Surgical Care
Pain Management | Laser Surgery | Orthopedic Surgery | Anesthesia | Spay and Neuter
Sometimes the surgeon's knife - or laser - is the best, or maybe even the only alternative.
The Chastain Veterinary Medical Group maintains surgical suites of the highest caliber and we are not ashamed to say that, because of that, we might cost a little more than other veterinary establishments.
Too often we have seen the results of indiscriminate discounting that delivered service and quality to match. When a patient's life may depend on the quality of the medical equipment or the level of nursing staff training, we cannot afford to take any chances, and we won't. With that you can rest assured. Having said that, we also feel that is essential that the medical care a pet receives reflect the pet owner's love, insights, and personal preferences. Therefore, we will communicate with you at all times to make certain you are quite comfortable with the level of service offered and the costs involved.
At Chastain Veterinary Medical Group, in addition to routine spays and neuters, we are equipped to perform many types of surgical procedures. For example: removal of intestinal foreign bodies (balls, corks, pins, socks, etc.), repair of broken bones, removal of tumors, removal of bladder stones, cesarean sections, surgical correction of ear and eye deformities, reconstructive surgery (for repair of damage caused by auto injuries, bullets, or other animals), and so on. In fact, we can fix most of those things that can go wrong in your pet's day-to-day "working" life as well as some of the serious things that happen naturally.
At Chastain Veterinary Medical Group, our surgical services include:
- A complete pre-surgical physical examination before anesthesia.
- Pre-op blood testing for increased patient safety (optional).
- A screening electrocardiogram (ECG) for increased patient safety.
- IV catheter and IV Fluids to speed recovery and increase patient safety (optional).
- State-of-the-art anesthesia, using generally either sevofluorane or isofluorane.
- The surgical procedure itself.
- Use of the surgical laser, when appropriate.
- Individual patient monitoring by 1-2 trained veterinary nurses, during surgery and in recovery.
- Wholesome foods, fresh water, clean bedding, and lots of TLC.
- Post-operative pain relief, as appropriate.
- Return visits for re-check or suture removal, if required.
Pain Management
In the past, pain management was largely overlooked in veterinary medicine. Why, we could never understand?
However, current scientific thinking fully agrees with us that pain is just as real and just as serious for animals as it is for us humans.
At CVMG, we recommend pain control medications for almost all invasive surgical procedures. Pain control medications can be administered by injection, by pill, by liquid, or by means of a transdermal skin patch. The costs vary with the method of administration and patient size, but do rest assured: we will find a pain relief method that suits you and works for your pet.
Laser Surgery
Surgery becomes fast and accurate and, as a result, even more gentle when a laser beam is used.
We feel so strongly about the benefits of Laser Surgery that it has become a minimum standard of care for most of our surgical procedures. Today, almost all of our surgical procedures are now performed using a LuxarCare CO2 Surgical Laser. It does add a little to the cost of a procedure, but we feel the benefits to the pet far outweigh the extra cost.
A Carbon Dioxide Surgical Laser produces an invisible beam of light, which heats and vaporizes tissue almost instantaneously without any physical contact. This is done so precisely that the normal surrounding tissues are hardly affected at all. Since laser light is the only thing touching your pet during an incision, there is essentially no tearing, crushing or bruising of tissue.
Another huge benefit is that the laser beam also seals cut blood vessels and cut nerve endings as it goes. For your pet, this means:
- less patient pain
- less bleeding
- less swelling
- lessened risk of post-op infection
- faster recovery and return to normal function
The list of surgical procedures that can benefit from laser use is growing every day. Here is a short list of surgicval procedures where laser use can make a big difference:
- Spays and neuters
- Ear surgeries
- Eye and eyelid surgeries
- Lick granulomas
- Nasal fold and Nostril surgery
- Oral surgery and surgery of the gums
- Tumor Removal surgeries
- Feline declaws - One of the most remarkable advantages of Laser Surgery is the ability to perform laser assisted feline declawing. Anyone who has been through this procedure with their pet in the past probably knows how uncomfortable our little fur-balls can be afterwards when conventional surgical methods are used. Well, not any longer. In fact, as a matter of policy, we will not perform the surgical declawing of cats without the laser because the effect has been so amazingly effective. In this procedure especially, laser incisions dramatically decrease the pain involved. Cats surgically de-clawed with benefit of the laser are almost always walking nearly 100% normal ~ 24 hours after their surgery.
