Forms

Surgery Consent Form

In the section “Laboratory Test Waiver” of the surgery consent form, there are several options that you can select or decline for your pet while here with us for general anesthesia. Rest assured that advances in anesthesia and surgery have made routine procedures relatively safe with a low rate of complications. Occasional problems can arise due to pre-existing conditions not evident during routine pre-anesthetic examinations.

1. At Risinger Veterinary Hospital, we are proud to offer in house bloodwork including a complete blood cell count and 12-panel internal organ function screen. The complete blood count will show if your pet has normal red blood cell and platelet count which is important when undergoing surgery. The 12-panel internal organ function screen is a serum chemistry that includes liver and kidney values, blood glucose, electrolytes, and protein levels. This information is valuable when choosing the best anesthetic medication for your pet for his/her procedure.
2. Although an intravenous (IV) catheter and fluids is an option on the consent form, we highly recommend selecting to have an IV catheter in your pet during his/her anesthetized procedure. An IV catheter in place prior to surgery ensures that we will have quick and reliable IV access to administer emergency medications if an adverse reaction, such as low heart rate, were to arise during your pet’s surgical procedure. An IV catheter also allows the administration of IV fluids throughout the time your pet is under general anesthesia in order to maintain adequate blood pressure thus profusion to vital organs.
3. A heartworm test is recommended annually on dogs since we live in an endemic region for heartworms. This test is a blood test. Since your pet will be sedated, the time of surgery may be the perfect opportunity to collect a blood sample for testing to avoid potential stress on your dog by drawing blood while fully awake.
4. The fecal test, also known as an intestinal parasite screen, will determine if your pet has any intestinal parasites (‘worms’). Some intestinal parasites, such as hookworms, may cause your pet to be anemic which is not ideal at the time of surgery. Other intestinal parasites, such as whipworms, may cause your pet to develop diarrhea with stress which is likely during his/her recovery period. Still other intestinal parasites, such as round worms, can be transmitted to humans; therefore, it is important to make sure you pet is not transmitting zoonotic parasites to you or your family members. We can collect a stool sample from your pet while sedated prior to surgery or you can bring us a stool sample for testing.
5. Post-operative pain management with take home medication is highly recommended for your pet undergoing any surgical procedure. All patients will receive an anti-inflammatory or pain injection at the time of surgery. By selecting this option, your pet will also go home with 3-5 days of additional pain medication to administer by mouth after you pick him/her up from discharge. Pain management is important in pets to maintain a good appetite and promote healing during the recovery period.
6. We have a blood test that can test for both Feline Leukemia Virus and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus. Both of these viruses may not display any clinical signs in your cat but can affect your cat’s healing response during recovery. This test is highly recommended for stray cats, cats born from a stray, or cats that fight with other cats as these are the most common ways these two viruses are transmitted. Since the only test is a blood test, it is common to collect the blood sample while the cat is sedated in order to reduce stress for the cat. If your cat has been vaccinated against Feline Leukemia Virus, the vaccine-associated antibodies will not test as a false positive; therefore, we can still test your cat even if they have been vaccinated.
7. At Risinger Veterinary Hospital, we use Home Again microchips. These reliable microchips are approximately the size of a grain of rice and come in a needle to implant between the shoulders much like you would give an injection. As you can imagine, the diameter of the needle is larger than a routine injection needle and many owners elect to have the microchip implanted while the pet is under anesthesia. We will automatically register your pet’s microchip number with the Home Again database from our computer system. You will be notified of the registry via the email account that you have provided. You may log on to the Home Again website to update your pet’s information and picture whenever you like after the registration is complete.
8. An Elizabethan collar (also known as an e-collar or cone) is designed and prescribed for your pet to prevent licking wounds or surgical incisions. To appropriately fit your pet, the e-collar should extend pass the end of your pet’s nose when pushed against the shoulder/ base of neck and not slide over the ears when pulled forward. Most surgical incisions require a minimum of 14 days to heal; therefore, we recommend to leave an e-collar on your pet at ALL times (especially when not supervised) during this time frame. If your pet does not fit in his/her kennel while wearing the e-collar, we suggest confining him/her to a small room during the recommended healing time to leave the e-collar in place. Most eat and drink with the e-collar in place. Move water and food bowls away from the walls or other obstacles for your pet to easily place the e-collar over the bowls when eating and drinking.

