Surgery

Surgical abilities for successful outcomes.

The doctors at DTLAvets are trained in a wide array of surgical procedures. When your pet’s surgical needs fall outside of our scope, we will refer you to the appropriate veterinary specialist and work together with them to ensure a successful outcome. An example of our doctors’ surgical abilities includes:

  • Advanced wound repair

  • Spays and castrations (including retained testicles)

  • Cesarean sections only in tandem with spays

  • Intestinal and stomach surgeries, including foreign object removal as well as stomach tacking (gastropexy) for large or giant breed dogs

  • Bladder surgery (ie. for stone removal)

  • Perineal urethrostomy

  • Splenectomy

  • Abdominal organ biopsy

  • Mass removal

  • “Cherry eye” repair

  • Repair of narrow nostrils (i.e. in flat-faced breeds)

  • Limb amputation

All surgical patients must be examined by one of our veterinarians and all are strongly encouraged to have pre-anesthetic blood testing so that we may know how your pet’s organ systems are functioning in order to choose the safest anesthesia for your pet. Other additional tests may also be recommended to increase anesthetic safety, especially in older pets. We also strongly advise the use of intra-operative IV fluids to help support and stabilize the blood pressure during anesthesia. The vital signs and plane of anesthesia are closely monitored for each surgical patient by a dedicated anesthetic nurse. Pain management is a top priority for any surgical patient and will be personalized for your pet’s specific needs. After the procedure is over, your pet will receive individualized care until they are fully recovered. Then the veterinarian or veterinary nurse will contact you to let you know when your pet has recovered from anesthesia.

We realize that even routine surgeries can be stressful for you. We arrange a pre-surgical appointment for every surgery to explain the procedure, pre and post-operative directives and to address any concerns you may have. Our commitment to a successful surgery does not end when your pet leaves the hospital. We schedule post-operative appointments to ensure that your pet has healed well and to give clearance to go back to his/her normal lifestyle.