Soft Tissue Surgery

At Merrillville Animal Hospital, we take immense pride in our ability to perform veterinary surgeries when your pet needs it most. Our experienced team make it their number one priority to focus on pain management, patient safety, and employing the most current surgical practices to ensure your pet receives the best veterinary care around. Our team will be working with you before, during and after surgery to address any questions or concerns you may have about the procedure, anesthesia, or postoperative care. We will make sure you are equipped with all the knowledge you need in order to make sure your pet makes a full recovery.

We perform a number of soft tissue surgery procedures regularly. Estimates can be provided during your first visit with us – we are NOT able to provide estimates over the phone. If we are unable to perform the procedure your pet needs, we can discuss referral options. We are happy to refer our clients to Purdue University and MedVet Chicago.

We DO NOT perform cosmetic procedures, such as ear cropping, and we do not do declaws or dewclaw/tail docking in puppies.

Most pets undergoing a surgical procedure will require general anesthesia. For some minor procedures (laceration repairs, broken toenails, oral foreign body removal, etc…), sedation with reversible drugs may be substituted. This is under the discretion of the veterinarian. Should your pet require general anesthesia, we want you to be informed and comfortable with the process.

On the day of your pet’s scheduled surgery, we require that you fill out a consent form. One of our trained surgical Veterinary Assistants will go over this in detail with you on the day of your pet’s scheduled surgery.

While your pet is under anesthesia, we closely monitor their vital signs. Each pet undergoing an anesthetic procedure will have one of our staff members dedicated to maintaining their anesthetic record which will then become part of their medical record. We monitor their oxygenation, blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, mucous membrane color, temperature, hydration, and CO2 output. In all pets we recommend presurgical bloodwork and an intravenous catheter for fluid administration. In pets over the age of 5, the above are required.

Pets undergoing anesthesia are dropped off in the morning and stay in the hospital for several hours following their procedure to ensure there are no complications prior to them leaving the hospital. A Veterinary Assistant will call you once your patient is in recovery with a discharge time.

Please call if you have any questions regarding surgery/anesthesia.