If your pet is a dog, try to give your pet a bath the day before surgery. A clean patient provides a more sterile field for surgery. Cats do not need to be bathed.
You may feed your pet his or her normal meal the night before surgery, but do not feed any solid food after 9:00 PM.
ALL FEES MUST BE PAID IN FULL BEFORE PETS ARE TAKEN HOME.
The doctors and staff at VCB want to make surgery as safe as possible for your pet. We have therefore instituted many of the same uncompromising practices that are considered standard in human hospitals. Surgery at VCB is performed in a separate surgical suite. This area is a "clean" room and is used only for sterile surgical procedures. All non-sterile surgery, such as dental care or non-sterile wound treatment, as well as all surgical prep work, is done in a separate area from the surgical suite. Our surgical suite is designed so that air is forced by positive pressure out of the room. All air entering from the ventilation system passes through an electrostatic air filter first. These features are intended to reduce the possibility of surgical contamination and postoperative infection.
All patients undergoing general anesthesia are required to have pre-anesthetic blood testing to screen for possible metabolic disease. All surgical patients have an intravenous catheter and are maintained on IV fluids for the length of their procedure. The anesthetic drugs chosen for our patients are the safest available. Patients undergoing invasive procedures are monitored with the latest electronic monitoring equipment. This monitoring equipment allows the doctor to have continuous information on the patient's heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature, blood pressure, electrocardiograph (EKG) status, and blood oxygen saturation. This information allows the doctor to tailor each patient's anesthesia to his or her needs. We feel that advanced anesthetic monitoring equipment, though costly, is a necessity in providing the best possible patient care.
Surgery is inevitably associated with some postoperative pain. We take pain management quite seriously because we believe that pain has no positive benefit to the recovery process, as some have previously thought. We tailor our pain management plans to each individual patient and procedure. We believe highly in preempting pain and use several drugs in combination, both pre- and postoperatively, to attain the most comfortable outcome for your pet. We are careful to choose medications that are the safest for the task at hand.
Surgery at VCB is performed only by Veterinarians. However, the surgeon is never without the help of at least one other trained surgical assistant. The surgeon operates only after scrubbing and donning a cap, gown, mask, and sterile gloves. Surgery is performed using sterile technique in a sterile surgical field. To aide the surgeon, the patient is illuminated by special halogen low-heat surgical lighting. All surgical instruments are sterilized by steam autoclave and are double wrapped according to AAHA standards. Patients are closely monitored for several hours after waking up from anesthesia. The utmost care is taken by the entire staff to provide your pet the greatest possible safety and chances for a healthy, comfortable recovery.
We at VCB feel that the level of care provided to our surgical patients is unsurpassed by any other veterinary facility. We take pride in the quality of care we give and we thank you for choosing us to provide your pet with the best care possible.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding your pet's surgery, please call us at 404-841-9679.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic we are opening for the following hours:
FOR YOUR PROTECTION AND FOR THAT OF OUR STAFF PLEASE CALL US FROM YOUR CAR AND WE WILL COME OUT TO GET YOUR PET. WE WILL RETURN YOUR PET TO YOU AFTER THE APPOINTMENT.
For After Hours Emergency Care, Please Call: GVS 404-459-0903