Dental Consent Form

In the section “Laboratory Test Waiver” of the dental consent form, there are several options that you can select or decline for your pet while here with us for general anesthesia. Rest assured that advances in anesthesia and surgery have made routine procedures relatively safe with a low rate of complications. Occasional problems can arise due to pre-existing conditions not evident during routine pre-anesthetic examinations.

1. At Risinger Veterinary Hospital, we are proud to offer in house bloodwork including a complete blood cell count and 12-panel internal organ function screen. The complete blood count will show if your pet has normal red blood cell and platelet count which is important when undergoing anesthesia. The 12-panel internal organ function screen is a serum chemistry that includes liver and kidney values, blood glucose, electrolytes, and protein levels. This information is valuable when choosing the best anesthetic medication for your pet for his/her procedure.
2. Although an intravenous (IV) catheter and fluids is an option on the consent form, we highly recommend selecting to have an IV catheter in your pet during his/her dental procedure. An IV catheter in place prior to anesthesia ensures that we will have quick and reliable IV access to administer emergency medications if an adverse reaction, such as low heart rate, were to arise during your pet’s dental procedure. An IV catheter also allows the administration of IV fluids throughout the time your pet is under general anesthesia in order to maintain adequate blood pressure thus profusion to vital organs.
3. A heartworm test is recommended annually on dogs since we live in an endemic region for heartworms. This test is a blood test. Since your pet will be sedated, this may be the perfect opportunity to collect a blood sample for testing to avoid potential stress on your dog by drawing blood while fully awake.
4. The fecal test, also known as an intestinal parasite screen, will determine if your pet has any intestinal parasites (‘worms’). Some intestinal parasites, such as hookworms and roundworms, can be transmitted to humans; therefore, it is important to make sure you pet is not transmitting zoonotic parasites to you or your family members. Other intestinal parasites, such as whipworms, may cause your pet to develop diarrhea with stress which may be likely during his/her recovery period. We can collect a stool sample from your pet while sedated or you can bring us a stool sample for testing.
5. Post-operative pain management with take home medication is highly recommended for your pet undergoing any oral surgery. By selecting this option, your pet will go home with 3-5 days of additional pain medication to administer by mouth after you pick him/her up from discharge. Pain management is important in pets to maintain a good appetite after anesthesia.
6. We have a blood test that tests for both Feline Leukemia Virus and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus. Both of these viruses may not display any clinical signs in your cat but can affect your cat’s healing response during recovery. This test is highly recommended for stray cats, cats born from a stray, or cats that fight with other cats as these are the most common ways these two viruses are transmitted. Since the only test is a blood test, it is common to collect the blood sample while the cat is sedated in order to reduce stress for the cat. If your cat has been vaccinated against Feline Leukemia Virus, the vaccine-associated antibodies will not test as a false positive; therefore, we can still test your cat even if they have been vaccinated.
7. At Risinger Veterinary Hospital, we use Home Again microchips. These reliable microchips are approximately the size of a grain of rice and come in a needle to implant between the shoulders much like you would give an injection. As you can imagine, the diameter of the needle is larger than a routine injection needle and many owners elect to have the microchip implanted while the pet is under anesthesia. We will automatically register your pet’s microchip number with the Home Again database from our computer system. You will be notified of the registry via the email account that you have provided. You may log on to the Home Again website to update your pet’s information and picture whenever you like after the registration is complete.
8. Clind-oral is an antibiotic gel that is used when a tooth is discovered to have a periodontal pocket (a space between the tooth and gumline) that is less than 5mm in depth. This gel helps the gingiva (gums) adhere to the tooth in order to keep bacteria from infecting and degrading the periodontal ligament. Loss of the periodontal ligament integrity results in a mobile tooth. This treatment is very beneficial to help younger pets save as many teeth as possible.
9. Consil is utilized most when extraction of a lower canine tooth root leaves a large void in the mandible. It is a powder that acts almost like a bone graft providing a matrix for the body to build upon to add strength to the jaw.
10. We have an option on the dental consent form to elect if you would like us to notify you prior to oral surgery or tooth extraction. It is difficult to asses the exact extent of dental disease in a dog or cat while they are awake during a routine physical. When your pet is under general anesthesia, we will take oral radiographs and explore each tooth for disease. Once the anesthetized oral assessment is complete, the veterinarian may phone you with treatment recommendations for your pet’s specific oral health. Please note that your pet is under general anesthesia during our phone call; therefore, provide a phone number you can be readily contacted on.

Boarding Consent Form