We understand that it is a worrying time when your pet has to come in for an operation, but we will do our best to try and make it a positive experience for both you and your pet.
At Beaconsfield Veterinary Clinic, we are proud to say that we can offer a wide range of surgical procedures including routine neutering and soft tissue surgery.
We operate every day, Monday-Saturday.
When your pet comes in for an operation, there are a number of steps that are taken, these are:
Pre-Op Examination and Blood SamplingOn the day of your pets operation, you will be greeted by one of our qualified nurses and taken through into a consult room for an admit appointment. During the admit, the nurse will go through a consent form, weigh your pet, check your contact details are up to date and ask you a number of questions to enable us to provide your pet with the best care.
Once the admit appointment is completed, our ops nurse will take your pet through and settle them into a kennel in our kennel room.
Before any medication or blood sampling is done, your pet will have a clinical examination by our operating veterinary surgeon to double check your pet is healthy and well enough for the planned procedure.
We offer pre-op bloods to every client, but particularly advise it for elderly pets, to check for conditions such as liver and kidney problems. In the early stages of these conditions, there may be no outward signs of problems, but they can affect the safety of your pet's anaesthetic. This blood test can be done before any surgical procedure and costs £35.00.
Your pet will then be given a pre-med injection which will make them feel a little bit sleepy and also contains analgesia (pain relief), so your pet has had this prior to undergoing surgery.
About 30 minutes after your pet has been given their pre-med, they will be ready for their induction of anaesthesia.
First of all, your pet will be taken through into our prep room where they will be cuddled and restrained by one of our qualified nurses, whilst a small area is clipped and prepped for us to be able to gain venous access. In dogs and cats, we use the cephalic vein on the forelimb and in rabbits we use the marginal ear vein. An intravenous cannula will then be placed and taped in position, so we have constant venous access throughout surgery and post-operatively for intravenous fluids and for further medication if required.
An induction agent will then be given to your pet via the intravenous cannula and will continue to be cuddled by one of our nurses whilst they slowly drift off to sleep.
Once your pet is asleep enough, we will place an endotracheal tube down their trachea to enable a patent airway throughout anaesthesia and also to administer oxygen and anaesthetic agent.
Your pet will now be maintained under general anaesthesia until their surgical procedure is over.
Once your pet has settled under anaesthesia, they will be prepped for surgery by our nurses in the prep room.
Preparation involves using surgical clippers to clip away hair from the surgical site, clipping is necessary for all surgical procedures to prevent infection risk.
Once the surgical site is clipped and free of hair, the skin is cleaned with a surgical scrub.
The surgical scrub is an antimicrobial; this will significantly reduce the amount of bacteria on the skin prior to surgery.
Once the preparation stage is complete, your pet will be taken through into theatre.
Whilst your pet is under general anaesthesia, one of our nurses will constantly be monitoring your pet's depth of anaesthesia and their vital signs.
Vital signs that we monitor include: heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature, blood pressure, saturated oxygen levels in the blood and capnography (concentration of partial pressure of carbon dioxide).
Once surgery is over, we will recover your pet from their anaesthetic. Recovery is a very crucial time. One of our qualified nurses will remain monitoring your pet. Once your pet is awake enough they will be extubated (have their endotracheal tube removed) and carried through into their kennel, with heat pads to ensure they are kept warm on recovery.
Once your pet is alert and fully awake, we offer them a bowl of sensitivity food (either dry or wet, depending on what your pet normally has at home).
When fully recovered, one of our nurses will give you a phone call to let you know how the procedure went and to arrange a discharge time.
When you come to collect your pet, you will have a discharge appointment with one of our nurses to discuss the post-operative care that your pet will require and also when they will need to come back in for post-op checks.
Please feel free to ask any questions at this point too.
