SURGICAL SERVICES

DESEXING

Desexing is the process of removing an animals ability to reproduce. In male pets we castrate (remove their testicles), and in females we spey (perform an ovariohysterectomy). Desexing is routinely performed at approximately 6 months of age. Desexing earlier than 6 months of age is also possible if required and remember, an animal is never “too old” to be desexed.

There are many reasons we desex at an early age, including the prevention of unwanted pregnancies, to reduce territorial behaviour (such as aggression toward other animals, the tendency to mount others), to decrease wandering behaviour and to prevent health complications in entire animals such as testicular and prostate disease in males, and uterine or ovarian disease in females. Desexing also significantly reduces the risk of mammary tumours in female animals if done before sexual maturity. There are less complications associated with immature desexings thanks to the shortened procedure and anaesthetic time and lack of tissue development in a young animal. We offer desexing procedures for dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, pigs, sheep, goats, alpacas and horses.

NEARBY EMERGENCY SERVICES

We understand that accidents can happen at any time, and where emergency procedures need to be undertaken out of hours our closest emergency centres are Greencross Werribee Vet Hospital, Advanced Vet Care Kensington, Geelong Animal Emergency and Animal Referral hospital/Accident and emergency Essendon Fields.

SOFT TISSUE SURGERY

Soft tissue surgery is any surgical procedure unrelated to bones or joints. These surgeries may include lump removals, wound repair, biopsies, caesarians, desexing, foreign body retrieval, eye surgery and many more. Orthopaedic surgery involves any surgical procedure relating to the bones or joints. These surgeries include fracture and ligament repair, amputations and other corrective procedures such as patella surgery. In some cases specialised equipment such as advanced imaging or specialist surgical equipment may be required, for example for complicated spinal surgery – these cases are assessed by our veterinarians and may be referred to a specialist clinic to provide the best care for you and your pet.

DENTAL PROCEDURES

Dental disease is one of the biggest problems in our pet population and it is important that regular and frequent assessment of your pet’s dental health is carried out in order to prevent the progression of dental disease. Your pet’s teeth are assessed at every health check and recommendations for the management of dental disease are made based on your pet’s requirements. If a dental procedure is recommended for your pet, this involves a complete dental examination under anaesthetic, ultrasonic scaling and polishing. In some cases teeth may need to be removed.