Client Education

1. A premedical examination is performed, paying particular attention to heart rate rhythm and overall body condition.

2. A pre-op injection is administered to lightly sedate the animal and to allow us to use less general anesthetic.

3. An IV anesthetic is administered.

4. An Endotracheal tube is placed in the trachea to administer inhalant anesthetic. (Arrow denotes opening of trachea)

We perform 99% of all medical procedures and 100% of all spays, neuters and declaws with an endotracheal tube in place. This allows immediate ability to provide lung inflation for the patient should an emergency situation arise.

5. Patient is connected to anesthetic machine and heart/respiratory monitors.

This machine is equipped not only with the routine Isoflorane anesthetic vaporizor but also a newer anesthetic vaporizor for Sevoflorane. Sevoflorane is required for patients with preexisting liver or kidney dysfunction and optional for those with normal functions.

6. The surgical site is clipped and scrubbed to make the area sterile.

7. The patient is transferred to the surgery suite along with connected monitoring equipment.

A pulse oximetry monitor is attached to the patient's tongue with a soft rubber clip.

We monitor all patients' breathing with a simple device that will sound an alarm if the patient does not take a breath within a predetermined number of seconds.

8. Patient is transferred to the warmed surgery table and placed into position for the procedure.

Our surgery tables are equipped with electric warmers to keep the tables at a steady body temp. Patients under anesthetic can lose body warmth, a particular problem for long procedures and small patients.

9. The technician continues to monitor the patient's vital signs.

All patients are monitored by pulse oximetry, respiratory monitor and often electrocardiogram. Despite the great reassurance of today's technological advances, they will never take the place of a trained technician at your patient's side. We do not perform anesthetic procedures without a technician's watchful eye.

10. The pulse oximetry machine is connected that will inform the doctor of the patient's percentage of oxygen in the blood stream during the surgery.

Pulse Oximeter is attached to the patient with an infrared tongue sensor. The machine will tell us the patient's oxygen saturation while under anesthetic. Normal values are over 95%. The pulse rate is also given and the pulse quality can be subjectively monitored with the sound of the beeps.

11. An incision is made on the midline of the abdomen using a scalpel or CO2 laser.

12. The ovary is identified and surgical clamps are applied to the ovarian blood vessels. The vessels are then ligated (tied with sutures) to prevent bleeding and the pedicle is replaced into the body. This procedure is repeated for the other side.

13. The Y-shaped uterus is retracted to expose uterine body.

The typical "Y-shaped" appearance of the canine or feline uterus. Generally, the ovaries are ligated and retracted first and then the uterine body retracted so that the cervix is palpable. The canine and feline uterine bodies are longer than human uterine bodies to accommadate multiple feti.

14. The uterus and its blood vessels are ligated just above the cervix.

Now that the ovarian pedicles are ligated, the remaining connection of the organ to the body is the uterine body and its associated vessels. This is the final ligature placed in the procedure.

15. The uterus is excised and removed from the abdomen.

16. The abdominal wall is closed with sutures that will dissolve in 3-4 weeks.

We only use absorbable suture material with maximum tensile strength. We do not use less expensive "cat gut" or stainless steel gauge suture.

17. The Subcutaneous layer is then closed

18. The skin is closed with sutures that will need to be removed in 10-14 days.