Surgery

Knowing that your pet may need surgery can be a scary time for you as a worried pet owner. At Caring Hands we believe that every pet is different and they should all have a customized anesthetic plan for their surgical procedure. All pets that will be going under anesthesia will have a preanesthetic examination with their veterinarian & lab work completed to ensure that they do not have any underlying abnormalities we may be unaware of.

Our Anesthetic and Monitoring Protocol

Once they are approved for surgery their veterinarian will create a customized anesthetic protocol for them. This plan will then be carried out by our dedicated trained surgical technicians. During all surgical procedures your pet will have an IV catheter w/ fluid administration, they will be fully monitored by a trained technician and electronic monitoring equipment. A dedicated team member will be with your pet until they are awake/ recovered from anesthesia. Most surgical patients will go home with you the same day as their procedure.

Common Surgical Services Offered

  • Spay & Neuter
    • Neutering is recommended for male dogs and cats to reduce wandering and inter-dog aggression (fighting). Health benefits for the dog include the elimination of the risk of testicular cancer and greatly reducing the risk of prostatic disease and cancer.
    • Spaying is recommended to eliminate the chance of uterine infection and unwanted litters. Spaying a female dog or cat before their first heat almost reduces the chance of breast cancer later in life. There is still some protection for dogs against breast cancer if they are spayed before their second heat. Breast cancer is malignant 50% of the time in dogs and 95% of the time in cats.
  • Mass removals
  • Soft Tissue/Abdominal procedures
  • Orthopedic procedures
  • and more.

Surgery FAQs

Almost all of our surgical patients the same day. Spays, Neuters, Dentals, mass removals, can all be expected to come home to you at the end of the day.  Some procedures that are more invasive or performed later in the day may require that your pet have an overnight stay with us. If your pet requires an overnight stay after surgery, we will advise you of this.

The day that you take your pet home, you may offer them their regular diet at their normal feeding time and have water down at all times. Your pet may not want to eat for the first 24 hours. This is common after anesthesia and is of little concern.

Because most of our patients will go home with you on an outpatient basis after the surgery they will remain groggy for the first 24 hours after surgery. They may not have the best balance to start out with, they should not try to jump on or off of furniture, and they should not have full access to the house. Upon arriving home, if you haven’t already, you should create a designated quiet and safe space for your pet. This area should not have furniture that they can try to jump on or off of, it should not be a highly trafficked area of the house, and there should not be other pets in the house in this area. We usually recommend a bathroom, or a walk in closet type of area for the first 24 hours. This is to prevent your pet from trying to overdo it when they get home. If they are not confined they may try to follow you around the house and fall or bump into things because they are not fully coordinated yet. After 24 hours, or when they seem to be less groggy you may give them normal access to the house.

For 2 weeks after surgery your pet should not go outside to run around. They should be taken out for leash walks only. They should not run up/down stairs, climb in/out of vehicles, & they should not jump on/off furniture. This is to allow any incision and sutures (stitches) that they may have adequate time to heal. After 2 weeks they may resume all normal activities.

If your pet has had an orthopedic procedure, they will have specific home care instructions related to their activities that you should refer to.

You should not give your pet a bath for 14 days after any surgical procedure. If the incision gets wet it can ruin the integrity of the sutures and cause the incision to open up, or cause an unwanted infection.

The simple answer is YES! Your pet should wear an e-collar for 14 days after the procedure. If an E-collar is not appropriate for your pet and the type of procedure that they had, our team will notify you and make specific recommendations for your pets after care.

Surgery FAQs

Almost all of our surgical patients the same day. Spays, Neuters, Dentals, mass removals, can all be expected to come home to you at the end of the day.  Some procedures that are more invasive or performed later in the day may require that your pet have an overnight stay with us. If your pet requires an overnight stay after surgery, we will advise you of this.

The day that you take your pet home, you may offer them their regular diet at their normal feeding time and have water down at all times. Your pet may not want to eat for the first 24 hours. This is common after anesthesia and is of little concern.

Because most of our patients will go home with you on an outpatient basis after the surgery they will remain groggy for the first 24 hours after surgery. They may not have the best balance to start out with, they should not try to jump on or off of furniture, and they should not have full access to the house. Upon arriving home, if you haven’t already, you should create a designated quiet and safe space for your pet. This area should not have furniture that they can try to jump on or off of, it should not be a highly trafficked area of the house, and there should not be other pets in the house in this area. We usually recommend a bathroom, or a walk in closet type of area for the first 24 hours. This is to prevent your pet from trying to overdo it when they get home. If they are not confined they may try to follow you around the house and fall or bump into things because they are not fully coordinated yet. After 24 hours, or when they seem to be less groggy you may give them normal access to the house.

For 2 weeks after surgery your pet should not go outside to run around. They should be taken out for leash walks only. They should not run up/down stairs, climb in/out of vehicles, & they should not jump on/off furniture. This is to allow any incision and sutures (stitches) that they may have adequate time to heal. After 2 weeks they may resume all normal activities.

If your pet has had an orthopedic procedure, they will have specific home care instructions related to their activities that you should refer to.

You should not give your pet a bath for 14 days after any surgical procedure. If the incision gets wet it can ruin the integrity of the sutures and cause the incision to open up, or cause an unwanted infection.

The simple answer is YES! Your pet should wear an e-collar for 14 days after the procedure. If an E-collar is not appropriate for your pet and the type of procedure that they had, our team will notify you and make specific recommendations for your pets after care.