Surgical Procedures

The cranial cruciate ligament (CCL), also known as anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in humans, is found in the knee. When this ligament is torn, an abnormal shearing force occurs causing pain and arthritis over time. The lateral suture surgical technique places a false ligament on the outside of the joint to stabilize the knee allowing return of function and slowing the progression of arthritis. Pets must have strict rest post-op to allow scar tissue to form. Crate rest is the only way to ensure pets will lie still and rest.

A crate is required, and the pet must stay in the crate, other than to go to the bathroom, for the first 2 weeks. It is up to you to keep your pet calm and under control. It is the pushing off / accelerating forward/ jumping motion that can cause your pet to damage the repair. Even after the crate rest period, no exercise should be allowed for 6 weeks. Pets must stay on a short leash when outside and under control at all times to prevent above mentioned movements. Crate rest should be used for a longer period if your pet will not behave calmly out of the crate after the first 2 weeks.

The most common reasons for amputations include growths, trauma, and dislocation. Pets are not vain and do not care how they look as long as they continue to receive love. Pets do very well with only 3 legs.

The most common reasons for tail amputations include growths, trauma, and malformations.

The most common reasons for toe amputations include growths and trauma.

Animals have 3 eyelids. The same two lids (upper and lower) that we have, and a third that crosses from the nose side. This third eyelid contains a gland that produces tears to keep the eye moist. When this gland becomes inflamed, it swells and has the appearance of a cherry sitting in the corner of the eye. The inflammation is usually caused by infection or irritation from hair, dust, etc.

It is important to keep the hair trimmed around the eyes to help decrease irritation. To remove a cherry eye, we remove a portion of the gland so that enough gland is preserved to still make tears but not enough to swell outside of the pocket it normally resides in. It is extremely rare for dry eye to occur after a cherry eye repair, but if it occurs, moisturizing drops will be needed long term.

Dewclaws are residual thumbs. The dewclaw nails do not make contact with the ground and tend to grow around and back into the paw if they are not kept trimmed. They can be found on either the front or rear paws, attached by bone or loosely hanging. Not all dogs have dewclaws. They are most often removed due to nail entrapment, infection, or if owners are unable to keep the nails trimmed.

Entropion is a rolling in of the eyelids leading the lashes to rub on the eyeball. This can cause minor irritation up to severe corneal ulcerations. The number of affected lids depends on your pet’s anatomy. A minor nip-tuck of the eyelid will allow the lid to unroll and relieve the irritation to the eye.

It is best to slightly overcorrect the lid so that any future irritation will not allow the lid to roll back in. You may see a bit of pink in your pet’s eye once the lids are corrected. This is simply the conjunctiva around your pet’s eye. Sometimes visibility of the pink area will subside as the swelling goes down, other times you may continue to see the pink area. This is cosmetic only and will not negatively affect your pet.

Growths can appear anywhere on your pet’s body and can grow from many different cell types. Some are slow growing and some can grow quite quickly. Either way, any abnormal lump or bump should be checked by your veterinarian. A needle biopsy (a very small sample taken with a needle) can help determine the type of growth and if removal is indicated.

If a larger sample is needed, or you simply want the growth removed, we can remove the growth and send the entire piece of tissue to the lab to review. If the cell type is unknown prior to surgery or if the growth is suspicious for cancer, we will make every effort to achieve clean margins of skin around the growth. Therefore the incision will appear larger than the actual growth was.

There are some areas of the body where the skin will not allow for clean margins and only a debulking of the mass can be achieved. Drainage tubes and bandages may be used post- op depending on the location and size of the growth. Instructions for care will be sent home with you. Please keep in mind that growth removal pricing is based on the size of the incision necessary to remove the growth and hopefully achieve “clean margins,” not on the size of the growth itself. There are some areas of the body where the skin will not allow for clean margins and only a debulking of the mass can be achieved.

If the growth was deemed benign prior to surgery, removing this extra margin of skin will not be necessary. If your veterinarian has not determined this, we will attempt to achieve “clean margins” meaning we will attempt to get as much as the mass off with as much visually healthy tissue as possible so if it is something scary like cancer, we get as much of it as possible.

Enucleation is removal of the eyeball. There are many reasons that the eyeball needs removal. Trauma, glaucoma, and cancer are the 3 most common reasons. When the eye is removed, the lids are closed and sealed. Hair will regrow over the area and the skin will usually lie flat. Pets compensate well with only one eye.

A PU is the medical term, in cats, for shortening and widening the penis to make a larger opening for your cat to be able to urinate through to help decrease the chance of repeat urinary blockages. Medical management and working closely with your veterinarian after surgery is imperative