de la Houssaye Animal Hospital is committed to providing the safest procedures for your pet. If these procedures require a form of anesthesia, it is very important to know as much about your pets health as possible so that the anesthesia can be tailored to fit your pets own special needs. It is important to realize that some underlying conditions in regard to your pet can go undetected for the simple reason that a physical exam, as informative as it can be, does not always reveal certain conditions your pet may have.
As in human medicine, the anesthetics available are very safe but certain conditions may require a different type of anesthetic agent to accommodate certain needs. Therefore, in order to minimize potential risks associated with either anesthesia or a pets specific condition, it is vital to know as much about the patient in question. This can be achieved by performing certain pre-anesthetic tests.
These tests usually consist of blood analysis, EKG’s, x-rays, and/or ultrasound. Once the results of these tests are obtained, the anesthesia and procedure can be formulated and designed to meet your pets special needs. Even if the testing reveals that abnormalities do not exist at that time, the information is still very valuable for future reference in regard to your pets health.
It is also important to note that de la Houssaye Animal Hospital performs all these tests in each hospital when needed and can have results immediately without inconvenience to our clients. This also allows scheduled procedures to be performed on the day for which it was scheduled.
Although performing these tests cannot guarantee the outcome of a procedure, it can significantly minimize the risk to your pet and provide you with peace of mind.