Soft Tissue Surgery
Russell Vale Animal Clinic is a registered Veterinary Hospital (do not let the word “clinic”) fool you, licenced to perform all minor and major surgeries, with the Veterinary Practitioners Board of NSW.
The highly skilled veterinary and nursing team are all experienced, and trained in many aspects of soft tissue surgery. We utilise visiting specialists often for the more complex surgeries, and for those requiring specialist orthopedic treatments.
Common soft tissue surgeries we perform regularly include
- Pet desexing (link to desexing)
- Large mass or lump removals (eg lipomas, cysts and eyelid nodules).
- Stitch up of wounds
- Biopsies – of skin
- Exploratory laparotomies, intestinal surgery and biopsies including removal of foreign bodies
- Abscesses and foreign body (eg cat fight wounds and grass seed abscesses)
- Aural hematomas
A very common surgery we perform is the removal of lumps and bumps. Some lumps may require a biopsy prior to removal to help understand whether they are cancerous or not. This information allows us to plan for the surgery to get the best possible outcome. Once the lump is removed, we do recommend histopathology (sending them to an outside laboratory) for confirmation of what the lump is, and that it was excised completely.
Although most lumps are benign (not harmful), a minority are more serious (malignant). In the case of malignant (cancerous) tumours, early removal and an accurate diagnosis is extremely important to maximise the chances of a good outcome.
If you find a lump or a bump please make a time to have it checked out.
What happens on the day of surgery?
In the few days before – you will be emailed an estimate of the surgery plus a surgery consent form. If there are any questions or things look different to what you thought, this is the time to raise those concerns. If your pet is anxious, do not hesitate to let us know as we do have a “comfort pack” which is a combination of medications and supplements to help reduce their anxiety.
The evening before – they are allowed their evening meal as usual. No further food after 10 pm. Free access to water.
The morning of the surgery – Admission time is usually between 9 and 9.30 am, although we are able to accommodate an earlier or later admission time if needed (by prior arrangement).
In keeping with the 2021 Anaesthesia Guidelines, all pets will have a full physical examination, a surgical assessment list, and individualised anaesthesia plan; most pets will also have a basic blood profile performed, and a IV catheter placed.
During surgery, your pet will be monitored by our trained team, as well as with advanced multiparameter monitoring (monitors ECG, Heart Rate, Respiratory Rate, Capnograph, temperature, blood pressure and oxygenation). Your pet will be monitored until they are fully awake.
We do try to use intradermal sutures where at all possible, which does not require any suture removal, otherwise if there are any external sutures, they will need to be removed FOURTEEN days after surgery.
What then?
Discharge instructions will be emailed to you, as well as a hard copy printed off. You will be updated by our team about what time your pet will be able to go home, but most times, it is between 5 and 5.30
Your pet may take a few days to recover fully from their “big day”, so keeping them quiet during this time is needed.
Follow up visits are recommended for all cases, but we can make that easy via our Virtual Vet Nurse, Alice.