Surgery and dental extractions can cause pain. Some animals are very good at not showing pain though they are feeling it. As veterinarians we recognize pain and take it very seriously. It is not only unfair to an animal to be in pain, it also slows recovery from surgery.

For surgical pain we use a combination of Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS) such as meloxicam as well as opoids such as hydromorphone, butorphenol and buprenorphine. For major surgeries and all our declaws we apply a slow release fentanyl patch that gives pain relief for up to three days. For surgeries involving the hind end we can use a morphine epidural to prevent pain for hours after recovery from anesthetic.

All our surgical cases and dental extractions now have our therapeutic laser applied after the wounds have been closed. This is effective in decreasing pain and speeding healing.