During December we will post a step-by-step journey of Callie’s neutering experience. We hope to provide a comforting and reassuring insight into what the procedure involves for our clients as well as our patients. It also let’s us blow our own trumpet a little! We’re very proud of the high standards of care we deliver behind the scenes that owners don’t get to see.
Admission
Admitting Callie is the first step of the process. Laura, the vet, went through all of the paperwork with Callie’s human. This allows her to gather all the necessary information to assess Callie’s anaesthetic risk. This information allows Laura to tailor the safest anaesthetic protocol to meet Callie’s specific needs.
Anaesthetic risk is graded on a classification scale from 1-5 (1 being low risk, 5 being high risk). Laura considered; body condition score, age, dehydration and systemic disease to name a few.
Anaesthetic Risk
For patients who are at a higher risk of being under anaesthetic, the vet may recommend additional support options. Pre-anaesthetic bloods can assess blood cell levels that check for conditions such as anaemia and infection. Pre-anaesthetic bloods can also assess kidney and liver function which helps determine if the body is fit and healthy prior to administering any anaesthetic drugs.
Secondly, we can also provide intravenous fluid therapy. This assists the body in removing the anaesthetic drugs from the system after the anaesthetic and supports the liver and kidneys. It also helps to maintain blood pressure throughout the procedure.
Emergencies
An important part of the paperwork relates to emergency treatment consent. If there is an unexpected complication during the procedure, we need to know that we have your permission to treat your pet as we see fit.
Other considerations
It’s important for Laura to know the date Callie had her last season. The blood supply to the uterus is increased at this time which increases the risk of bleeding during the procedure. To reduce this risk we carry out the procedure as far from the season as possible.
A “phantom” pregnancy is a common condition in female dogs. Typical behaviours are; nesting and resource guarding as well as exhibiting behaviours that are out of the ordinary or unusual for the dog. A phantom pregnancy occurs when hormone changes in the body can trick the body into thinking it is pregnant. It is important we do not carry out the spay whilst this is happening as permanent behavioural changes can occur. We also check to see if there is any milk production as this can be another sign.
To find our more about Callie’s neutering experience check back on 9th December. In the meantime, if you have any concerns about the health of your pet, contact the client care team on PetsApp or call 01772 639800 OR 01253 766352
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