What to Expect

The Soft Tissue & Minimally Invasive Surgery service is dedicated to providing the best care possible for your pet and is available for emergency surgery 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Recognizing that surgery can be a time of high anxiety, we are devoted to providing a reassuring and compassionate experience for you and your loved one.  Your pet will receive the highest quality care from a team of specialists, including board certified surgeons, anesthesiologists, critical care experts, and highly skilled experienced veterinary technicians.

Our service is available for evaluations and recheck appointments on Tuesdays and Thursdays with surgery scheduled on either Wednesdays or Fridays.  On Mondays, we perform elective surgeries, such as spays and neuters.

Your appointment will begin by meeting a veterinary student who will take a detailed history and perform a physical examination on your pet.  The student is then asked to bring your pet to our treatment room where an exam will be performed by the attending clinician.  Together they will also review the history (including medical records from your referring veterinarian) and begin to formulate a plan to discuss with you.  The doctor and student will then return to the room to discuss their initial assessment along with any additional diagnostic recommendations and a proposed treatment and/or surgery plan.  These diagnostics may include blood work, radiographs, and/or ultrasound which can be performed on the appointment day or advanced diagnostic tests such as CT scans, MRI, dye studies, or surgical biopsies which are typically scheduled for the following day.  Because surgical evaluations are thorough and extensive they can also be time-consuming, so please prepare for a 2-6 hour visit.  We may ask that you leave your pet with us during this time as we depend on other services to perform many of the discussed diagnostics. We realize that your time is valuable and will do everything possible to obtain a definitive diagnosis and treatment plan in a timely fashion.

If your pet is a surgical candidate, they may be hospitalized the night before surgery or they may be admitted at 7:30am on the day of surgery. The length of stay in the hospital following surgery varies depending on the type of surgery performed, but almost all surgical patients are required to spend at least one night in the hospital following surgery.  This is to ensure adequate pain management and to monitor for complications of anesthesia and/or surgery.  Postoperatively, our patients are cared for by a highly trained staff of critical care experts and highly skilled veterinary technicians.

We realize that it can be stressful to hospitalize your pet, and we understand that you will have questions.  Our team members will speak with you before and after your pet’s surgery. The assigned veterinary student will call you twice daily while your pet is in the hospital and will touch base with you after your pet is at home.  You will receive detailed discharge instructions on the day your pet goes home. A copy will also be faxed to your regular veterinarian. We are available to answer your questions.  You may call the hospital’s call center or call or email our technician.

Unless otherwise directed, please do not feed your pet (food) after midnight on the night before his/her appointment (unless your pet is diabetic); Water is allowed (as much as desired).  Unless otherwise directed, medications can be given to your pet as prescribed.  Please contact us if you have any questions about feeding your pet.

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