Surgery
Our experienced team of vets and state-of-the-art facilities will ensure your pet’s safety during their surgery
Surgery can be a scary thought, but you can rest assured that our experienced team of vets will only take your pet to theatre if it is really necessary. We are committed to trying various treatments to resolve their medical issue, using surgery as a last resort. Our surgery is well equipped to perform both minor and major surgical procedures, from routine neutering to more complicated soft tissue surgery.
Prior to surgery, your pet will receive a thorough physical examination to assess their current health status. However, your vet may also recommend pre-operative blood testing and sometimes urine testing to establish any issues that may not be detected through the examination alone.
These tests not only give us a more complete picture of your pet’s health, but also allow us to tailor an anaesthetic regime that is specifically designed for your pet. To ensure your pet is safe we offer a wide variety of anaesthetic protocols tailored to your pet’s individual needs. We also use state-of-the-art anaesthetic machines and monitoring equipment. To maintain your pet’s body temperature during the anaesthetic and on recovery, a combination of heat pads and warming blankets are used. This is particularly important with smaller patients as they can lose body heat very quickly during anaesthetics.
All anaesthetics are closely monitored by our veterinary nurses and nursing assistants. Pain management is an important part of our pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative anaesthetic and medical protocol.
We may advise giving your pet intravenous fluids to support the body through the anaesthetic and all surgical patients, including those undergoing routine procedures such as ovariohysterectomies or castrations, will receive pain control medication.
It is a good idea to discuss post-operative pain management options with a member of our team. We often send our surgical patients home on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to help deal with post-operative pain, and arnica to aid with bruising and healing of the surgical wound.
We do not carry out specialist procedures such as orthopaedic operations at the surgery, but can refer your pet to several local trusted specialist centres if they require this kind of treatment.
X-rays
If there is something wrong with your pet that cannot be seen from an external examination, do not worry. Our facilities enable our experienced team to diagnose your pet’s condition and treat them accordingly.
Radiographs (x-rays) can aid in the diagnosis of certain conditions. Your pet will normally need to be sedated or anaesthetised in order for us to take the radiographs because unlike humans, we cannot ask animals to stay still while the x-rays are being taken.
At Twickenham Veterinary Surgery we have fantastic digital X-ray facilities which enable us to send the images to specialists for confirmation of diagnosis or referral if necessary.
Ultrasound
Ultrasound enables us to get an image of internal organs and their infrastructure, helping us as part of the diagnosis process.
At Twickenham Veterinary Surgery we have a fantastic ultrasound machine and several vets who are confident and competent in using it – after all, there is no point having a great machine if you don’t know how to use it effectively!
Our vets will guide you in what is the most appropriate imaging technique for your pet’s needs.
Laser
Laser therapy is becoming very popular, and here at Twickenham Veterinary Surgery we have a fantastic class IV laser machine. Christabel originally got it to help treat osteoarthritis in those patients who would not tolerate her acupuncture needles, but we now use it in a wide variety of cases, and find it particularly effective in musculoskeletal problems and wound healing.
Laser therapy uses specific wavelengths of light that create therapeutic effects such as an increase in circulation, a decrease in pain, a decrease in inflammation and swelling and it also improves healing time. During each painless treatment, laser energy increases circulation, drawing water, oxygen and nutrients to the damaged area. This creates an optimal healing environment which then in turn decreases inflammation, swelling, muscle spasms, stiffness and pain. As the injured area returns to normal, function is restored and pain is relieved.