Preparing Your Pet for Surgery

Is your pet booked in with us for a procedure? Here are some general details about their stay with us:

Preparing (the day before)

Make sure your pet doesn’t have any food after 9pm the night before their surgery. Water is okay for your pet to have up until their admission.

This may also be a good time to bath your pet as they may not be able to have a bath for up to 2 weeks after the procedure.

 The Morning Of 

Make sure your pet has not had any food at all on the morning of their surgery (this includes treats). If they did eat something, please let us know ASAP.

We advise taking your pet outside to toilet before bringing them into the hospital.

 The Admission 

Admission time at our Albion Park hospital is 8:30am, unless otherwise specified by us.

Admission time at our Gerringong hospital is 9am, unless otherwise specified by us.

Please allow approximately 10-15 minutes for your pet’s admission with the vet/nurse so they can assess the general fitness of your pet and allow time to discuss any questions or concerns you may have regarding the surgery.

As part of admission, we will ask you if you would like your pet to have a pre-anesthetic blood test. This is an in-house test that checks your pet’s kidney and liver function to make sure that they are well enough for surgery. 

Please keep your phone on while your pet is with us as we may need to contact you while they are under anesthetic.

 During The Day 

During the day, your pet will receive a pre-anesthetic medication that gives them both pain and anxiety relief.

They will also have an IV canular placed, even if they are not having fluid therapy during the procedure.

Most surgical procedures are day-stay only, and your pet should be ready to head home in the afternoon. We will call you once their procedure is done and confirm their discharge time. If your pet requires an overnight stay, the vet will discuss this with you beforehand.

 Once They Are Home 

The general anesthetic or sedation your pet was given may impact your pet’s ability to regulate their body temperature, which means they may be cold overnight. Make sure they are kept somewhere warm and draught-free overnight.

Your pet may not want to eat when they get home, this can be a normal response to the anesthetic drugs they have had. Start by offering them a small amount of food (around half their usual meal size). If they eat this and do not vomit, you can return to feeding them normally. If their appetite isn’t back to normal within 48 hours of coming home, please let us know.

Your pet may have a slight cough after their procedure. This is most likely irritation from the breathing tube they have in place during surgery and should settle on its own within the week. If it doesn’t improve, or gets worse, please let us know.

Your pet may be sore around the surgical site after the procedure. We advise to be gentle with your pet and handle them with care.

 Post-Operative Care 

Depending on the procedure your pet has, they may be sent home with an e-collar (cone) or surgical suit. This is important to stop them licking their wound and should be worn for 10 days post-operatively when not being supervised.

You shouldn’t need to clean or dress their wound, but it should be kept dry for 10 days post-operatively. During this time, you should limit jumping and running as much as possible. If you are worried about being able to limit your pet’s exercise, let us know and we can dispense a mild sedative to help during their recovery.

Your pet will have sutures to hold the surgical site together. They may be external sutures and need to be removed in 14 days OR they may be sutures under the skin and don’t need to be removed. Your vet/nurse will let you know which kind of sutures we used during your discharge appointment.

If your pet is sent home with post-operative medication, please follow the instructions on the label closely.

 Follow Up Appointments 

We will let you know if we recommend a post-op check-up. In general, it is not required for routine desexing. For non-routine surgeries, we may recommend a free post-op check one week after surgery.