugs |
We have whole blood or plasma that allows us to be prepared in case an emergency arises.
|
Proper Monitoring |
During surgery we closely monitor the patient while under anesthesia. We have state of the art monitors that allow us to monitor the patients blood pressures, pulse ox (a measurement of oxygen saturation), EKG, temperature, and capnograph (which measures respiration and CO2 concentration). Monitoring these parameters allows us to adjust the depth of anesthesia as needed.
|
Proper Anesthetics |
All of our patients receive a combination of anesthetic drugs. This allows us to use smaller amounts of these drugs, which decreases the side effects. Generally, your pet will receive a tranquilizer first, which makes them sleepy. An I. V. Catheter is placed, which allows us to give medication intravenously to induce anesthesia. An endotracheal tube is placed and the patient is placed on Isoflurane
gas. The combination of these drugs permits a smooth induction and recovery from anesthesia.
|
Questions to always Ask |
Do not hesitate to ask questions of your veterinary health care provider. You have the right and responsibility to your pet to know what you are paying for.
- Ask if they reuse syringes or have blood products on hand.
- Ask if they use proper attire, including sterile gown.
- Ask if they have a surgical assistant dedicated to monitoring their pet during surgery.
- Ask if your pet will have an I. V. Catheter, and will have pain medications sent home with them.
All of these are expensive. These things may or may not be important to you, but they are important to your pet and to our standard of care. If you decided to have your pet's surgery elsewhere, we will be happy to provide for the remainder of your pet's health care. However, we sincerely hope you decide on us for your pet's health care needs, including surgery. |
