Surgical Authorization Form

Our greatest concern is the well being of your pet. Before putting your pet under anesthesia, we routinely perform a full physical examination.

We also highly recommend and sometimes require that a Pre-Anesthetic Blood Profile be performed on all pets undergoing anesthesia to maximize patient safety.

The Pre-Anesthetic Blood Profile helps alert our surgeon to the presence of dehydration, anemia, infection, diabetes and/or kidney or liver disease that could complicate the procedure. These conditions may not be detected without a pre-anesthetic profile thus not allowing for the most appropriate and safest anesthetic regime to be administered. These tests are similar to those your own physician would run if you were to undergo anesthesia. In addition, these tests may be useful if your pet’s health changes to develop faster, more accurate diagnoses and treatments.

*State of the art equipment enables us to perform the pre-anesthetic blood profile at our hospital and we are committed to making this technology available to our patients.

The Authorization Form you will sign on your pet’s surgery date will offer pre-anesthetic blood work.

1. The Quantitative Blood Count (QBC) and Pre-Anesthetic Profile which includes:
   • CBC: PCV (Anemia), White Blood Cell Count (Infection) & Red Blood Cell Count (Anemia/Bleeding Disorder), Platelet Count (Clotting Disorder)
   • Profile: BUN and Creatinine (Kidney), ALKP and ALT (Liver), Glucose (Sugar), Total Protein (Dehydration), and Electrolytes (Imbalance)
2. Owner Elects to Decline the recommended pre-anesthetic blood tests at this time but requests that we proceed with the procedure. This is indicated by NOT checking the optional procedures.

You will notice other tests available that are not included in the above choices. We have selected tests that give the doctors a suitable overview of healthy patients. However, if the patients are in their senior years (above 7 years old) or are sick, the FULL senior profile can be done the day of the procedure at the owner’s request. It has been included in the high amount estimate.

On the Feline Patient Authorization Form, our feline owners will see a FeLV/FIV Test option. We highly recommend this test be performed on all feline patients at least once in their lives because Feline Leukemia and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (Feline Aids) are viruses for which no cure exists. If your pet goes outside, we recommend administering the Feline Leukemia vaccine as well. Please ask questions if you would like to learn more about Feline Leukemia and Feline Aids.

We realize surgery and anesthesia are scary for both the owner and patient and we attempt to make surgery day as safe and comfortable for all involved. The physical examination and blood work done prior to any surgical procedure allows us to best minimize anesthetic and surgical risks and maximize patient safety.

If you have any questions or hesitations about the scheduled procedure, please do not hesitate to call us to discuss any aspect of the upcoming procedure.

Anesthetic Procedures & Risks

We use a combination of pre-anesthetic medications/injectable and/or inhalant anesthetics to achieve optimum levels of anesthesia that are safe for your pet.

For short procedures, an injectable anesthetic is given alone that produces a good plane of surgical anesthesia with a quick recovery.

For most procedures, your pet is anesthetized and then intubated (insertion of a tube into the trachea or wind pipe). This will ensure that your pet is able to receive oxygen at all times and prevents aspiration of any fluids into the lungs.

For procedures that require minimum sedation, an injectable anesthetic is given that produces a good plane of sedation with quick recovery. Anesthesia is maintained with a gas anesthetic, Sevoflurane, which is very safe and is not metabolized by the body. This allows us to have more control over anesthetic depth and it is less irritating to the airways. Another advantage to Sevoflurane is a quick induction using a mask verses using injectable anesthetics that require metabolism from the body.

Monitoring & Pain Management

Monitoring of patients during anesthesia is done in two ways. First, a veterinary nurse is with your pet continuously from beginning of anesthesia to recovery. Second, we have a computerized monitor that records heart rate, pulse rate, oxygen levels, respiration, ECG, core and rectal temperature.

Our clinic strongly believes in compassionate, quality, medical care for our patients. As a result, all surgery patients will receive pain management before, during and after surgery. Additionally, pain medication may be prescribed home. Additional information will be given at discharge. We hope this program will reduce any discomfort experienced and aid in a quicker recovery.

Intravenous Catheterization & Fluids

We highly recommend the placement of an IV catheter and use of IV fluids during all anesthetic procedures. This allows us to have quick, available access to the circulatory system (blood) in case of an unforeseen emergency. The fluids help provide support to the circulatory system and prevent dehydration, as well as aid in a quicker recovery from anesthesia.

Potential Surgical Complications

1. Canine and Feline Spay
   1. Bleeding
   2. Infection
   3. Recurrent Heat
   4. Urinary Incontinence
   5. Weight Gain
   6. Suture Reactions
2. Canine and Feline Alter
   1. Bleeding
   2. Infection
   3. Testicular Swelling
   4. Suture Reaction (Canine Only)
3. Feline Declaw
   1. Bleeding
   2. Infection
   3. Limping/Lameness
   4. Regrowth of Nail
4. Tumor/Lump Removal
   1. Bleeding
   2. Infection
   3. Swelling and Drainage
   4. Suture Reaction

It is important for you to understand that there is always a risk of anesthetic and surgical complications anytime these procedures are performed. We strive to take the highest quality care of your pet and take all the added precautions you allow to avoid potential problems. Thank you for entrusting your pet to us.