Skip to Main Content Skip to Footer
CAREERS | Download Our App
Hours 1634 West Housatonic St.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
(413) 499-1580

Surgery Protocols

Water

  • Water should be offered at all times for all animals. There is no need to pick up the water at any time prior to surgery.

Food

  • Cats and Dogs - offer ¼ of a regular meal at 6:00 AM and then pick up the food. If they will not eat regular food in the morning do not feed rich foods. It will be okay if they do not eat.

  • Small mammals and birds - Do not fast them. Offer food and water right up until the time of admission. Do not bring water in the car as it will spill and make them wet. Bring their own food on the day of surgery so that we can start feeding them as soon as they wake up.

  • Reptiles - Remove food at bedtime the night before.

  • Abdominal Ultrasounds - Stop offering food at 8:00 PM the night before and do not offer food in the morning. We need the stomach empty in order to get good images of the abdomen.

Medication

  • Amlodipine, Enalapril, and Telmisartan - these are blood pressure medications. Please DO NOT give these medications the morning of the procedure.

  • Insulin - If your animal is a diabetic, please feed ¼ of a regular meal and give ½ of the normal dose of insulin the morning of surgery.

  • All other medications - Give all of the other medications that your animal is typically on, as usual, the night before and the morning of the procedure. Please tell us at check-in what medications you have given.

Premedication for Anxiety

Some dogs and cats are very anxious about coming to the vet hospital. Pretreating at home will lower their stress and make the procedure happen more smoothly. Please ask us if you think your animal could benefit from getting medication at home before coming into the hospital.

  • Gabapentin - a very safe medication to help your animal to relax and it is also a pretreatment for pain prior to surgery. It is given the night before and TWO HOURS before coming in. Please ask us if you think it might be helpful to your animal.

  • Trazodone - an additional medication that is often used with Gabapentin for anxiety for those animals that are extremely nervous in the vet hospital. Please ask us if you feel this may be needed.

Pittsfield Veterinary Hospital