Your Pet's Surgery

The doctors of Chesterfield Veterinary Center are among the best trained, skilled and experienced veterinary surgeons to be found practicing at any hospital. Additionally, not only are they accomplished professionally, but they come to this profession with a deep sense of compassion for all animals.

However, we understand that the decision to allow your beloved companion to undergo surgery is never an easy one. Despite the confidence we have in our abilities and state-of-the-art surgical suite, we know that surgery is difficult for both you and your pet. This is why we work as hard as we do to ensure your pet's procedure is as comfortable and stress free as possible.

Perhaps the most important pre-surgical step we take is to discuss with you why we believe a particular procedure is necessary and what it entails. We also provide information on proper postoperative care and answer any questions you may have so that you feel comfortable that you are making the right choice for your pet.

Chesterfield Veterinary Center truly believes that our personal attention to each patient and client is what makes our surgical services unique.

Our Surgical Services

Chesterfield Veterinary Center believes it is in the best interests of our clients' pets for us to offer as wide an array of surgical services from our facility as possible. It is important for you and your pet to receive care in a friendly and welcoming facility from people you both have come to know in order to reduce stress and promote healing.

For this reason, Chesterfield Veterinary Center offers a wide range of soft tissue surgeries, which include spays and neuters, declaw, foreign body removal, oral surgery, tumor removal, surgery for bloat, gland removal, wound repair and management, cystotomy, splenectomy, and many others. Should your pet require the care of a surgical specialist, our network of specialists includes a board certified surgeon capable of providing your pet with a wide range of soft tissue surgical services.

Companion animals, especially those in their later years, also can suffer from a range of joint and ligament injuries and maladies, such as arthritis. Some dog breeds are also highly prone to these types of injuries and illnesses. Because orthopedic care is an important component of keeping your pet healthy, we offer a number of orthopedic procedures. These include cranial cruciate repair, joint surgeries, bone pinning, amputations and fracture repair, to name a few.

As with our soft tissue surgeries, should your pet require the care of a specialist, we maintain a close relationship with an area board certified veterinary orthopedic surgeon. In all, it is our goal to provide your pet with the best and most appropriate surgical care possible.

Anesthesia & Monitoring

Ensuring the health and safety of your pet during surgery is of the utmost importance and requires an anesthetic and monitoring regimen that adheres to the highest principles and ideals of veterinary medicine. At Chesterfield Veterinary Center your pet has access to state-of-the-art anesthetic administration and cardiovascular monitoring equipment and protocols.

Prior to your pet's surgery he or she will be examined and a pre-surgical blood screen is performed. The results of these tests and your pets past anesthetic history, breed, preexisting conditions, and age are used to create an individualized anesthesia protocol for your pet.

While under anesthesia your pet will be cared for by a well-trained and experienced veterinary technician using our monitoring system, which tracks blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature, and oxygen level.

Pain Management

We all know that pain hurts, but many people don't know that pain has many other detrimental effects on the body.

It slows healing, decreases activity, causes behavior changes (such as aggression, anxiety, and depression), it worsens diseases like arthritis and potentially some cancers, and it interferes with the bond between you and your pet.

In order to combat those effects, we use an advanced, multimodal protocol to prevent and treat pain in our patients. Whenever possible, we use a combination of local anesthetics, NSAIDs, and narcotic pain relievers. We also try to include nondrug methods like exercise and physical therapy when appropriate.

Local Anesthetics

Local anesthetics (the most widely known is Novocain) numb sensation to a particular area—they may seem feeble, as anesthetics go, but they are actually the only type of anesthetic that completely blocks pain perception. They are particularly useful in epidural anesthesia, which we use often in procedures affecting the hind-limbs (e.g., knee surgery).

NSAIDs

NSAIDs are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Examples of this type of drug are aspirin, ibuprofen, and Celebrex. In general, NSAIDs for human use are not considered safe for dogs and cats. We use several different veterinary NSAIDs for pain control (Rimadyl, Deramaxx, and Metacam are the most commonly used).

Narcotics

Narcotics are the morphine-like drugs. Because they are often abused by human patients, they sometimes carry a stigma, but in reality they are very safe and effective pain relievers.

Nondrug Therapies

Nondrug therapies such as exercise and physical therapy maintain strength and flexibility, and help reduce the amount of drugs needed to control pain.

We also often make use of continuous infusions of these drugs so that patients get constant pain relief that can be adjusted minute-to-minute in order to ensure proper dosing.

Postoperative Care

As your pet is being discharged from the Hospital, we provide you with detailed information on how to properly care for your pet at home after surgery. We are also happy to answer any questions or concerns that may arise once you get your pet home.