A consultation with one of our board certified surgeons is required before we can perform surgery on your pet. It is important that a thorough examination is performed to confirm the injury and determine the most appropriate procedure for your pet. We would like to meet you and your pet ahead of time to explain the procedure, post-op care, and answer any questions you may have.

A surgical estimate will be compiled at the time of your consult. Our estimates are based on your pet’s weight, implants that may be used in the surgery, diagnostic tests, and total number of nights hospitalized. The post-op recheck exams are no charge, but any refilled medications, radiographs, or bandage changes are not included in the surgery cost. We do not offer payment plans, but do accept CareCredit, check, cash, and all major credit cards. We collect a 50% deposit of the estimate the morning of surgery and will collect the remaining balance at the time of discharge.

Bloodwork & urinalysis will be required prior to the surgery. The lab work must be performed within 30 days of the procedure and can be performed at your primary veterinarian’s office or at VetSurg. We recommend that the lab work be performed 1-2 weeks prior to surgery so that if there are any abnormalities, we can address them ahead of time. In some cases, the doctor will have the pre-operative radiographs performed ahead of time to allow appropriate time for surgical planning.

Routinely, we have patients admitted to the hospital between 7:30 -7:45am. Your pet should have no food after 10 pm the night before; water is ok until first thing in the morning. It is important that we have our patients admitted early to allow appropriate timing for pre-op exams, diagnostics, catheter placement & IV fluid administration. Timing of your pet’s surgery will be based on how many procedures we have that day, equipment factors, and triaging any urgent cases. We will call you at the beginning of your pet’s surgery, once your pet is out of surgery and the doctor will call you to discuss the details of the surgical procedure.

Our patients stay the night of the surgery for monitoring and pain management. If your pet is having an orthopedic procedure on more than one limb or an extensive soft tissue procedure, we may want to keep your pet overnight for 1-3 nights. We will prepare you ahead of time of the expected duration of hospitalization and will discharge your pet as soon as they are ready to go home. We have patient caretakers monitoring patients overnight at all times, and they also have access to the on-call surgeon if there are any concerns. Patients are typically discharged between 10 am – 5pm.

Depending on the orthopedic surgery that was performed, your pet may need to stay in the crate for up to 3-6 weeks. Activity restriction is imperative to the healing process and to prevent complications. It is important that your pet is comfortable in the crate and has enough room to turn around, lie comfortably, and wear a cone collar for the first 10-14 days until the incision has healed. A pen can also be used, but should be carefully considered if there is no cover, as some patients will try to jump over. Please see the ‘Post-Operative: Orthopedic’ handout for crate specifications. Your pet can spend time outside of the crate with you, but must always be on a leash and under direct supervision.

Routinely, we have patients admitted to the hospital between 7:30 -8am. Your pet should have no food after 6pm the night before; water is ok until first thing in the morning.It is important that we have our patients admitted early to allow appropriate timing for pre-op exams, diagnostics, catheter placement & IV fluid administration. Timing of your pet’s surgery will be based on how many procedures we have that day, equipment factors, and triaging any urgent cases. We will be able to provide you with a time estimate the morning of the procedure and will call you at the beginning of your pet’s surgery.

We have most of our patients stay the night of the surgery for monitoring and pain management. If your pet is having an orthopedic procedure on more than one limb or an extensive soft tissue procedure, we may want to keep your pet overnight for 1-3 nights. We will prepare you ahead of time of the recommended hospital stay and will discharge your pet as soon as we feel that they are ready to go home. We have patient caretakers monitoring patients overnight at all times, and they also have access to Dr. Holsworth if there are any concerns. Patients are usually discharged between 12pm – 5pm.

The first 48 hours can be the most challenging, as patients are on multiple medications and need time adjusting to their new routine. If your schedule allows, we recommend having adequate time at home to be with your pet for the first day or two.

• It is very important to have the crate, pen, or small area ready for your pet’s arrival. We will assist you in getting your pet into the vehicle to go home. If you can, bring someone with you to sit with your pet if you will be traveling with him or her in the back of the car and not in a crate. You know your pet best and how active they usually are in the car.
• We recommend having piddle pads available, as your pet may have accidents with urination and/or soft stools. They may also need to be walked outside more frequently. It is common for patients not to have a bowel movement for several days after surgery. A spoonful of canned pumpkin can be added to their food to help with constipation.
• Your pet may be on several medications that will need to be administered 2-3 times a day. These can usually be given in a tasty treat (peanut butter, pill pockets, cheese, turkey slices).

