Our goal at Avalon Animal Clinic is to practice quality veterinary medicine in a compassionate, friendly and caring atmosphere.

Surgery
What is general anesthesia and why is it necessary for my pet?
We need the cooperation of our patient (your pet) during the procedure. If your pet were to move due to fear or discomfort, injury could result and we could not perform a thorough, safe procedure. General anesthesia can be thought of as producing a very relaxed type sleep.

The safety of modern anesthesia has increased substantially with increased knowledge, modern equipment and modern anesthetic drugs. In addition to our training in veterinary school, our veterinary staff keeps up-to-date by attending seminars, consulting with specialists, and studying new information as it becomes available.
The first step we take to perform a safe anesthetic procedure is to determine what information should be obtained to best prepare your pet for the anesthetic. Your pet’s medical history, current state of health and current medications will be reviewed.
The next step is to decide which type of pre-anesthetic medication is necessary for your pet’s safety and comfort prior to the procedure. During anesthesia, your pet’s vital signs will be carefully monitored to evaluate how he/she is responding to the procedure, thereby allowing adjustment of the anesthetic depth as necessary.
One safety feature of modern gas anesthetics is that, to a degree, they are eliminated from the body by simply exhaling. This reduces the amount of work that organs such as the liver or kidneys perform in breaking down and eliminating drugs. The gas anesthetic that we utilize at Avalon is called isoflurane. This is one of the most modern gas anesthetics available today and it is also used frequently in human medicine.

Surgical Bloodwork
We require a blood screening for all animals receiving general anesthesia or sedation for any treatment or surgery. This laboratory testing assists us in detecting possible underlying abnormalities that could potentially add to the risk involved for your pet.

Pain Management
Your pet will receive an injection of a pain medication before surgery starts. In some surgeries, a local or regional block will also be used. Your pet will also receive an injection post-operatively for pain management. If deemed necessary, more than one injection will be given to insure that your pet is comfortable. If you would like, additional pain medication will be sent home with you, for your pet’s comfort (additional fee). In certain situations, your pet will automatically go home with additional pain medication to aid in their comfort and recovery.

Bloodwork
There are certain long-term medications that your pet may be taking that require periodic bloodwork. We want to make sure that the medication is helping your pet, and not causing any side effects. Before starting the medication, we will test your pet to be sure that organ function is normal and that your pet can withstand the medication. After we have begun treatment, we may test your pet again to make sure that there have not been any reactions to the new medication. If there is a problem, we can change the treatment plan immediately. Based on your patient’s needs and history, and pharmaceutical manufacturers recommendations, we will periodically test your pet to monitor for adverse reactions and to make sure that we are still using a therapeutic dose for your pet. Certain medications such as thyroid supplementation, heart medications, epilepsy medications, arthritis medications, incontinence medications, and long-term steroid medications are some examples of the drugs that we monitor periodically. During your physical exam, one of the doctors will inform you of the monitoring schedule.