Lasers help make surgery safer. Laser surgery has also revolutionized our ability to treat birds and non-traditional pets, such as ferrets, reptiles, rabbits and so on. Operating on these animals has always carried some significant risk because their little bodies can afford to lose so little blood. Now, with the advantages of the laser, these small pets have a much better chance of surviving surgery as compared to traditional "cold steel" surgical methods.
Orthopedic Surgery
Our facilities can perform bone plating, bone pinning, joint surgeries, extra-capsular cruciate repairs, arthrodesis, etc. These procedures are typically performed by a Chastain Veterinary Medical Group doctor working together with a contract surgeon - a non-board certified veterinarian with vast real-world orthopedic experience. The contract surgeon does the surgery and the Chastain veterinarian runs the anesthesia and hospitalization and acts as overall case manager.
When owners prefer or the standard of care calls for it, orthopedic cases can also be referred to local board-certified surgical specialists.
Anesthesia and Pain Management
Naturally, the best anesthesia is the safest. For general anesthesia, we use only sevofluorane or isofluorane gas anesthesia. These are, quite simply, the very best because they are the safest. Yes! They are a little more expensive than purely injectable anesthetic protocols, however, they do offer huge patient advantages, such as
- Rapid induction,
- Little or no systemic absorption,
- Minimal adverse effect on the heart, liver and kidneys,
- Rapid control of patient's anesthetic depth,
- Rapid recovery,
- Little or no post-op hangover effect.
But drug safety is only one of several issues that must be considered. For example, when a patient is anesthetized, whatever medication is used, he or she must still be monitored closely. That's why some of the most important equipment in any operating room is the anesthetic monitoring equipment.
At CVMG, our patient monitoring equipment includes the ASM-5000V multi-parameter monitor, which incorporates the most modern medical technology. The non-invasive blood pressure (NIBP) module, of the equipment can sense a change in a patient's cardiodynamics (heart operation) and initiate an off-cycle cuff measurement, which alerts the veterinarian to important changes in blood pressure. The high resolution, 64-color, LCD display shows each parameter (body temperature, ECG, pulse oximetry, etc) in a distinct color and can be viewed from almost any angle. All monitor functions are instantly visible at a glance.
The machinery is also extremely user-friendly. This is of vital importance because no machine is as reliable as a concerned pair of eyes. That's why all surgical patients are monitored manually, as well as electronically, by one or two trained veterinary nurses as well as the veterinary surgeon.
We are huge believers in aggressive pain management. We provide basic pain control for all surgeries, we often recommend and sometimes require additional pain medication for some surgeries depending on the procedure in question. We will also usually send home pain medication as well.
Spay and Neuter
While the very thought of surgery may make you grimace, the alternatives can be quite uncomfortable.
Unless your dog or cat is to be used for breeding purposes, spaying or neutering is an important step you must consider. It will save you many a headache and save your pet from physical and psychological discomfort, as well.
Spaying (technically called an ovariohysterectomy) is the surgical removal of the female reproductive organs (ovaries, uterus, and fallopian tubes).
Neutering (also known as orchectomy or castration) is the surgical removal of the reproductive glands (testes) of the male animal.
These procedure are available for dogs and cats, of course, as well as rabbits, squirrels, sugar gliders, ferrets, etc.
The aim of spaying and neutering is to prevent the production of unwanted puppies or kittens. These often end up, cruelly, on the unwanted and unloved list. Spaying and neutering is also done to avoid certain behavioral issues such as fighting, straying, roaming, urine marking, or the unwanted attention of males when a female is in season, and to avoid the inconvenience of having a female bleed for 1-6 weeks while in heat several times a year. Complications and side effects, whilst they are possible, are rare. Any changes in temperament are almost always for the better, if they occur at all. The cost is reasonable when compared with alternatives so if you are considering having it done at some stage, sooner may be more economical than later!
Do talk to us about spaying and neutering when next you visit us, or call us at 972 529-5033 (Meadow Brook) or 972 239-1309 (Preston Road).