Surgery

Small Animal Surgery

At Scott County Animal Hospital, we routinely perform elective and emergency soft tissue surgery as well as selected orthopedic surgeries.  We pride ourselves on excellent presurgical and postsurgical care, emphasizing pain management and patient monitoring.

We strongly recommend presurgical blood work for every patient, regardless of age or health status.  We use the results of these tests to select the safest and most effective anesthetic drug protocol for your pet.  Even young animals may have undetected abnormalities.  Problems such as liver or kidney disease may cause us to delay elective surgery, or use different anesthetic drugs.  Elevated white cell count indicates infection, which may cause us to postpone surgery.  Low red cell or platelet counts may cause excessive bleeding during or after surgery.  Our goal is to make surgery as safe as possible for your pet, and if we feel that a delay is necessary, we will contact you.  Emergency surgery cannot be delayed, of course, but we will make appropriate drug choices to make the surgery as safe as possible for your pet.

Throughout anesthesia, your pet will be monitored carefully using state-of-the-art equipment.  We monitor heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature, blood pressure, and blood oxygen levels throughout anesthesia.  These are the same monitors used in human surgery!  These monitors allow us to detect problems very early.  All pets also have an intravenous catheter placed and receive intravenous fluids during surgery, allowing us to maintain blood pressure and give emergency drugs quickly should a problem develop.

All pets undergoing surgery at Scott County Animal Hospital have a pain management protocol developed for them, taking into account the type of surgery, any medical problems or blood work abnormalities, and current medications (if any).  Pets receive a combination of presurgical medication, pain medication during surgery, and post-surgical pain medication.  Our goal is to prevent pain from developing, and to quickly stop any pain which does develop.  We want your pet to be as comfortable as possible throughout the procedure.

If your pet is going to have surgery at our hospital, please be sure to read our presurgical information form, and call us if you have any questions at all.  Our staff is ready to answer any questions you may have about surgery.

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Office Hours

Monday:

7:30am

5:30pm

Tuesday:

7:30am

5:30pm

Wednesday:

7:30am

7:00pm

Thursday:

7:30am

5:30pm

Friday:

7:30am

5:30pm

Saturday:

7:30am

12:00pm

Sunday:

Closed

Closed

Location

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Testimonial

  • "SCAH has some of the most caring, compassionate and professional staff anywhere! They have treated our puppy dogs for the past 31 years and have treated each one with such kindness, knowledge and special care that we can't imagine going anywhere else. We have had some special issues with a few of our dogs and I feel like they not only did their utmost to give the best care, but also make sure that we as pet owners are part of the process. And when sadly, one of our fur babies has passed, they have given us such kindness and understanding that it makes a hard time much easier. Bless you all for your wonderful care to us and our doggies."
    Nancy N.
  • "Very caring people. I live in Clinton and it is worth the drive to them. I have been there a handful of times and the customer service has been above and beyond. Nothing but great things to say about every experience!"
    Chandra H
  • "i wish all the vets offices would do this!I think it is wonderful to advertise all our fur babies and how they are doing!"
    Penny G.
  • "Excellent caring staff. If I could give them a trillion stars I would. Your fur babies are in the best hands. The most caring compassionate staff you will ever meet!"
    Lori H
  • "Every single person at Scott County Animal Hospital, whether it is one of the doctors, one of the techs or groomer or a front desk worker...EVERYONE treats us like family every time we have a contact with them."
    Debi E.
  • "A huge thank you to Colene for always making Lola’s visits relaxing 💜 Lola did great with Dr. Knutson. I’m happy that I’ve finally found a place that truly cares about the well being of my fur-baby 🐶 Their whole staff is welcoming and I never have to worry about Lola’s appointments."
    Amber K
  • "The absolute best in the QC. Have always taken great care of our puppies and dogs throughout the years. Feels like family and always a warm welcome. Treat your pets with the best care like they are their own."
    VeronicaV.

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