Many dogs will have at least one orthopedic issue throughout their lifetime. Some of these are congenital (the animal is born with it) and others are acquired (develop later in life.) This is why a thorough physical exam is preformed at every appointment. The most common orthopedic surgeries performed at Sitara Animal Hospital are cruciate repairs, followed by luxating patella repairs. We are very lucky to have a good working relationship with a board certified surgeon to aid in diagnosing and operating on more complicated cases.

At Sitara Animal Hospital we believe that every ear exam should involve thorough otoscopy (looking down the ear canal to the ear drum) to rule out a foreign body, mass or ruptured ear drum. Most ear and eye issues that affect your pet will be non surgical (ex: infections, wounds, allergies); although a few conditions do require surgical intervention. Chronic ear infections may benefit from a thorough ear cleaning under anesthesia or surgical treatment to improve air flow into the ear canal and reduce the occurrence of ear infections. Tearing in your pet’s eyes can mean an infection is present or it may be a sign the cornea (outer layer of the eye itself) has been damaged. In some animals, the cornea may be damaged by the eyelid hairs surrounding the eye. Surgical intervention involving the eyelid improves the comfort in these animals. It also reduces the chances of corneal scarring and enhances the animal’s vision in the long term. Some puppies will develop a prolapsed third eyelid gland (cherry eye), these are surgically corrected because failure to do so causes irritation, increased risk of infection and can lead to dry eye in some animals.

At Sitara Animal Hospital we are able to perform many different abdominal surgeries, such as:

Cystotomy:

There are a number of signs that may indicate that a dog has bladder stones and requires surgery. Some of the first signs include difficulty with urination, or frequent urination where only a small amount of urine is produced. Bloody urine is another sign. Some dogs do not show any evidence of bladder stones at all and the condition will only be discovered during the course of a normal exam.

The surgical removal of bladder stones in dogs is known as cystotomy. The dog is placed under anaesthesia and laid on its back. An incision is made in the front of the pelvis, going through the abdominal wall. The bladder is brought out of the incision and opened up. The stones are removed and then the bladder and urethra are flushed with a sterile saline solution before the bladder is closed and replaced. The abdominal wall is then closed up with sutures. The stones will be sent to a lab for analysis and a nutritional recommendation to avoid new stones from forming will be made.

Exploratory Surgery:

Occasional vomiting is relatively common in dogs. Most dogs will at some point throw up food, grass, acorns, weeds, small rocks, pebbles, berries, water or even a dog toy. If your dog looks ill or if the vomiting occurs more than once, let your vet examine him, especially if he’s throwing up blood or dry-heaving. In some instances, exploratory surgery may become necessary to determine the cause of the vomiting.

At Sitara Animal Hospital we will start by taking a complete medical history and a thorough physical exam. If warranted lab work, x-rays or a contrast study may be performed. An exploratory surgery may become necessary to remove a foreign body (eg. dog toy, leash, cloth) or to obtain biopsies (tissue samples) for microscopic examination.

Splenectomy:

Splenectomy is a kind of surgery in which spleen is removed from the abdominal cavity. Common indications for splenectomy include splenic neoplasia, severe splenic trauma or splenic torsion.

Gastric Dilitation Volvulus (GDV):

GDV, commonly known as bloat, is a life threatening, acute condition that requires immediate medical attention. Certain breeds are more prone to this condition: Boxers, Great Danes, Standard Poodles, Saint Bernards, Irish Setters, Dobermans, Weimaraners and Gordon Setters. These breeds are considered deep-chested (large chest and narrow waist) but any similarly shaped dog can be at risk.

Diagnosis of GDV is made based on physical examination, history and abdominal x-rays. Often GDV happens when a pet eats a large meal and then becomes very active. Initially the dog may become restless, try to vomit or retch continuously but is unable to produce any vomit. This is because the stomach has twisted, preventing anything entering from entering or exiting the digestive system. The pressure inside the stomach starts to increase and the dog may salivate and pant excessively. As the patient’s condition progresses they become lethargic, have a swollen stomach and eventually collapse. If not treated, the internal organs can be damaged and without timely treatment this condition is fatal.

The goals of treatment are to reduce the pressure in the stomach and return the stomach to its normal position. During the surgery, the stomach and internal organs are examined for damage and then the stomach is attached to the body wall to prevent a reoccurrence.

Prophylactic suturing of the stomach is sometimes advised in breeds predisposed to GDV during routine surgeries for other causes (spay or neuter).

Probably the most common soft tissue surgery performed is the removal of masses or ‘lumps’ on animals. It is always a good idea to have any lumps checked out by your veterinarian. We will generally perform a fine needle aspirate at the first appointment to try to better identify if the mass should be removed. We recommend removal of any questionable masses. Most masses we remove are benign (won’t spread) but occasionally they are cancerous. Early removal and accurate diagnosis of a ‘lump’ is necessary to improve the outcome in your pet if the mass is cancerous. At Sitara Animal Hospital when we remove any lump we make our incisions as though we are removing a cancerous lump to improve our chances for “clean” margins (the removal of the entire mass.) Once the mass is removed we will send it to be analyzed by a pathologist to further identify the tumor and margins.

Bite wounds, cuts and other punctures that then become infected are one of the most common problems that we see in veterinary medicine. Many people do not realize that their pet has an abscess because the swelling is often hidden under the fur, but they bring their pet in because it is lame, not eating, or lethargic. At Sitara Animal Hospital, if your pet has a wound we will start with a thorough examination. Based on the examination we will then decide if the wound or abscess is minor and likely to heal with just cleaning and antibiotics or is more serious and should be treated surgically.

At Sitara Animal Hospital we believe that spaying and neutering your pets is the best thing to do, not only for population control but for the health of your pet too. Spaying decreases the risk of your pet developing estrogen responsive tumors such as mammary tumors as well as avoids any uterine infections (Pyometra.) Neutering your pet decreases his risk of developing prostatic cancer and prostatitis. We recommend spaying and neutering at the age of 6 months. We believe that every patient should have blood work preformed before surgery to ensure that their organs are functioning well. We also place all patients on intravenous fluids while anesthetized to better control their blood pressure, temperature and to allow direct IV access for any needed medication. These steps ensure that your pet has the smoothest anesthetic and recovery possible. All pets in for surgery receive pain medication before and after surgery.