Like people, dogs can experience health or medical situations requiring more than rest and medication. As a pet owner, the thought of your beloved pet needing surgery might feel overwhelming to you. However, surgeries are sometimes necessary for animal health, and they’re quite common.Â
Learning about common dog surgeries before booking an appointment with a veterinarian in Mansfield, TX, can help ease your anxiety about your pet’s health. Continue reading to learn why your dog might have to go under the knife and what you can expect after certain procedures.Â
Common Elective Surgeries for Dogs
Your dog doesn’t have to contract infectious diseases to need a surgical procedure. Some surgeries are elective, which means they aren’t medically necessary. They can be outpatient procedures or require an overnight stay at a veterinary hospital to watch for post-surgery complications.Â
Here are some of the most common dog surgeries that your pet may eventually need:
- Spay and Neuter: Perhaps the most common pet surgery is the spay or neuter surgery, which keeps dogs from reproducing. Spays for female dogs require a small incision under the belly button to remove the uterus and ovaries. Neutering is for male dogs, which is the removal of both testicles.Â
- Dental Extractions: Your veterinarian may recommend a tooth extraction if one or more of your dog’s teeth are loose, broken, or chipped. Healing and recovery from this procedure can take up to 12 days.Â
- Benign Skin Growths: Warts and moles are non-cancerous skin growths that could be irritating to a dog. A vet can remove the growths using topical treatments or removing a small amount of affected skin.Â
Common Urgent and Surgical Procedures for Dogs
Medically necessary surgeries are essential for maintaining your dog’s health and quality of life. Sometimes, treatment is necessary to save the pet’s life.
Unlike elective surgeries that you schedule and prepare for with physical exams, grooming, and fasting, urgent surgeries occur faster. The vet will move forward as soon as they stabilize your dog, get their pain under control, and perform a quick blood test to determine if the pet is healthy enough to get the surgery.
Common types of urgent or emergency surgeries for dogs include the following:
- Bone Fracture: If your dog takes a bad tumble or gets hit with something heavy, they could break a bone or tear their soft tissues. Orthopedic surgeries can help correct everything from a broken leg to a torn cruciate ligament.Â
- Malignant Skin Tumors: Most skin growths for dogs are benign, but some lumps can be cancerous. Cancer can develop in different types of tumors, such as melanoma, hair follicle tumors, skin gland tumors, and mast cell tumors.
- Bladder Stone Removal: Dogs can form bladder stones or hard crystals if their urine’s pH is too high or low. The vet will need to surgically remove the stones from the dog’s bladder and urethra through a lower abdominal incision.Â
- Wounds and Abscesses: A minor cut or scrape usually isn’t a medical emergency, but severe skin lacerations, deep wounds, and abscesses require immediate medical attention. The vet may need to surgically close the wound with or without a drain after thoroughly cleaning the area and removing damaged skin.
- Surgeries for Intestinal Obstructions: An intestinal obstruction could develop if your dog eats a foreign object and it gets stuck passing through the gastrointestinal tract. This is a serious surgery involving a large abdominal incision and several days of hospitalization.
How To Prepare Your Dog for Pet Surgery
For most common dog surgeries, your vet may recommend different preparations to increase the likelihood of a successful surgical procedure. For instance, for elective surgery for an overweight dog, a vet might recommend a weight-loss regimen to help the animal shed a few pounds before the procedure. Extra weight can lead to complications with general anesthesia.Â
Before a scheduled surgery, it’s also a good idea to bathe and groom your dog the week before the appointment. The grooming will ensure your pet is ready for its treatment.
Grooming your dog before surgery is also a proactive step for ensuring it is clean. You can’t bathe or groom your pet for a while after surgery so that its wounds can heal and stay dry.Â
Your vet will provide information about what you need to do or refrain from doing for the 24 hours leading up to the surgery. In most cases, veterinarians will tell pet owners not to let their dogs eat or drink anything after a certain time the night before surgery or the morning of the event. If they have food or liquids in their stomach too soon before surgery, your dog could vomit while under anesthesia.Â
What To Expect During Recovery
The longest recovery period for dogs is several months, but that’s only for spinal and orthopedic surgeries. Bone and nerve cells will heal, but it takes time. For instance, it could take a dog up to eight months to fully recover from hip surgery.
How well your dog recovers from a common or emergency surgery depends on how closely you follow your vet’s post-surgery care instructions. Every dog is different, so your veterinarian provides explicit instructions regarding medication, diet, rest, and physical activity.Â
Your dog will likely need to wear a cone around its neck for several days after surgery. Without it, they could bite or chew at their incision site.
Explore Common Surgeries and Treatments for Your Beloved Pet at Penny Paws Animal Clinic
Knowing about common dog surgeries can help you be a better pet parent and know when and how to give your dog the medical help it needs. If your dog is in pain or experiences a change in mood or behavior, it’s imperative to book an appointment with an experienced veterinarian.Â
Penny Paws Animal Clinic has six convenient locations in Texas with teams of highly skilled and compassionate veterinarians and support staff. We can help diagnose and treat your dog to ensure it lives a happy, healthy life. Contact us today at (817) 993-1234 or visit our contact page to schedule an appointment at our Mansfield, Texas, location.