Anesthesia & Patient Monitoring - Pet First Animal Hospital

Anesthesia

Different veterinary clinics have different anesthetics and ways of monitoring their patients.  When you choose your veterinarian, be sure to question the types of anesthetics that will be used on your pet as well as the procedures for monitoring anesthesia.  Usually the more expensive anesthetics are safer to  use, however anesthetics are also chosen for other reasons including their ability to control pain.  Pet First Animal Hospital provides the following types of anesthesia:

• Local anesthesia

Local anesthesia controls pain on a specific portion of the body.  Examples include an epidural or a nerve block.  Local anesthesia prevents the brain from acknowledging the pain impulses.  Local anesthetics may provide pain control in animals, but may not work well enough to keep him or her still during surgery.  In this type of situation, usually a sedative or general anesthetic is needed in in addition to a local anesthetic.  Sometimes local anesthesia may be used  to reduce the amount of general anesthetic needed and speed up recovery time.  Dr. Taylor will examine your pet to determine which type of anesthetic is right for your pet. 

• Tranquilization (sedation)

Tranquilization or sedation is used to calm an animal during various veterinary procedures.  Depending on the procedure, the animal can be awake or asleep, and can easily become awakened when provoked. During stressful times for their pets such as travel, thunderstorms, or fireworks, many people will request tranquilization for their pets.  Of course, tranquilization does have risks, so our veterinarian Dr. Taylor would require your pet to have an examination to determine if your pet is healthy enough to receive the medication.  

• General anesthesia

When your pet receives general anesthesia they will completely lose consciousness and will not be able to feel any part of their body.  Normally general anesthesia begins with a veterinary team member giving your pet a sedative to calm them down.  Next, your pet will receive an I.V. injection of anesthesia so that your pet will become unconscious. At this point, a member of our veterinary team will gently place a breathing tube in your pet's trachea.  Your pet will receive a combination of oxygen and anesthesia through the breathing tube to make sure your pet stays unconscious during the entire procedure.  General anesthesia is much safer than it used to be, but there's always the very slight chance that your pet could have an accident related to anesthesia.   Our veterinarian Dr. Taylor takes the necessary precautions to minimize this risk, and recommends that your pet receives a thorough physical examination and pre-anesthetic blood work.  While under anesthesia, Dr. Taylor and his veterinary technicians will be constantly following hospital protocols, monitoring your pet's vital statistics, and making sure the equipment is working great to ensure your pet is receiving anesthesia the safest way possible. 

Patient Monitoring

The administration and monitoring of anesthesia is definitely a skill that requires both knowledge and practice.  Your pet's safety is dependent on our veterinary team's awareness and their ability to detect potential problems.  Dr. Taylor and his veterinary technicians have an excellent understanding of the principles of anesthetic monitoring and are easily able to recogniza normal and abnormal patient parameters.   

At Pet First Animal Hospital, when your pet is under anesthesia, he or she will never be left along for any reason.  Our veterinarian and veterinary staff will monitor your pet throughout the entire anesthesia process all the way from beginning to the end of the procedure.  Vital signs and other monitoring parameters are checked continuously throughout the procedure.  With such close monitoring, Dr. Taylor and his veterinary staff can be aware of subtle changes in parameters and are prepared to address any issues immediately as they arise.