Category: Dog Safety

Post-Op Care for Pet Surgeries: How to Help Your Pet Recover

Whether your pet needs a routine or more complex operation, having your pet undergo surgery can be a stressful time. While we do our best to provide your pet with exceptional care, patient monitoring, and the highest quality of medications while they are with us, most pets do the majority of their post-operative recovery in the comfort of their own homes. As a result, it is up to pet owners to provide their pets with the required care to ensure a safe, smooth, and speedy recovery.

How to Help Your Pet Recover From Surgery

(Please remember that these instructions are generic, and while they apply to most post-operative situations, you should always follow the specific instructions provided to you by your veterinarian upon your pet’s hospital discharge.)

The Day of Surgery

When you first bring your pet home from surgery, keep them confined to a calm, quiet space (away from other animals and children) in your house. You can provide them with water and, although they might not have much of an appetite, you can offer them a small meal of their regular food later in the evening.

Medications

Be sure to administer all of your pet’s medications as they were prescribed. If you’re having trouble administering a medication, contact our office for help or for a compounded prescription.

Wound Care

Prevent your pet from licking or biting their incision site with an Elizabethan collar (cone).

Keep your pet’s incision dry for at least seven days after surgery. Do not wash the incision site, bathe your pet, or allow them to swim until healed. Watch the incision for signs of infection or tearing. A little bleeding the day after surgery is normal. Additionally, slight redness or swelling is also normal.

More severe bleeding, swelling, redness, or unusual discharge could be a sign of infection or other issues and should be treated with emergency veterinary care.

Activity Restriction

Restrict your pet’s activities for seven to 14 days after surgery (depending on the type of surgery).

Pet Surgery at Pacific Animal Hospital of Redondo Beach

At Pacific Animal Hospital of Redondo Beach, we understand that having your pet undergo a surgical procedure of any kind can be stressful. That’s why we are always here to answer any questions you might have about your pet’s recovery and post-operative care. Before sending your pet home, we will provide you with thorough discharge instructions and ensure you understand how to help your pet have a smooth and complication-free recovery.

If you have any concerns or questions at any time during your pet’s recovery, we welcome you to contact our office.

5 Beach Safety Tips for Pets

One of the best activities to do with your dog in the summer is to visit the beach and splash around in the waves. While visiting the beach is a good way to stay active and cool in the summer sun, there are a few things you should be aware of to keep your pet safe.

5 Tips to Keep Your Pet Safe at the Beach

1. Know the Signs of Heatstroke

Splashing in the water will help to keep your pet cool, but dogs are still highly susceptible to heatstroke in warm weather. Be sure you know the signs of heatstroke (excessive panting and drooling, elevated heart rate, red gums and tongue, dizziness, loss of balance, vomiting, diarrhea, fainting, collapse, and seizures) and seek immediate emergency veterinary care if your pet overheats.

2. Bring Fresh Water

To help your pet stay hydrated and regulate their body temperature, make sure they have access to plenty of fresh, cool water throughout your beach day. It’s also important to do your best to limit the amount of salt water they drink because this will worsen dehydration and could actually cause salt poisoning because too much salt is toxic for dogs.

3. Test the Sand

Before letting your pup run on the beach, feel the sand with your bare hand. If it’s too hot for you, it’s too hot for your pet’s paws. It’s best to visit the beach in the early morning or late evening when the sand is cooler.

4. Know the Rules

Not every beach welcomes dogs, and this means you could be at risk of getting a ticket and a fine if you bring your dog to the wrong beach. Make sure you’re visiting a dog-friendly beach before you head out.

5. Avoid Sunburn

Even though they are covered in fur, dogs are still at risk of getting sunburns – especially those with shorter coats. If your dog gets groomed, be sure to leave at least an inch of fur to protect their skin. You can further protect your pet’s skin by applying dog-safe sunscreen. Additionally, make sure your spot on the beach has access to shade.

Summer Safety With Pacific Animal Hospital

Make sure your pet is completely safe this summer with parasite preventatives, vaccinations, and pet microchips at Pacific Animal Hospital of Redondo Beach. To learn more about safely visiting the beach with your pet this summer, we welcome you to schedule an appointment today.

Should You Microchip Your Pet?

No one plans to lose a pet, but, unfortunately, pets go missing all the time. It’s estimated that 10 million pets are lost each year, and most lost pets are sadly never reunited with their families. At Pacific Animal Hospital, we strongly encourage all pet owners to have their dogs and cats microchipped to significantly increase the chances that they will be reunited with their pets should they go missing.

What Is a Pet Microchip?

A pet microchip is comprised of a small RFID microchip (about the size of a grain of rice) that is encased in a biocompatible capsule.

How Do Microchips Work?

Pet microchips are inserted into a pet between his or her shoulder blades, using a hollow needle. This process is quick and mostly painless. Your pet might feel a slight pinching sensation like getting a vaccination, but no anesthetics are necessary when inserting a microchip.

The microchip contains a unique, identifying number that can be read when scanned with an appropriate microchip scanning device. When scanned, the device will read the microchip’s number. If a pet is lost and turned into a veterinary clinic or an animal shelter, the pet will be scanned for a microchip. The number can then be located in a national database where the pet owner’s contact information is stored.

Are Microchips Really Effectively?

Yes! Pet microchips very effectively increase the chances of being reunited with a lost pet.

A study including more than 7,700 stray animals that were turned into animal shelters showed a significant improvement in reuniting dogs and cats with their families. In the study, 52.2% of dogs with microchips were reunited compared to only 21.9% of dogs without microchips. Cats with microchips were reunited 38.5% of the time compared to just 1.8% of cats without microchips.

It’s important to remember, though, that your pet’s microchip can only be effective if you keep your contact information up-to-date in the microchip database. If your pet is found and scanned, but your contact information isn’t listed alongside your pet’s identification number, then there still won’t be any way to find you.

Pet Microchipping in Redondo Beach

While we still recommend fitting your pet with a collar and ID tags, we also encourage you to have your pet microchipped for their safety and your peace of mind. To learn more about pet microchipping or to schedule an appointment to get your pet a microchip, we welcome you to contact Pacific Animal Hospital today.