So there are different types of anesthesia (we have a video on that), whether sedation or general anesthesia. So they will be sedated and/or anesthetized for any kind of surgical procedure. And the second part of that question was who's going to be monitoring them. So the veterinarian that is doing the procedure is constantly monitoring our patients. Because we are focused on the surgery, we’ll also have a trained staff member that will be in the room with your pet, monitoring them physically. The dog will also be connected to monitoring equipment that measures their heart rate, oxygen saturation, their blood pressure. And so, there's a lot of monitoring that goes on. The trained technicians watch the monitors and physically put their hands on the pet, which are both important.

One important question would be thinking about the care afterward, which we've talked a lot about. You’d, of course, want to know the cost of the procedure. That's an important thing for clients to know. And then, you may want to know the length of the procedure. Is the pet going to need to stay in the hospital, or will they come home the same day?

It depends on the surgery. With sedation and anesthesia, sometimes the dogs aren’t themselves when they come home. I like to tell my clients that when they're vocal, that does not always mean they're in pain. Sometimes they are what we call dysphoric, or just, they're a little out of it from the sedation. And so they're confused, or they're vocal because of that. So that's one thing I like to tell my clients.

Yes. If the dog has any type of surgical procedure that causes pain, we always do pain medication. Sometimes that pain medication may be administered in the hospital that will last them afterward. Or we may also send home additional medication for you to continue to give.

In general, the next day is what I recommend. We want to go light on their food on the day of surgery or the evening of because sometimes the anesthesia can make them a little sensitive with their stomach. As for returning to activity, it depends on the type of surgery done. In general, we would say two weeks because that's the general healing time for most incisions. And then, of course, if it's anything major or orthopedic surgery, that would be much longer.