Depending on the orthopedic surgery that was performed, your pet may need to stay in the crate for up to 3-6 weeks. Activity restriction is imperative to the healing process and to prevent complications. It is important that your pet is comfortable in the crate and has enough room to turn around, lie comfortably, and wear a cone collar for the first 10-14 days until the incision has healed. A pen can also be used, but should be carefully considered if there is no cover, as some patients will try to jump over. Please see the ‘Post-Operative: Orthopedic’ handout for crate specifications. Your pet can spend time outside of the crate with you, but must always be on a leash and under direct supervision.

Typically, patients are rechecked 10-14 days after surgery to make sure the incision is healing appropriately. If your pet has had orthopedic surgery, we may be removing or changing the cast/splint. A mild injectable sedation is administered prior to cast removal, so please do NOT feed your pet at least 4 hours prior to the appointment. Please bring your cone collar and sling to this appointment. We prefer to schedule these appointments at VetSurg, but if arrangements cannot be made, we may recommend that you see your primary veterinarian. Recheck radiographs may also be recommended and usually scheduled at 3-5 weeks post-op. Injectable sedation will be administered prior to the radiographs, so please do NOT feed your pet at least 4 hours prior to the appointment.

Pricing for the initial consult will be $180. We require a $100 deposit at the time of scheduling. This will be applied to your final invoice. We will provide you with an estimate for any additional diagnostics that may be recommended at the time of the appointment, once the examination has been completed.

Primary veterinarians refer most of our cases to us and we have established relationships to work together for the best outcome of the patient. We strongly recommend that you see your primary veterinarian prior to coming directly to VetSurg.

As a small surgical practice, our focus is on providing our clients and patients with excellent surgical treatment and post-op management following elective proceduresWe do not offer emergency care or walk-in services. In certain cases, we may be able to provide surgical management in a timely manner with the cooperation directly from our referring veterinarians. We do not perform dentals, wellness exams, vaccines, or other routine services and recommend you see your primary veterinarian for these treatments.

As a small surgical practice, our focus is on providing our clients and patients with excellent surgical treatment and post-op management following elective procedures. At this time, we are not equipped to provide emergency surgical intervention, as we have limitations on our surgery days (Monday-Wednesday) and 24 hour care. In certain cases, we may be able to provide surgical management in a timely manner with the cooperation directly from our referring veterinarians. We do not perform dentals, wellness exams, vaccines, or other routine services and recommend you see your primary veterinarian for these treatments.

We recommend that you arrive 15 minutes early for your appointment to complete the registration form (or print online & complete ahead of time) and allow adequate time to be checked in. Please fast your pet at least 4 hours prior to the appointment, in the event that radiographs need to be performed. If you have had any previously performed radiographs or lab tests, please contact the facility and have them emailed to us for the appointment. A brief history will be collected from one of our staff members. The doctor will perform a thorough examination of your pet and review any previous radiographs performed.

Many patients we see have had some previous imagery performed. Radiographs, ultrasound studies and in some cased previous CT’s or MRI’s. It is the client’s responsibility to supply these studies for our review prior to, or at the same time as consultation. CT and MRI scans have to be transferred the week prior to the consult to allow us to add them to our image review programs and review them appropriately. If needed we can assist in sourcing those studies from the other veterinary services involved but we must have sufficient notice to do this.

If the xrays or ultrasound is out-of-date in terms of the pathological process we are examining for we will recommend further imaging. If the films are not of sufficient quality for our purpose or the patient positioning is not what we require we will we also require further imaging. If at all possible we try to utilize previous diagnostics (x-rays, ultrasounds, bloodwork, urine analysis), but this is not always possible and repeat diagnostics may be needed. Most imagery studies at VetSurg will require some form of sedation to maximize patient cooperation and image quality. Therefore, it is necessary that all patients prior to consultation are fasted for a minimum of 8 hours to avoid sedation induced stomach issues ( regurgitation, vomiting, lung aspiration).

If any radiographs are recommended, we can usually perform these the same day, but ask that you allow 2-6 hours for these diagnostics. Injectable sedation may be required, so we please ask that you fast your pet 4-6 hours prior to the appointment. Sedation allows us to appropriately position your pet for specific diagnostic views and reduces the risk of injury due to anxiety. In most cases, we do not perform surgery the same day as the consultation unless otherwise organized.