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Goddard Veterinary Group
Wanstead Veterinary Hospital
84 New Wanstead
Wanstead
London E11 2SY |
Tel: +44 (0) 20
8989 7744
Fax: +44 (0) 20 8532 2821 |
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Preparation
Many animals requiring a surgical procedure will have been offered a pre-anaesthetic blood analysis - especially if they are approaching old age. This allows your vet to check for signs of early disease before symptoms become obvious - this may affect the procedure and the anaesthetic.
Animals requiring a general anaesthetic will need to have food taken away the evening before and water removed on the morning. This reduces the likelihood of the animal vomiting during the anaesthetic.
If your animal is to have an investigation of its gastrointestinal tract it may be given an enema during its preparation.
 All animals will be weighed once admitted so that drug amounts can be calculated accurately. Drugs administered will include a pre-anaesthetic injection, called a pre-med, which contains a sedative and usually a pain killer (analgesic).
The sedative reduces any anxiety the animal may have and reduces the amount of anaesthetic agents needed.
The painkiller provides pain relief for the procedure
and usually the recovery period. It is given before the pain/discomfort starts so therefore it has more effect. Some animals will also be given painkillers to go home with.
 After the painkiller has had time to act the animal, e.g. cat or dog, is then anaesthetised using modern drugs, such as propofol - a drug used to anaesthetise humans. After this has taken effect the patient is intubated to secure its airway. An anaesthetic circuit is then attached so anaesthetic gases and oxygen can be administered along with monitoring equipment.
Many animals will have various areas of their coat hair clipped - depending on the procedure. Some will have just a small patch over the foreleg clipped for the injection site. Other animals will need a larger area clipped for intravenous catheters or for ultrasound examination.
When your pet needs a surgical procedure an area significantly larger than the operation site will be clipped. A large area is necessary so that the operation site can be cleaned appropriately. The surgeon often has to hold the surgical wound wide open so there needs to be no risk of contamination from any stray hair.
The area will be gently scrubbed with an antiseptic preparation solution following clipping of the hair to skin level (if the dog is very dirty it may have to be bathed before the procedure).
Once the animal is positioned in the operating room the area is again washed over and then scrubbed with the cleansing preparation. While the nurse performs this the vet is free to 'scrub up' before wearing a sterile operating gown and sterile gloves.
 A final spray of antiseptic is applied before the surgeon covers the area with sterilised drapes and opens the sterilised instrument set.
  Castration
Castration of male animals involves the surgical removal, under general anaesthetic, of the testicles, associated blood vessels and the scrotum.
This procedure is routinely performed on dogs and cats, increasingly in rabbits and occasionally in ferrets and other small mammals. See preventative health care.
Reasons for castration include preventative health measures e.g. behavioural problems, to avoid sexually transmitted diseases such as FeLV, diseases of older age e.g. prostate hypertrophy and to sterilise the animal. Other reasons include removal of cancerous lesions such as scrotal or testicular cancer.
After surgical preparation an incision is made just behind the scrotum.
The testicle is pulled clear of the body and the major vessels clamped. These include the testicular arteries and veins and spermatic cord.
The vessels are then tied (ligated) with suture material, checked for blood loss (haemorrhage) and released.
This is repeated on the other side and the wound is then sutured.
At birth male dog and cats testicles are located in their abdomen, gradually as they mature these descend through the pelvic muscles into the scrotum. Occasionally one or both testicles may become trapped in the abdomen if the musculature closes up early - this is called a retained testicle.
When kittens and puppies begin vaccination courses part of the health check will include checking for the presence of both testicles.
Any retained testicles will need surgical removal soon after discovery as these are likely to become cancerous.
A castrated animal will no longer have the ability to reproduce and may have some behavioural changes e.g. less sexually active and have a significantly reduced likelihood of contracting prostatic or infectious disease.
Bitch and Queen Spay (Ovariohysterectomy)
A spay procedure is the surgical removal, under general anaesthetic of the ovaries, fallopian tubes and uterus (womb) up to the cervix.
This is a procedure routinely carried out on dogs, cats, rabbits and occasionally other small pets.
Reasons for performing a spay include for preventative health benefits such as sterilisation, absence of seasons and infections and reduction in incidence of mammary cancers.
This operation is also performed in cases of womb infections (pyometra). The area is prepared.
The surgeon clamps over the cervix and carefully ligates the blood vessels and cervix with a number of ligatures.
The uterus and ovaries are removed and the stump of the cervix is checked carefully for any bleeding. This stump has a number of very large blood vessels - any slipping ligatures (a problem with overweight animals) would pose a serious haemorrhage threat.
The surgeon closes the surgical wound, layer by layer, ending with skin sutures or staples.
A spayed bitch or queen is sterilised and is without the risk of phantom pregnancies or pyometra. She has a reduced (variable) risk of mammary cancer.
Spayed bitches are more likely to be in danger of becoming overweight if overfed as her energies are not focussed on mating. Most spayed bitches need either a little more exercise or about 10 - 15% reduction in her food to stop her from putting weight on, particularly for the first 3 months after the operation.
An incision is made along the midline of the abdomen between the nipples. This incision needs to be long enough for the surgeon to be able to reach the ovaries, towards the head end and the cervix in the pelvic area.
Avoiding disturbing the abdominal contents, the surgeon locates an ovary and releases it gently from its position. It is held in place by a ligament which the surgeon must gently snap between his/her fingers.
