General Anesthesia

veterinarian performing surgery on cat

For some procedures, your pet will need general anesthesia so that they will be unconscious and not feel pain. Many pet owners worry about their pets being administered general anesthesia. We can assure you that modern anesthesia is generally quite safe, but to further lower any risk, we perform a physical examination and run blood work ahead of time to catch any underlying health issues. In addition, we follow a specific anesthetic protocol, including monitoring vital signs during the procedure, to ensure the safety of our patients.

We monitor our patients closely to keep them as safe as possible during procedures that require general anesthesia. A veterinary technician will continually assess your pet’s heart and respiratory rate, blood pressure, and other vital signs, to help prevent any anesthetic risk.

If your pet is having a minor surgical or diagnostic procedure performed, we sometimes use a local anesthetic to help control pain. Local anesthetics cause a loss of sensation in the area where the procedure is being performed. We sometimes use a sedative and/or anxiolytic (anti-anxiety medication) in combination with the local anesthetic, to keep pets calm during a procedure.

Please feel free to ask us about our patient monitoring and anesthetic protocols. We’d be happy to discuss these matters in more detail.
