Willows has an anaesthesia team dedicated to the provision of safe sedation and anaesthesia, optimal pain relief and critical care support to all our patients. This expertise is available for every case, whether undergoing routine surgery or presenting with the most complex and demanding problem.

General anaesthesia is a state of reversible unconsciousness during which time patients do not feel anything. All the drugs that produce this effect have some unwanted side-effects, and, although it is usually small, there is always a risk with every anaesthetic procedure. However, at Willows we make every effort to minimise these side-effects by using highly trained staff to choose and administer the most appropriate premedication and anaesthetic agents and to monitor each pet all the way through the process. In addition to direct involvement in patient care, the veterinary surgeons in the anaesthesia team provide in-house advice and training for both nursing and veterinary staff alike, in order to enhance our patient care in every aspect of anaesthesia and analgesia. We also use the latest monitoring equipment and techniques, enabling us to pre-empt any problems that may arise during procedures performed under general anaesthesia.

The anaesthesia team is actively involved in the post-operative care of our patients, including giving advice to the other vets at Willows regarding the use of pain management medications which are tailored to the specific needs of individual patients. Pets which have undergone surgery or have potentially painful conditions are carefully monitored for signs of discomfort, and appropriate painkillers are administered according to each patient's needs in order to optimise their comfort.

The anaesthesia service also forms an important component of the intensive care team, which looks after critically ill patients and which combines the knowledge and expertise of all the veterinary surgeons within the practice who work in the fields of anaesthesia, internal medicine and surgery.

Information on pain management (including that of chronic pain) and anaesthesia is also available to referring veterinary surgeons, both through telephone advice and through continuing professional education events provided by Willows.

To assist owners whose pets are undergoing sedation or general anaesthesia or whose pets require pain management, we have put together a range of information sheets which cover these topics. Please feel free to view and download this information by following the links provided.

 

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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