Anaesthesia

Our vets will carry out pre-anesthetic blood testing to test the function of your pets’ internal organs and ensure that they are fit to undergo both anaesthetic and surgery.

Your pet may appear perfectly healthy but may have underlying and undetected organ problems which could cause serious complications during surgery or anaesthetic.

The pre-surgery bloodwork will test for:

• Normal liver and kidney function
• Sufficient white blood cell and platelet count
• Sufficient protein levels to ensure the ability to heal effectively post-surgery
• Balance of the electrolytes which can influence the stability of the heart during surgery and anaesthetic

If the blood test results show any minor medical problem, your vet can adjust the anaesthetic during your pet’s surgery to enable the procedure to be carried out safely.

However, if the blood tests show a serious medical problem will result in the surgery being postponed whilst your pet is treated for the issue. Once this has been resolved, your pet can have blood work carried out again to ensure they are fit to proceed with surgery.

Surgery must be performed on an empty stomach to reduce the chance of your pet regurgitating or choking on the contents of their stomach whilst under anaesthesia. Your pet should not eat for approximately 10 hours before their surgery. However, please check with your vet as this will differ between patients.

After the surgery, you can almost always return to regular feeding of your pet’s normal food. If your pet is going to be inactive during their recovery period, we recommend reducing the portion size by approximately 20% to avoid your pet from becoming overweight. However, some surgeries may require a modified diet to be followed, which will be recommended by your vet.

Anaesthesia is usually given as gas or intravenously and is the safest method of administering anaesthetic for pets. Anaesthetic will only be administered if your pet has been approved for surgery, and the amount administered will be adjusted if your pet presents any health concerns.

However, there are risks of complications, as there always is with surgery:

• If your pet is already older than 12 or sick, they are more likely to experience complications
• If the surgery is more complex or urgent, the risk increases
• If your pet is a brachycephalic breed (i.e. has the ‘pushed-in face’ that’s typical of breeds such as bulldogs and pugs), the risk increases
• If the pet is underweight, the risk increases

Our vet will give you care instructions when they discharge you as you may need to give your pet medications, restrict their exercise, and care for any bandages/sutures.

If you have any further questions about your pet undergoing anaesthesia, please call Paws in the City for more information.