Behind the scenes

Behind the scenes !! A look at what happens with your pet during their stay

with us.

This is an example of a day experienced by an inpatient having surgery at

Peninsula Bay Vets.

So firstly we see you and your pet at their admittance time usually between

8.30-9am. This is possibly the most anxious time for you pet whilst we

complete the necessary paperwork.

The vet or nurse on that day will go through the consent form with you .

This is a legal document and very important for you and us. It tells us

when your pet last ate which is crucial for anaesthesia. Plus any other information we may need on the day.

We double check your contact details for the day ahead. At this point you

will also receive an estimate of cost for the days proceedings.

You then sign the form.

Then off we go !!! You say cheerio and see your pet later.

Once in the hospital we find an appropriate kennel/cage. It has to be large

enough so they can move around but small enough so they feel safe and secure.

We spray either Feliway for cats or Adaptil for dogs on their bedding. These are natural pheromone sprays to

aid calm the patients.  Once they are settled in we begin !

So next we give your pet a pre anaesthetic health check. This is done by the

vet on surgery that day. We listen to their heart, take their temperature

and do a general once over. We clip some fur off their neck and front leg.

This is so we can apply the Emla cream. This is a local anaesthetic cream

to numb the area for later. Then it's back to bed.

After a while we take the patient back into the prep room to collect the pre

anaesthetic blood sample. We take this from the neck area we clipped. With

this we are mainly looking at their liver and kidney function and also

glucose levels. This is to make sure they are suitable for anaesthesia that

day. Once the blood results have been confirmed as okay we give the patient

a premed injection. Back to bed again !!

Once our operating theatre is set up and everyone is ready we are

underway!!

Your pet will be collected from their bed and an intravenous catheter will

be placed in the front leg. This is into  the cephalic vein. Having an i/v

line in is so important, it enables us to administer intra venous fluids

throughout the surgery and it's a direct access line for if we need to

administer extra drugs.

We administer the intravenous anaesthetic then as soon as they are asleep we

pop an endotracheal tube down their trachea ( wind pipe ).

We then get them onto a mix of oxygen and gaseous anaesthetic. This keeps

them asleep through the entire procedure.

Surgery begins !! The nurse is watching the anaesthetic using several

monitoring apparatus. The vet does the actual surgery.

We use heat pads and blankets for the whole time as animals lose a lot of

heat whilst under. This can be dangerous so we keep them warm and toasty !!

When the surgery is finished we start the wake up . Nice and gradual does it.

Once they are able to swallow and semi awake we remove the endotracheal

tube. So now they are off the machines and breathing room air again.

We pop them back into their bed to wake up slowly. This is a crucial time

and we watch them very closely. They are snuggled up in warm blankets .

Once they are well awake we offer your pet some suitable food, they are

usually very hungry due to being starved prior to the procedure.

We check they have enough pain relief in their systems and call to let you

know that it's over and to arrange a time for pickup. I forgot to mention

during this whole procedure there is plenty of time for snuggles!

So home time!

We go through the important discharge instructions, all the do's and don'ts

for the next little while. We will also answer any questions you may have

regarding your pets on-going care.

So that's a basic run down of your fur baby's day with us. And we look

forward to seeing you and your pet again.

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