Surgery Services

We are a full service veterinary hospital: in addition to routine pet wellness appointments, we see urgent/emergency appointments and perform elective and emergency surgery.

With pets, the options for surgical treatment are similar to those for people.  There is a wide range of simple to complex operations and procedures able to be performed, using sophisticated anesthesia techniques.

At Carpinteria Veterinary Hospital, we are able to perform many surgeries right here. However, if specialty care is deemed necessary, we will work with you and your pet and get you to the right veterinary specialist and will stay with your throughout the whole process of returning your pet to health.

Carpinteria Veterinary Hospital’s Surgeries

Some surgeries are elective, and we will work as a team with you to determine if an elective surgery is the best option for your pet and can schedule it appropriately. While we all hope to avoid surgery, in certain situations, surgery can greatly enhance your pet's well being and enjoyment of life.  Click here to see our routinely performed elective surgeries.

We also perform emergency surgeries when necessary. These are unplanned and a decision to proceed must be made swiftly to save the life of your pet.  Click here to see our routinely performed emergency surgeries.

The day of your pet's surgical/anesthetic procedure

The morning of the procedure, your pet should be fasted. We will of course call you the day before to remind you of the important details. Please make sure your dog has had a short walk and eliminated prior to check in. 

A check in appointment is usually scheduled in the early morning with one of the surgical assistants.  The assistant will go over the treatment plan you have arranged with the doctor, have you sign the necessary anesthetic consent forms and confirm a phone number where you can be reached all day.  

Your pet is then admitted to the hospital, given a comfy bed and prepped for anesthesia. Pre-anesthetic blood work will be drawn (if necessary) and results will be available for your pet's doctor to review within 10-15 minutes.  An intravenous catheter will be placed and your pet will have a complete physical exam performed by your vet.  

The best anesthetic plan is then customized to your pet using multimodal anesthesia. Smaller doses of a combination of injectable drugs are used to relax your pet, relieve any anxiety, provide pain control and facilitate placement of an endotracheal tube to provide oxygen and gas anesthesia (sevoflurane or isoflurane) during the procedure.  

During every anesthesia (regardless of the length or simplicity) a surgical assistant is solely responsible for monitoring your pet while your vet is performing the procedure or surgery.  Intravenous fluids are given to maintain normal blood pressure, the ECG, heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, temperature and blood oxygenation levels are continuously monitored and adjustments to fluids, anesthetic gas levels or pain medications are made accordingly.  A heated air blanket is provided to keep your pet cozy during and after the anesthetic procedure.

After completion of the procedure, your pet is carefully and consistently monitored in the treatment room (hub of the hospital constantly staffed by trained surgical assistants) to make sure any pain is controlled, temperature maintained and the anesthetic recovery is smooth. Dependent on the procedure, we like to monitor our patients for quite a few hours to make sure all their needs are met. However, as soon as your pet is awake, you will receive a phone call update and a discharge time later in the same day will be confirmed.

When you pick up your pet, your vet or a staff member will go over your typed discharge instructions including when to give any oral medications and next meal.  

The night of the anesthetic procedure, your pet may be a little more needy or vocal. Dependent on your pet's personality, he or she may simply sleep off the effects of the anesthesia/excitement of the day or demand your TLC throughout the evening.  Many people confuse this vocal behavior with pain.  If pain is expected after any procedure, we will make sure your pet is as comfortable as possible with a combination of longer lasting pain medication injections and/or oral pain medications to be taken at home.  

By mid-morning the following day, we will expect your pet to have eaten and had any necessary medications and will always call to make sure everything is going well.