At Forest Crossing Animal Hospital, your pet’s well-being is our number one goal. While there’s always some risk of putting any animal under anesthesia, today’s modern protocols and monitoring make it quite safe for pets.
Our focus is on the best possible outcome for your pet, so we carefully examine each animal prior to sedation and anesthesia. We also recommend pre-operative bloodwork to be sure your pet is healthy enough to undergo anesthesia. Anesthetic drugs and sedatives are individually selected for each pet based on the procedure, age, breed, and health status.
If your pet is being sedated, he or she will stay awake or be in a light sleep but can be awakened if necessary. Should your pet require local anesthetic for a minor procedure, we will sometimes use a sedative or anti-anxiety medication in combination with the local to keep pets calm.
Prior to induction of anesthesia, an IV catheter is placed in every patient, allowing us to administer warm IV fluids throughout the process. This helps maintain patient hydration, blood pressure, and ideal blood volume. The catheter also ensures safety by providing immediate IV access in the unlikely event of an emergency.
Patients are closely monitored under sedation or anesthesia by an experienced technician taking vital signs on a regular basis and utilizing digital monitoring systems throughout every procedure.
If you have questions about sedation, anesthesia or want to make an appointment or your pet, call us at 936-271-9300.