Anaesthetic Advice for Dogs - Factsheet

We will be using a general anaesthetic when your dog comes in for the day. Prior to this we will administer a sedative, and we would like you to be present whilst this starts to work. By asking you to wait a few minutes until this happens, we can greatly reduce the stress for our patients and they will thus not worry about being left.

We do not put fully conscious dogs into cages as this is unkind.

Before You Arrive

Do not feed you dog on the day of the operation. In other words – NO BREAKFAST!

Water can be left available – this is not a problem and it means that the patient will not be dehydrated during the day. A short walk to empty bowel and bladder will make the patient more comfortable and reduce the chance of soiling.

When You Arrive…

You will be asked to wait for the veterinary surgeon who will check the heart, pulse and chest and then administer the sedative.
Wait quietly with your dog until sleepy, in the reception room since this is the area that they will be least anxious.
Occasionally, especially if they have been fed or are excitable, the patient may be sick. This is not a problem or an indication of trouble. However, please watch for this and we will attend. We would like you to go through to the ward with your dog. At this stage they may wake up more, but quickly become sleepy again once you have gone. Until this happens one of our nurses will sit with the patient.
You will need to sign a consent form, giving us permission for the procedure or operation. Please read it through! We will happily supply a copy if asked. We will also give you an assurance form which will give you more details about what we will or won't do without your permission.
We operate on several patients each day, so there may be a delay before your dog's turn. Please don't be alarmed – we do check all our patients regularly and exercise them if they need to relieve themselves.
Please make sure that we can contact you throughout the day. Give us as many phone numbers as you like, so long as we can get hold of you if we need to.
We routinely contact you when the procedure or operation has just finished. At that time we will also be able to tell how things went, and when your dog will be ready to go home.

Collection…

We appreciate that you will want to see your pet as soon as possible. However we have found that they often get upset if they then have to hang around whilst fees are settled and follow-up appointments are made. Therefore we recommend that you sort out the 'paperwork' as soon as you arrive.
You will be given details about aftercare either by the nurse who assisted during the operation or the veterinary surgeon.

Aftercare

Don't expect too much too soon – although the anaesthetic will be over the sedative and some painkillers can make the patient sleepy for a while. This is not always a bad thing. Details of feeding and exercise will be given when you collect your dog. You may be asked to use a special diet for a day or so to aid recovery. We routinely check our patients after two days. The fee for this is included, and it is really a matter of finding out how things are.