Our experienced veterinarians provide many surgical services at our clinic, ranging from routine to advanced procedures. Because we want to ensure that our patients receive the best possible outcome, we occasionally refer them to specialists (board-certified veterinary surgeons) to perform complex operations when advanced equipment or training will be beneficial. Our veterinary team takes every precaution so that your pet receives the highest-quality care. We perform a physical exam and pre-anesthetic testing before surgery, monitor your pet during surgery and provide appropriate pain medication to keep your pet comfortable during recovery.
Making sure our patients remain safe during surgery and other medical procedures is extremely important to us. Our team of veterinarians and veterinary technicians is skilled in using anesthesia and monitoring patients to ensure their safety and provide the most comfortable experience. You can be confident that we use the most effective and up-to-date protocols unique to every individual patient and procedure. We closely monitor every procedure with a dedicated and trained veterinary technician dedicated to assessing and monitoring the patient’s temperature, heart and respiratory rate, blood pressure, oxygenation, EKG, and other vital signs to help prevent any anesthetic risk.
For some procedures, your pet will need to be administered general anesthesia so that he or she 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; to further lower any risk, we perform a physical examination and run blood work ahead of time to catch any underlying health issues. We begin most general anesthetic procedures by administering a sedative to help the pet relax and decrease any anxiety and pain. We then administer an intravenous drug to provide complete anesthesia and place a breathing tube into the patient’s trachea (windpipe). To maintain the state of unconsciousness, we deliver a gas anesthetic in combination with oxygen through the breathing tube.
Spay & Neuter Surgery
At South Branch Veterinary Services, we recognize the vital role that spay and neuter procedures play in controlling the pet population. According to the Humane Society of the United States, between 6- 8 million pets enter U.S. animal shelters every year. Only about half are adopted, meaning the rest—mostly healthy, adoptable dogs and cats—are euthanized. Thankfully, that number is decreasing slowly as more people grow to understand the importance of altering their pets.
In addition to preventing unwanted litters, spaying and neutering also has health benefits which include reducing the risk of uterine infections and some cancers. A better-behaved pet is also often the result of spay/neuter surgery: male dogs are less prone to lifting a leg where they shouldn’t, and cats are less likely to spray. Howling and fighting is usually curbed as well.
If you haven’t yet had your pet altered, South Branch Vet has the “fix” with spay/neuter services performed by our experienced medical team and doctors. If you have questions about the procedure or want to make an appointment for your pet, don’t hesitate to give us a call at (908) 735-9998.
Soft Tissue Surgery
We perform many types of soft tissue surgeries at our clinic. Soft tissue surgeries are those that are not associated with bone.
Probably the most common soft tissue surgery performed on pets is the removal of masses or lumps. Early removal and accurate diagnosis of a lump is necessary to improve the outcome in your pet if the mass is cancerous.