Our preparation room is where we take blood samples, provide fluid therapy and prepare animals ready for their anaesthetic prior to surgery. Anaesthesia has two stages; the first is an injection called an ‘induction agent’, this sends your pet to sleep. Once your pet is asleep we place a soft tube down the throat into the trachea and begin the second stage by attaching the tube to an anaesthetic machine which provides oxygen and sevoflurane (the latest anaesthetic gas available), this is monitored by a Vetrinary Nurse at all times and ensures your pet stays asleep during their procedure.
To prepare your pet for their surgery we have to clip an area of their fur away; how much we have to clip will vary depending on the type of surgery your pet is having. For example, when we spay a female dog we have to clip their whole belly area, this ensures that no fur can get into the operation site when the Vet is operating. After we have clipped away the fur we then use hibiscrub (a chemical antiseptic skin scrub) to clean the surgical area thoroughly; this reduces the risks of infection and ensures the skin is clean of any mud or dirt. Once we have prepared your pet for theatre we then take them through into the sterile theatre for their operation where the Vet will place sterile drapes around the surgical area ready for surgery.
We have two theatres at our surgery; one holds our up to date diagnostic imaging equipment including digital x-ray, ECG, endoscope and our new ultrasonography machine and the other is our sterile theatre where we carry out operations such as spays, castrations and lump removals, etc.
Once your pet’s surgery has finished we clean around the surgical site with hibiscrub, sometimes we may place a ‘plaster’ called primapore over the stitches, and then we take them back to their kennel to wake up and be monitored by our Veterinary Nurses.
