Cat Declawing
Despite the best efforts of the owner a cat can still be an extremely destructive animal to home furnishings and can also inflict significant injury to humans and other animals.
Declawing, where the claws are removed surgically from either the two front paws or all four, is a relatively straight forward way to make a destructive cat adoptable. Sierra Animal Hospital strongly recommends that only indoor cats are declawed.
Dog Dewclaw Removal
A dewclaw is the stump of an additional toe that roughly correlates to a thumb on a human. Most dogs have two dewclaws unless they were removed at birth. Some dogs have four! Although most dogs will have no problems with their dewclaws, they can get easily caught up in bushes, fences, carpets, collars, etc. and cause serious injury when the dog tries to free itself. Dewclaws are ideally removed just after birth but can also be surgically removed from older dogs.
Dewclaw removal surgery is less expensive when preformed with another surgery such as a spay or neuter.
Sierra Animal Hospital uses an all-inclusive routine surgery model, meaning that we offer all pets the same level of excellent care for the same low price.
Some examples of what makes Sierra Animal Hospital the best choice for your pet’s routine procedure are:
Pre-operative blood work: Pre-operative blood work checks for any infection as well as the animal’s liver and kidney function. Healthy liver and kidneys are important as general anesthesia is metabolized in the liver and kidneys. Liver and kidney disease has no external symptoms until ¾ of the organ functionality is gone. Pre-operative blood work is performed for all animals undergoing anesthesia and is included in the price of all routine surgeries.
Sterility: Sierra Animal Hospital uses similar procedures and processes as human hospitals in order to preserve the health of your pet and avoid postoperative infections. Drapes, gowns and instruments are all steam sterilized, in our state-of-the-art autoclave, for each patient. Each patent is surgically cleaned and prepped, and disposable sterile gloves, masks and caps are worn by all members of the surgical team. Your pet will also have a technician constantly monitoring their vital signs via an electronic monitor during the procedure.
Subcuticular Sutures: These are under the skin stitches that the animal will not be able to lick out and will dissolve rather than requiring their removal at a later date. An animal that has normal sutures or staples, can lick or chew them out and may require a second surgery to close their wound. Subcuticular sutures means that most pets will not require an E-collar or a t-shirt to cover the incision site.
Laser: Instead of using a blade for surgery, Sierra Animal Hospital is proud to use a veterinary surgical laser. Because the laser cauterizes as it cuts your pet will experience less bleeding and less post-operative pain. Certain procedures will also have a dramatic reduction in the amount of surgical time required using a laser and therefore making the procedure safer for your pet.
I.V. Fluids: To ensure your pet’s blood pressure, give emergency intravenous access in case of problems and to keep your pet hydrated, Sierra Animal Hospital places an I.V. catheter and provides fluids to in every pet that comes in for routine surgery.
Pain Relief tablets: Pets, like humans, can experience post operative pain lasting several days. Pain relief tablets can help make your pet more comfortable in the days following the surgery and are included in the price of your pet’s procedure.
Options
For a small additional fee Sierra Animal Hospital offers the following options for the added safety and comfort of your pet.
Pain Relief Injection: As soon as your pet awakens from surgery it can be given a pain relief injection intramuscularly to relieve any post operative pain. This also means that you will not have to give a pain tablet for the first 12 hours after your pet’s surgery when it may not be interested in food or treats.