Surgical Services

​Dr. Dennis

Board-Certified Canine & Feline Practice

Stratham-Newfields Veterinary Hospital is Voluntarily Evaluated on 900 Quality Standards by American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA).  Many of these standards pertain to the safety and quality of our Surgical Care and Pain Management Practices.

Our Human-Grade Surgical Facilities: SNVH is equipped with state-of-the-art surgical facilities to provide your pet with the safety of a human-grade operating environment.

Stratham-Newfields Veterinary Hospital has two separate surgery rooms to decrease the risk of infection.  (Most veterinary hospitals have multiple tables in one room which can put your pet at greater risk for post-surgical infections. )

• Our surgery rooms have human-hospital grade HEPA filtration which performs a complete air exchange every four minutes to reduce risk of surgical infections and increase safety.
• Additionally, our filtration system maintains a positive pressure causing the air to always flow out of the surgery when the door is opened, making it nearly impossible for contaminants to enter the surgical field.

Patient Monitoring

Stratham-Newfields Veterinary Hospital uses the most up-to-date pain management protocols, advanced monitoring equipment, and the safest anesthesia available.  At SNVH, a Credentialed Veterinary Technician is dedicated exclusively to carefully monitoring your pet from the moment anesthesia is administered until your pet is recovered and awake.   Our technicians are very "hands on" and will be assessing your pet's heart rate, respiratory rate, gum color, and depth of anesthesia with her hands, ears, and eyes.
In addition to a Credentialed Veterinary Technician monitoring your pet's vital signs, your pet will be continuously monitored by electronic monitors throughout the entire procedure for your pet's safety:
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• Heart (EKG)
• Arterial Oxygen Level (spO2)
• End-Tidal Carbon Dioxide
• Core Temperature
• Respiratory
• Blood Pressure
• Computer Controlled Ventilator Anesthesia machine (enables precise controlled inhalant drug administration)

TPLO surgery for cruciate ligament rupture

Procedures

In addition to​ the extensive surgical procedures Drs. Dennis and Young perform, Dr. Geoff Clark, DACVS, of Veterinary Surgery of New England, offers the specialty surgeries for our patients on a referral basis.

Above is a radiograph of bone plating done by Referral Specialist, Dr. Geoffrey N. Clark, DACVS.
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This image shows an agility dog that had TPLO surgeries for ruptured cranial (anterior) cruciate ligament (ACL). The bone plate and bone screws are the bright white objects.

Surgeries like this one require special monitoring, pain management and after care. 

The health care team at SNVH helped this guy get back to agility trials and winning fast. 

Extensive in-house laboratory facility

Preoperative Exam
​& Blood Work

Your veterinarian at SNVH will give your pet a thorough physical examination the morning of the procedure to make sure he/she is healthy enough for the surgery and anesthesia. Remember, pets can't tell us if they don't feel well. A physical examination is our first defense against performing surgery on an animal that could be ill, have an infectious disease, a heart murmur or could be debilitated from parasites.

Additionally, all patients who are anesthetized will have blood work beforehand. All pets - not just the old or sick - should have a basic pre-anesthetic blood test to reduce risk and increase safety. A healthy-appearing pet may be hiding symptoms of a disease or ailment and blood work can detect abnormalities that could affect anesthesia - even in pets younger than one year of age.  We check a complete blood count (CBC), blood sugar, liver and kidney values, and a complete biochemical profile of 25+ components including electrolytes. If the blood work is normal, we can proceed with confidence knowing the anesthetic risk is minimized. These tests also provide a baseline for your pet should illness occur in the future.