Surgery
SERVICES
Surgery
Overview
Surgical procedures are performed aseptically in clean, well-equipped theatres. Our team of veterinary surgeons can handle a wide variety of soft tissue-related surgeries (including abdominal surgeries on intestines, stomach, spleen, liver, kidneys and bladder, open chest surgeries, tumour removals and traumatic injuries), as well as orthopaedic operations such as fracture repairs, torn cruciate ligaments and other knee surgery, hip and spinal surgery.
For some more specialised surgical needs, eg cataract surgery, arthroscopic surgeries, etc, we have a panel of specialists in Durban to whom we can refer these more specialised procedures.
FAQ's
All surgery is performed under general anaesthesia, so there is no pain during the procedure. Calming premedication is administered before anaesthesia, to prevent anxiety, and pain medication is administered at the start of surgery, so that they wake up from surgery with good pain control already fully effective. Depending on the severity of each procedure, we may prescribe various combinations of pain medication post-surgery, to effectively keep your pet as pain-free as possible.
Most medical insurance options will cover surgical procedures fully, but this should ideally be negotiated in advance with the pet medical aid.
Surgery is performed under general anaesthesia, which is generally very safe. However some procedures have to be performed on pets with compromised health, such is heart, liver or kidney disease, which makes anaesthetics more risky. Full health checks are performed before surgery, and sometimes blood panels are advised to check for conditions which may not show up clinically, and all anaesthetics are monitored and controlled carefully to minimise risks.