Once the ovary is released it is brought to the wound edge and the vessels clamped. The other ovary is located and the same procedure carried out.
Both ovaries and the uterus can now be seen.
Fracture Repair
The most common cause of a fracture is trauma of some sort. Cats often damage their jaw bones following a Road Traffic Accident (RTA) or after a fall from a height. Other causes include bone tumours or an incorrect diet leading to very weak bones which will break.
 Pelvic injuries are another common cat injury after RTA's, as the pelvic end of the cat is hit by the car as it runs away. Dogs are less agile and so often sustain more injuries when being knocked by a car.
After an all over health check the vet will assess the animal for pain, deformity, swelling and wounds. Very often the animal will be very lame but sometimes a fracture can be concealed, especially if it does not involve the legs. Radiography will display any fractures - although some can be difficult to detect.
Fractures can be repaired in a number of ways - depending on many factors. The choices include:
Fractures can be left to heal by themselves
This is often the case with greenstick or incomplete fractures, where the fracture is stable. Here the fracture is held in alignment so healing will be rapid.
The fracture can be surgically prepared. This is where the fracture fragments are held together to allow healing. The following types are used:
Internal fixation using special sterile orthopaedic screws, wires and pins. This is often left in site even after the fracture has healed, without any problems. However some patients may need the metal work removing.
External fixation using a combination of bars, nuts and bolts. Bars are placed through the bone above and below the fracture site, taking the animals weight off the site until healing is complete. These are always removed at a later date.
 Knee Ligament RepairThere are internal and external joint ligaments in the knee:
cruciate ligaments are the internal ligaments found within the joint itself
collateral ligaments are located outside the knee joint.
This set of ligaments work together to allow a careful range of movement within the knee joint. They are hard working ligaments, often put under a lot of stress, especially when energetic dogs run around in all directions e.g. like when chasing a rabbit or erratically bouncing ball.
If the animal is running at full stretch and suddenly gets its foot stuck or sharply twists it leg then it is likely that the stress placed on these ligaments may cause damage.
It is possible to damage all sets of ligaments but is more common to injure the collateral or cruciate ligaments.
Surgical repair is required to prevent further deterioration of the joint stability and to reduce the damage to the surfaces of the joint, which may lead to arthritic changes. There are a number of techniques used to repair this problem, depending on the severity and extent of injury.
The animal must not be allowed to become overweight as the knee stability will not recover to 100% fitness and the extra stress of extra weight would exacerbate the problem.
Many dogs that damage one set of stifle ligaments go on to damage the other leg. Control of body weight and type of exercise is important to reduce the problem reoccurring.
Laparotomy (Exploratory Laparotomy)
A laparotomy is an opening into the abdominal cavity. An exploratory laparotomy is one that is performed to investigate a problem such as to retrieve a "foreign body" e.g. a ball that's been swallowed.
Laparotomy's maybe performed to allow tissue sample collection (biopsy), or to perform surgery such as gut resection or bladder stone removal. The procedure involves a surgical incision along the abdominal midline between the nipples. The abdominal cavity, in the area of the suspected problem, will be carefully investigated.
The abdomen is particularly sensitive to damage - even the powder on some sterile surgical gloves worn by surgeons could cause a problem. The organs within the abdominal cavity need careful handling and particular attention is needed if incisions are made. Leakage of the gut contents would cause peritonitis and leaks from contaminated organs, such as pyometra (pus filled womb) would cause serious infections if left unnoticed.
Entropion / Ectropion
These are abnormalities of the eyelids:
Entropion is where the eyelids curl in towards the surface of the eye (cornea and sclera). This causes discomfort and inflammation to the eye, especially if a number of eyelashes rub on the eye surface. It has the potential to lead to other ocular problems.
Ectropion is the turning out of the eyelid so that the dog has "droopy" eyes. This is quite normal in some breeds e.g. Basset Hounds and St, Bernard's, but in most it poses a problem as the conjunctiva becomes dry and damaged.
Both the conditions above can be corrected surgically.
Dental Surgical Techniques
 Dental techniques include scaling and polishing following tartar removal as well as removal of diseased teeth. While this can be avoided by daily brushing of your pets teeth it is a common procedure performed under general anaesthesia.
Care has to be taken, as gum infection is often present. Your vet may prescribe a short course of antibiotics to start before your pet's dental is performed so as to reduce this infection.
Other dental techniques include removal of milk (deciduous) teeth and oral / dental surgery as part of the treatment of cancer of the jaw bone.
Occasionally after a jaw injury, perhaps as a result of a road traffic accident (RTA), a tooth may need to be removed because of misalignment. This is often the taller canine tooth that would otherwise cause problems on the gum or jaw in the area.
Abscess
Cats are the animals most likely to get abscesses - those territorial un-neutered Tom cats being top of the list.
Cat's teeth (and nails) are covered in bacteria and the deep wound left from a bite from the sharp canine teeth creates the perfect environment for the bacteria to grow. The small entrance wound scabs over leaving the infection to build up and a few days later the animal has a hot tender swelling. If left this may cause the animal to become ill with the infectious toxins circulating the body, or the abscess may burst independently. It is often necessary to lance an abscess and allow the infection to drain out. Most will require antibiotics to clear up the infection.
Any fresh fight wound you discover on your pet should be washed carefully. You should check over the animal for any other injuries and contact your vet/surgery for guidance. They may recommend an antibiotic course to prevent the development of an abscess.
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