Dog Ready for veterinary eye and orthopedic surgery

Full Surgical Facility

GENERAL SURGICAL INFORMATION

Countryside Animal Health Center is a full-service animal surgical facility. All the surgeries done at Countryside Animal are done either under full anesthesia or sedation and localized lidocaine injections depending on the severity of an injury or the type of procedure. Some procedures require the animal to stay overnight at the clinic. In these cases, pets are discharged the next day after 9 a.m. Some procedures are day-in and day-out and in that case you will be able to pick up your pet the same day as the surgery (after 4 or 5 p.m.).

All procedures require an appointment and a doctor examination/evaluation prior to the surgery appointment. We use pain medication during each type of procedure and you will be asked if you would like to take additional pain medication home at your discharge appointment.


SPAYS AND NEUTERS

The earliest we recommend dogs and cats be spayed/neutered is 6 months of age, and the average is 6-7 months old. There are health advantages to having females spayed before their first heat cycles which occurs somewhere between 6-9 months of age. Some large and giant breed dogs we will recommend neutering at 12 months of age if they are slow-growing breeds.

Some females who have “recessed vulvas” may be required to go through a heat cycle to allow the vulva to fully develop before spaying. Our veterinarians will discuss all these items with you when you come into our clinic. We recommend all spays and neuters stay one night with us so we can assess their incision and post-surgery parameters before they leave our clinic the next day.


MASS REMOVALS

Dogs especially get a lot of masses on their bodies. Some are benign, such as fatty lipomas, cysts or warts. However, we are starting to see an increase incidence of mast cell tumors and malignant melanomas in dogs in our area. Be sure to have our veterinarians look at the masses that may show up on your dog. We may do cytology on them in the office or we may recommend they be surgically removed.

In contrast, cats RARELY get lumps or bumps on their skin like dogs do and we HIGHLY RECOMMEND ALL LUMPS OR BUMPS ON CATS BE EVALUATED BY OUR CLINIC ASAP. We always will recommend lumps be removed in cats since they rarely get benign masses such as fatty lipomas, cysts or warts like dogs do. Whether you have a dog or cat, we recommend ALL masses be sent into the lab for histopathology evaluation to determine the type of tumor they are, if they will reoccur, and if they will spread to other parts of the body. Most mass removals are a day in –day out procedure and you will be able to pick up your dog later in the day after surgery.


ABDOMINAL EXPLORATORIES

Dogs like to eat dog toys, sticks, kid toys, nuts, bolts, carpet, white pine needles, stones, balls, plastic of any type, Mr. Potato Head eyeballs, books, string, bullets, pens, pacifiers, hair clips, tampons, underwear, rugs, diapers, socks, towels, bone pieces, needles, toothpicks, legos, super-hero figures, kid building woodblocks… and the list goes on and on. Where did I get this list you ask?? Those are items I have removed from dogs’ intestines over the years doing exploratories…and this is only a partial list!

If you think your dog has eaten something it should not have, PLEASE call us and let us know as soon as you can. You might think some things will pass through the intestines, but we can better help you determine if that is true or not depending on the thing they ate!! If you wait too long, the foreign body can rupture the intestine and that makes the prognosis not as good for survival post-op. Cats also like to eat things but not as frequently as dogs. Cats commonly will eat strings or pieces of toys with strings so be sure to watch those strings on cat toys!


ORTHOPEDIC/BONE/TENDON SURGERIES

At Countryside Animal Health Center we provide options for you for any bone or tendon injuries. We have a veterinarian that has expertise in bone and tendon surgery come to our clinic to do all our orthopedic surgeries, however, we have other options medically as well. When you come in for your appointment, we will discuss the options if traveling to or paying for a board-certified specialist is not an option for you.

Our veterinary orthopedic surgeons in Freeland are experienced and ready to help your pets. Contact us if your pet needs an orthopedic surgeon.


OTHER SOFT TISSUE SURGERIES

Besides mass removals and abdominal exploratories, we do quite a few other soft tissues procedures such as pyometra surgeries, splenectomies, cystotomies (to remove bladder stones), gastrotomies (for tumor removal), cryptorchids (inguinal and abdominal), tacking procedures (for GDV or bloat), c-sections, surgical inseminations, and many others. Our veterinarians also offer entropion eye surgery and eye enucleation for your cat or dog in Freeland. Our doctors frequently attend continuing education seminars and labs to learn new techniques to keep your pet healthy.

Veterinary Surgeries Near You

Countryside Animal Health Center offers a wide variety of pet eye, orthopedic and abdominal surgeries, as well as dog and cat spays and neuters. Make An Appointment for more information about our pet surgery options in Freeland.

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