Before Surgery
Don’t forget to upload proof of current rabies vaccination prior to your appointment, or your pet will be vaccinated at additional cost.
Keep your pet indoors the night before surgery. If your pet is over 6 months of age, no food should be offered after midnight that night, water is okay. If your pet is under 6 months of age, offer a small meal the morning of surgery, when your pet first wakes up.
After Surgery
Your pet may be groggy this evening and unsteady on their feet from the anesthesia. Keep them away from stairs and other high places they could fall from.
Offer a small meal this evening, but don’t be surprised if they don’t have much of an appetite. Appetite should return gradually within 24-48 hours. Provide fresh water at all times.
You must restrict your pet’s activity for the next fourteen days to allow the tissue time to heal and avoid causing the incision to open. Cats should stay indoors. All dogs should go out on a leash to urinate/defecate and then return inside to rest. Keep your pet from running, jumping, or bounding up or down stairs during this healing time.
Check the incision site twice daily. All sutures are buried under the skin and will dissolve over time, unless we told you otherwise. Sometimes a small portion of suture will peek through a healing incision. This will dissolve on its own. Keep the incision site dry-do not bathe or apply topical ointment during the recovery period. Have your pet wear the elizabethan collar for 14 days after surgery to prevent licking or chewing at the incision.
Females should have no drainage and no excessive redness or swelling.
The incision for males is often directly on the scrotum and is left slightly open to allow for drainage. Small amounts of drainage or discharge is normal for up to three days in males. Too much activity causes increased drainage, so activity restriction is very important.
Please remember that in order to keep costs affordable, we do not provide any emergency or follow-up care. Minimal redness and swelling of the surgery site should resolve within several days, but if it persists longer, please call your regular veterinarian or an urgent care/emergency hospital. You should also seek medical attention immediately if you notice any of the following: pale gums, lethargy, unsteady gait, loss of appetite or decreased water intake, vomiting, diarrhea, excessive discharge or bleeding from the incision, difficulty urinating or defecating, or labored breathing. Do not give human medication to your pet.
If your pet received a vaccine at our clinic other than rabies, please discuss with your regular veterinarian whether a booster vaccine is indicated. Generally, these are performed within 3-4 weeks of the initial vaccination.
Keep males away from unspayed females for 30 days. Keep females away from unneutered males for seven days. Be prepared to keep pets separate during the recovery period.