We have a lot of clients that are concerned with having their pets anesthetized, so today’s topic is what we do here in our clinic to ensure that your pet’s anesthetic procedure goes as well as it can.
There are four different stages to anesthesia so we will explain each step and why they are important.
Sorry this is a long one!
Before:
In all procedures requiring anesthesia, it is best to do bloodwork beforehand. Bloodwork will be able to tell your veterinarian how the body is functioning and if there are any infections. Medications often affect the liver, kidneys, or both, so knowing how those are functioning will indicate which ones would be safest to use for your particular pet.
So what is the bloodwork and what does it tell you?
The Complete Blood Count (CBC) will show the body’s red blood cells and white blood cells. The red blood cell count will let us know if there is blood loss for some reason, though it doesn’t indicate why- only that there is a blood loss. The white blood cells indicate presence of infection or could indicate some cancers or bone marrow problems.
The chemistry panels indicate how the organs are functioning and electrolyte levels.
Any of the conditions or abnormalities may affect how your veterinarian anesthetizes your pet and what can be done during the surgery that can help with the levels or keep them from getting worse.
Another thing to be done before surgery us placing an intravenous (I.V) catheter. The I.V. catheter gives your veterinarian direct access to a vein in emergency situations, but more commonly to run I.V. fluids during the procedure.
Induction:
Induction is the phase of anesthetizing your pet, usually using an injectable or inhalant anesthetic. Most injectable anesthetics are fast acting and leave the system within a few minutes of giving them. This is why many procedures use both an injection and an inhalant. The inhalant anesthetics are easier to adjust slightly as your pet responds to the procedure itself. They are easily and quickly breathed off once the surgery or dental is done.
During:
I.V. fluids will keep your pet hydrated since they are not allowed to have food or water before the procedure and helps keep the blood pressure from dropping which helps keep the kidneys functioning normally and not put as much pressure on the heart to pump.
Monitoring will also be done during the procedure by your veterinary staff. Equipment monitoring involves equipment for E.C.G.s, blood pressure, blood oxygen levels, and temperature. Someone will also be physically monitoring them in addition to the equipment. This means someone will be listening to the heart and lungs of your pet, monitoring breathing and heart rates.
We also have a heated table in our surgery suite to help animals from getting hypothermia along with other things like heated towels.
After:
We have someone continue to monitor the patient as they are waking up, meaning someone will be with them until they are able to walk on their own.
Along with the heated table, we also have a heated dog bed that they can lay on while they recover to help keep them warm.
The I.V. catheter will not be removed until at least one hour after the surgery is completed to make sure they would get the quickest emergency care should something occur, though this is a rare occurrence.
We will continue to monitor them at the clinic for 2-3 hours post-surgery before releasing them to go home the same day. For a standard procedure such as spays, neuters and dentals it is very rare that an animal will need to stay overnight.
Some things that may cause your pet to stay overnight after surgery are: long anesthetic times, more involved surgeries like femoral head osteotomy (FHOs), or if they did poorly under anesthesia.
We are always happy to walk you through the procedure if you have any questions or concerns before we have your pet in for surgery or a dental.