Anaesthesia as safe as possible (ASAP) program

We have initiated the As Safe As Possible program to provide the optimum anaesthetic protocol tailored for your pet.  To provide this care there are a number of factors to consider as follows:

Pre-anaesthetic blood tests

We perform a physical exam to pick up existing conditions before anaesthesia that may complicate your pets’ anaesthetic or procedure. A pre-anaesthetic blood test is the best way to ensure your pet is healthy inside and out.  We perform these blood tests for the same reasons your doctor would run tests before you underwent anaesthesia. These tests minimise the possibility of complications during and after anaesthesia, and are routinely done on all animals 8yrs and over and all animals undergoing surgery for 30mins or over.  They are highly recommended for younger animals.

Intravenous fluid administration

All anaesthetics cause a drop in blood pressure.  If prolonged this pressure drop can be detrimental to the health of your pets’ organs, particularly their kidneys, and result in a slower recovery.  For short procedures this effect is minimal in a young healthy animal.  For older animals or any surgery over 30 minutes it can have a significant effect.  For this reason we automatically give fluids to all animals over 8yrs and for all surgery lasting this length of time to ensure the anaesthetic is As Safe As Possible.   Even a young bitch spey should be on fluids as the surgery is very involved and takes 30 minutes.

Anaesthetic monitoring

All our patients receive gold standard monitoring of the anaesthetic as we take your pets safety seriously.   This includes 3 elements:

1)      A qualified nurse perform a series of checks every 5 minutes during anaesthesia.

2)      An apnoea alert- this machine tells us when the patient is not breathing well

3)      Blood pressure monitoring- a blood pressure reading is taken every 5 minutes, to allow us to act if it drops below recommended levels

Pain management

In the interest of your pets’ welfare and comfort at The Vet Centre we take a proactive approach to pain management.  Surgical patients are routinely administered drugs both pre and post-operatively to relieve pain.