Surgical Procedures

We provide a range of surgical procedures designed to heal a breadth of ailments and restore quality of life, including soft tissue, orthopaedic and dental surgeries, along with cryosurgery. We also offer laser surgery, through our dedicated Surgitron unit.

Our soft tissue offering includes de-sexing, caesarean sections, lumpectomy, biopsy, tumour removal, hernia repair, cherry eye, entropian, eye oblation, abdominal and thoracic surgery, foreign body removal, gastropexy, bladder surgery, soft pallet resection, ear resection and oblation, pyometra surgery, and surgical inseminations.

Our dental services include teeth cleaning, x-rays, extractions, oral hygiene tips and demonstrations, and dental-related disease diagnosis.

For information about our orthopaedic offerings, please visit our Orthopaedic Procedures page.

We understand how stressful it can be when your four-legged, feathered or scaly family members require medical attention. Rest assured that we care about your pet, and constantly strive to ensure every surgical and dental procedure undertaken at the Vineyard Veterinary Hospital is as painless and as stress-free as possible – for both pets and their owners.

Below is some important information to help you in the lead-up to your pet’s surgical or dental procedure, including: tips about how to spot early warning signs of dental disease; what your pet can expect during surgery; how to prepare your pet for their procedure; and when to book a follow-up appointment.

Dentistry

Did you know that four out of every five dogs and cats over the age of three years have some sort of dental disease which becomes more severe with age*?

Beyond the immediate problem of smelly breath, dental disease can lead to a range of serious ailments if left untreated, including systemic infection, along with illnesses related to the heart, liver and kidney.

Dental disease is caused by a build-up of millions of harmful bacteria within your pet’s mouth, causing the gum and bone around your animal’s teeth to rot and decay over time.

Typical signs that your pet may be suffering from a dental-related ailment include reluctance to eat normal food, bleeding gums, smelly breath, loose teeth, and teeth discoloration. If you have noticed any of these symptoms in your pet, we advise making an appointment with us as soon as you can, in order to give us the best possible chance of restoring your animal’s mouth to health.

Vineyard Veterinary Hospital offers a fully-equipped dental suite for maintaining your pet’s oral hygiene, along with a number of services – such as tartar removal – to ensure their mouth remains healthy, and pain-free.

Due to the delicate nature of animal dental procedures, including teeth-cleaning, your pet will need to come into hospital for the day, and will require an anaesthetic. While routine dental procedures are usually quite short, individual consultation times will vary depending on the severity of the dental disease – for example, if tooth extractions are required.

To have your pet’s teeth assessed by one of our staff members, please call the clinic to arrange an appointment. As every case is unique, we are unable to provide over-the-phone quotes for dental care.

Surgical procedures and anaesthetic

The Vineyard Veterinary Hospital uses only the latest and safest drugs for patient anaesthetisation. In order to ensure anaesthetic is a safe option for your pet, we advise pet owners to book their animals in for pre-anaesthetic blood testing, prior to surgery.

Pre-anaesthetic blood testing is a simple procedure during which we take and screen a sample of your pet’s blood, to ensure their kidneys and liver will be able to break-down and excrete the anaesthetic drugs as required, and therefore make a full recovery post-operation.

Whether under anaesthetic, in intensive care, or recovering from surgery, all our patients are monitored not only by our dedicated nursing staff, but also by a range of up-to-date monitoring equipment, to ensure their safety during and after their procedure.

Prompt recovery of all our patients is extremely important to us, and we provide post-operation nursing care along with continuous monitoring, to ensure your pet is stable and calm and can return home to you as quickly as possible. We also provide creature comforts to promote relaxation and minimise stress, including 3M Bair Hugger Therapy under-body heating blankets to ensure your pet is comfortable and warm.

Before and after surgery

Please ensure to feed your pet their regular meal no later than 8pm the evening prior to their scheduled surgery, and remove their water bowl the morning of the procedure. On the day of their scheduled procedure, you may drop your pet into the clinic anytime between 8:30am and 11am.

We will send a text message with the above details to your mobile phone the day before your pet’s scheduled surgery, as a friendly reminder.

Following routine procedures, a post-operative check should be booked in for 10 days afterwards – unless otherwise specified by your veterinarian at the time of your pet’s discharge from hospital.

Following de-sexing procedures for which we use dissolving subcutaneous sutures (which are far more comfortable for your pet), the rechecking appointment involves only a quick check to ensure your pet’s wound is healing well, and the cost of the rechecking appointment is included in the price of the surgery.

*Statistic supplied by The Australian Veterinary Association.