The Dangers of Price Shopping for Surgery; affordability is important, and procedures should be as cost effective as possible, but to sacrifice the safety of patients to cut costs is unthinkable.

Surgical procedures requiring anesthesia are frequently preformed by veterinarians for a variety of reasons. Many are routinely done at veterinary hospitals (such as spays and neuters) but just because they are done often does not mean they should be considered minor procedures. Any procedure which creates an unconscious state has inherent risks associated with it. Minimizing these risks is important to increase your pet’s chances of a successful outcome.

Shopping for the least expensive service for routine surgeries, many times, does not help minimize these risks. Differences in cost, associated with surgeries, often come from what is included and what is not. For example, cost can depend on:

• what pre-anesthetic precautions are taken
• what anesthetics and pain medications are used
• what procedure is done
• how much anesthetic monitoring is used during the procedure
• what post- surgical care is offered

Picking the least expensive quote can mean cutting corners on quality, comfort, and most importantly safety for you pet.

At Kansas City Veterinary Care we believe that affordability is important, and strive to keep our procedures as cost effective as possible, but we are not willing to sacrifice the safety of our patients to cut costs.

Kansas City Veterinary Care insist that all of our patients prior to their surgery have four very important things.

1. A complete physical exam immediately before surgery to make sure that they are healthy and can be safely anesthetized.

2. They must have bloodwork to make sure that there are no underlying illnesses that might have gone undetected on a physical exam. This also makes sure that your pet is able to handle anesthesia safely and in a predictable manner. The exam and bloodwork also allows us to tailor your pet’s pre and post-operative pain medications so that we can make them as comfortable as possible after the surgery without causing any harm.
3. We believe in pre-medicating all animals before surgical procedures. This means giving a small injection of drugs that safely causes mild sleepiness, and pain control. This is important so that anxious animals can feel calm and pain free, therefore providing a smooth transition into anesthesia. We make every attempt to create as pleasant an experience as possible.
4. All animals that have surgery at KCVC also have an intravenous catheter placed before anesthesia is induced. This is something that not all veterinary clinics do, but we feel that it is of paramount importance. This catheter allows us to give lifesaving medications immediately if anesthetic complications arise. It also is used for giving fluids throughout the procedure to maintain blood pressure and organ perfusion while at the same time speeding up anesthetic recovery times.

What makes Kansas City Veterinary Care different happens also during the surgery:

Standards of anesthesia monitoring. Every pet that is under anesthesia has a trained technician who is solely dedicated to monitoring their level of anesthesia and their vital signs. To aid in this important role we utilize a capnograph, a blood pressure monitor, an electrocardiogram, a pulse oximeter, a respiratory monitor, and core body temperatures. All of these measurements are constantly being recorded throughout your pet’s surgery. The monitors enable us to closely assess the depth of anesthesia, and your pet’s response to anesthesia/ surgery, therefore allowing us to correct any problem before they become a danger your loved one. This in-depth monitoring and specialized equipment is not inexpensive but we believe that it is necessary in order to provide the best care for our patients while they are under anesthesia.

Our diligence in preventing hypothermia (low body temperature) sets us apart from other veterinarians. There is evidence which shows hypothermia can severely compromise our pet during surgery by causing prolonged recovery times, clotting abnormalities and even cardiac arrhythmias. We utilize fluid warmed blankets and "Bear Huggers", which are forced air heating blankets, to effectively maintain body temperature during and after surgery. These two items are the standard of care for warming animals while preventing thermal injury such as skin burns possibly caused by electric heating pads. KCVC in addition uses an intravenous fluid warmer for all fluids as they are given during surgery. This addresses an important source of body cooling which can come from intravenous fluids being given at room temperature.

Pain control is also a huge priority for any surgical candidate at KCVC. We utilize local nerve blocks, opioids, and anti-inflammatory drugs to block pain from being perceived and to control it after surgery. This is very important to ensure a comfortable, happy patient, as well as to speed healing. Pain control in animals is at the forefront of veterinary research and we believe that it should be a central part of any surgical procedure.

Although all of these “extras” are not absolutely necessary to spay or neuter an animal, they have greatly helped to reduce anesthetic deaths, alleviate pain and suffering, and prevent anesthetic and surgical complications. We believe that we owe it to you and your pets to treat them with the best care possible and to provide the safest surgical environment possible. We understand that surgery day is a scary day for you and your loved one, and we strive to utilize every precaution we can to ensure it is as safe and pain free as possible.

If you have any questions about your pet's surgery please contact your Kansas City Veterinary Care Doctor at 816-333-4330