|
Anaesthetic facilities
We all worry about our pet’s safety when we are told that they require anaesthesia. Even procedures requiring minimal sedation still involve anaesthetic drugs and thus have the potential for individual side effects or “bad reactions”. It is extremely important to gain as much information regarding your pet’s health as possible prior to anaesthesia to allow us to anticipate any problems and tailor a suitable drug regime for your pet’s needs.
You can help your pet
If you can, try and provide a urine sample prior to anaesthesia. This allows us to screen your pet for diabetes and kidney disease. Animals with abnormal results are advised to have a starved blood sample taken prior to anaesthesia to get an accurate picture of organ function. If we have identified a problem it allows us to treat it and also monitor relevant functions under anaesthesia.
Please inform us of any illness, increased thirst, cough, recent unexplained weight losss, poor exercise tolerance or history of seizures. Please inform us of any known allergies or drug reactions.
What do we do?
Kate MacNeill gained her Royal College of Veterinary Surgeon’s (RCVS) Veterinary Anaesthesia Certificate in 1992. Due to this special interest we have always maintained standards of anaesthesia well above those found in most veterinary practices outwith the University hospitals. We have three RCVS Registered and Listed Qualified Veterinary Nurses working in theatre.
We adhere to very strict protocols within the practice with respect to care of elderly animals and provision of safe anaesthesia with good post-operative pain control.
Older animals
Our policy is to routinely provide intravenous fluid therapy to all animals over eight years old receiving anaesthesia. If you do not know the exact age of your pet it is better to assume that they are older and give them fluids.
Why do we do this?
All the drugs and gases we use to keep animals asleep cause a decrease in blood pressure. This means that when your pet is asleep it has greatly reduced blood flow to vital organs such as the kidney and brain. If these organs receive less oxygen from the blood than normal, then they may be permanently damaged as a result. To prevent this happening we give your pet intravenous fluids to help maintain better blood flow to vital organs and to keep blood pressure within safe limits. We also measure your pet’s blood pressure during anaesthesia to make sure that all is well.
What else do we do...
|
