General Surgery

402-786-2600

[email protected]

Tomorrow's Veterinary Care

Does your pet love their vet?

Click here to add a short description

LEARN MORE

General Surgery

Dr. Klone is our clinic surgeon. She enjoys doing surgeries!

Most pets have at least one surgery in their lives; a spay or neuter. While this is often one of the most common procedures, it is only a portion of what we do on a daily basis. We often find ourselves removing tumors or repairing wounds, too.

We utilize multimodal anesthetic protocols, which just means we use several medications to keep your pet under anesthesia. We use sedatives and pain controllers to help reduce the amount of gas anesthetic that we need to use. Local anesthetics, like lidocaine, are also used regularly. This makes the anesthesia safer and often shorter for your pet. It also means they wake up more quickly, more comfortably, and more smoothly.

Spay

This procedure is recommended for any female pet that will not be bred.

Cats and small breed dogs may be spayed at 6 months of age to prevent them from coming into heat.

Spaying reduces the risk of mammary tumors and eliminates the risk of reproductive tract cancers and life-threatening infection, known as a pyometra.

New research is showing that large and giant breed dogs may benefit from delayed spaying. Allowing full growth with hormones in place, decreases your pet's risk for some types of cancers, as well as some orthopedic conditions. Our vets will give you a more specific recommendation when you visit. Both of our veterinarians are happy to discuss this in more detail at any of your appointments.

**Dr. Klone prefers to perform full ovariohysterectomies, removing the uterus and ovaries. However, she is experienced in performing ovariectomies, as well. She will perform these upon request and on a case-by-case basis.**

Neuter

This procedure is recommended for any male pet that will not be bred.

Cats and small breed dogs may be neutered at 6 months of age.

Neutering reduces hormone-driven behaviors, such as; wandering, marking, mounting, and some aggressions.

New research is showing that large and giant breed dogs may benefit from delayed neutering. Allowing full growth with hormones in place, decreases your pet's risk for some types of cancers, as well as some orthopedic conditions. Our vets will give you a more specific recommendation when you visit. Both of our veterinarians are happy to discuss this in more detail at any of your appointments.

**Neutering involves removal of both testicles. Scrotal abalation (removal of the scrotum) can be requested in mature dogs for a more aesthetic appearance.

Vasectomies may be requested on a case-by-case basis. Permanent identification is required before Dr. Klone will consider this form of sterilization.**

Mass removals

Abnormal growths are scary. Some won't cause your pet too much trouble, others are dangerous growths that want to spread and take over.

In-house cytology (a fine-needle aspirate, then looking under the microscope at the cells) allows us to determine if the growth should be removed.

Some small growths on the skin can be removed from patient cats and dogs with a local block (lidocaine). Some are larger, or in awkward areas, and require anesthesia for removal. Any tumor or growth that needs to be removed deserves to be sent to a pathologist for evaluation. They can tell us what kind of tumor we removed, how aggressive it behaves, and whether it was removed completely or not; all of which guide our next steps.

Exploratory Surgeries

These are more common than you might think!

Dogs (and cats) like to eat things they aren't supposed to. Sometimes, those things don't pass like they are supposed to. Getting stuck is no good!

Sometimes, we have to operate to remove those items and repair any damage that may have been done to the GI tract.

Occasionally, we have to 'explore' for other things, like tumors or growth, or infection, too.`

Declawing

We strongly advocate against declawing.

There are several alternatives, and we will educate cat owners on them before even considering a declaw. Declawing is not like trimming nails. It is amputation of each toe at the first knuckle. It leads to arthritis, since the cats use their toes differently afterward.

In cases where declawing is still needed (immunocompromised owners) or where the alternatives have failed, we will proceed. We provide exceptional pain relief for all declaws, including local blocks and opioid pain relief.

Cystotomies

This procedure is used to remove stones from the bladder of a cat or dog. Many stones are caused by infection, but some are due to a pet's metabolism. Each is prevented in a different way, but existing stones should be surgically removed to prevent bladder damage, inflammation, and infection.

Most pets feel nearly immediate relief once the stones are removed. Stone analysis by Michigan State after surgery helps us guide owners to successfully prevent new stones from forming.