Part of being a responsible pet owner is to supply your beloved pet with the love and care that it needs. One of the vital attributes in the never-ending list of responsibilities of a pet owner is to safeguard your pet’s health – whether it’d be physical, mental or otherwise. Trips to the 24 hour vet clinics for check-ups and sometimes, surgeries, are within the list of things you have to do, especially if your pet has a sickly disposition or is ageing.
In becoming a responsible and reliable owner that your pet can rely on, it would be best to find out how you can ease your pet’s treatments and surgeries. This time, we’ll let you take a look at how you can prepare your pet for a veterinary endoscopy procedure.
What Is A Veterinary Endoscopy
Veterinary endoscopy is a technique in which veterinarians employ to examine the internal organs and other body parts without having the pet to go under the knife. The procedure utilises a tiny video camera at the end of an endoscope, which is later inserted through the orifices. Since it’s less invasive and less painful to the traditional open surgery, it’s been the preferred alternative when examining the root cause of your pet’s health issues.
When Should You Consider An Endoscopy Procedure
Veterinary endoscopy should be performed on animals that are suffering from possible respiratory, gastrointestinal or reproductive problems. Whilst this may not be an open surgical procedure, it still does require the use of general anaesthesia for the safety of your pet.
In order to determine your pet’s level of fitness, you may need to head over to your veterinarian to request for a thorough physical examination and possible x-rays and blood tests.
Should There Be An Abnormality
During an endoscopy procedure, the veterinarian is given access to view the insides of your pet’s body to see whether there are any abnormalities are present. This could be forms of cancer, internal trauma, blockages or foreign objects, amongst many other things. Should they come across such abnormalities, they could then proceed with a biopsy of the selected area to reach a definite diagnosis.
On top of having a tiny camera attached to its end, the endoscope is also equipped with a tiny channel in which a biopsy instrument can be passed. This allows for biopsy samples to be taken from the areas that require a prognosis. The tool will cut a sample size of tissue from the affected area, which will later be submitted to the veterinary pathologist for evaluation. It will take a few weeks before your veterinarian is given the full and final results.
Preparing For An Endoscopy
As with any forms of medical procedure, the accuracy and its success rate rely heavily on thorough preparation, endoscopy included. If you’re going for a gastrointestinal endoscopy or gastropexy, the stomach and intestinal tract must be devoid of all food and faecal matter. For pets that will have their stomachs examined, a 12 hour fast is sufficient. If their colons are the area to be examined, your pet is advised to fast for 12-18 hours.
That said, before you go ahead with your preparation, ensure that you have a thorough discussion with your veterinarian. They’d be able to give you clear and concise veterinary tips to make sure that your beloved fur baby goes into the medical procedure prepared.
Being a responsible pet owner goes beyond ensuring that your precious pet has a roof over its head and is fed well. Similar to us humans, animals are susceptible to falling ill and as pet owners, it is our job to ensure that they are given the proper treatments to cure their ailments. Start by keeping an eye out of any strange behaviours or reactions that your pet would otherwise not do, and seek advice from your vet. As your pet’s only guardian, strive to give the life that your pet deserves.