Day Of Surgery

​Knowing what to expect on your animals’ surgery day might alleviate some of your stress which in return can alleviate some of your animal’s stress too. Here is what a typical day for a surgery patient here at Simcoe Animal Hospital looks like.

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• When you arrive at 8am with your pet you are greeted by our receptionist.
• One of our Registered Veterinary Technicians will then take you into an exam room, weigh your pets and go over the surgical admit form with you. You will need to sign the admit form and leave a number where you can be reached.
• The Technician will be able to answer any questions you might have, and they will set up a discharge time for you and your pet.
• At this time, you will leave your pet in the fully capable hands of our staff.

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• Our Technician will draw some blood to run bloodwork to make sure your pets’ kidneys and liver are working properly. We run bloodwork to make sure they will be able to excrete the anesthesia from their body properly.

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• An exam is performed by a Veterinarian, with that and the blood results the Veterinarian can make an educated decision on whether your pet is safe to undergo surgery. If for any reason the Veterinarian is concerned, they will contact you on the phone number you put on the surgical admit form. It is important that you are reachable on the number you left on this form.
• Once it is determined that your pet is in good health then they will be sedated. Sedation usually takes 20-30 minutes to take effect. 

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• When the sedation has taken affect, an intravenous catheter is placed in your pets’ leg. An injectable anesthesia is then administered through the catheter to make your pet sleep, once asleep an endotracheal tube is inserted so your pet can be hooked up to an inhalant anesthetic. Your animal is then shaved, prepped for surgery and placed on fluids.
• A Veterinarian will then perform your pet’s surgery.
• During the surgery your pet will be monitored by a highly train Registered Veterinary Technician and various monitoring devices that monitor heart rate and function, oxygen levels in the blood stream, body temperature and blood pressure.

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• Once the surgery is completed and your pet is in recovery pain medication will typically be administer. Then your pet will be transferred into an appropriately blanketed area to finish recovering. The doctor will then call you and let you know how surgery went and that your animal is in recovery. Once fully awake they will be offered a small meal, water and get to go out for a bathroom break if needed.
• At the time of discharge, you will be taken into an exam room where our Technician will go over all instructions with you, including all medications that are being sent home, answer any questions you may have and last but certainly not least get your pet for you.
• One of our Veterinarians will contact you the following day to make sure that your pet is doing well and answer any questions you may have.

​If you have a concern with your pet after the surgery please don’t hesitate to call us, we will do a courtesy exam to make sure everything is okay. If sutures need to be removed, a time will be booked with you at your discharge appointment and they will be removed at no cost.