Our Laser Surgical Care Pledge
We at the Suffolk Veterinary Group Laser Surgery Center realize that our families have a variety of animal hospitals to take their pets to when they require veterinary attention, and the range of prices between those clinics can vary widely.
We stand by the belief that the type of care we’d expect for our own pets is what our families expect us to provide for theirs, and have set our standards for providing quality medicine to all our patients accordingly.
Our surgical costs are due to many factors that we feel will benefit your pet while they undergo major laser surgical procedures at our center. While we cannot speak for the services provided by other veterinary hospitals, We Pledge this is what your pet’s surgery will encompass when they are at the Suffolk Veterinary Group LaserSurgery Center.
Pre-Surgical Examination & Consultation
Before undergoing any surgical procedure at the Suffolk Veterinary Group Laser Surgery Center, all patients must schedule and have a Pre-Surgical Examination & Consultation with our Laser Surgeon. The Laser Surgeon will do a comprehensive physical exam, pre-anesthesia blood work, provide that all vaccinations are current, review your pet’s medical history, consult with the referring Veterinarian, and make sure that any medical conditions your companion may have are resolved or will not be adversely affected by anesthesia, or the laser surgery procedure. This is your opportunity to discuss with the Laser Surgeon any concerns you have regarding your companion’s growth, development, and behavior, to tour where your pet will stay, and meet those who will be attending to them.
Pre-surgical consultations are considered above and beyond the necessary minimum standard of care by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). In keeping with Our Pledge to provide for your pet the same as we would expect for our own pets, we do not feel comfortable doing laser surgery on your precious companion until we have had an opportunity to meet with you, review their medical history, and discuss all your concerns. A human surgeon would not do surgery on you without a similar consultation. Doing laser surgery without such a consultation increases the risk of surgical complications, a risk we don’t want to take with your special companion.
The Laser Surgical Procedure Itself
The surgery package itself includes not only the time and expertise of the Laser Surgeon to perform the procedure, done with our surgical laser, but the hospitalization, anesthesia, intravenous fluid therapy, surgical preparation, and surgical monitoring required while your pet undergoes anesthesia and subsequent recovery. We consider these services and standard of care to be comparable to the content and quality of what a person would receive during a surgical procedure in a human hospital, as well as being the baseline standard of care for veterinary surgical and anesthesia technique as defined by the AVMA. The use of a surgical laser is considered by the AVMA to be above and beyond the baseline standard for surgical technique. We consider it better for your pet than a traditional scalpel because the surgical laser is able to reduce the trauma caused by surgery, resulting in less pain, less swelling, less bleeding, reduced chance of infection, and overall better healing times.
Anesthesia
The anesthesia included in the surgical package is for one hour of surgical time, about the average time most veterinary surgical procedures take, and includes the induction, maintenance, monitoring, and recovery during which a Licensed Veterinary Technician specifically trained in surgical care, assisting, and monitoring will always be right at your pet’s side.
Licensed Veterinary Technician
This individual is your pet’s dedicated patient advocate, and will alert the Laser Surgeon immediately if any concerns or complications arise. This individual will also be your point of contact regarding any updates or progress reports you wish to receive on your pet during their stay with us, or any special requests you may have for their comfort and care. Licensed Veterinary Technicians provide the voice for our patients that can’t speak for themselves, and we consider them to be a valuable part of our medical team.
Multi-Modal Pain Management
There are medications your pet will receive during the procedure, and go home with, to manage their pain and ward off possible infection. What are considered “routine” surgeries in veterinary medicine are treated as major invasive procedures for humans undergoing similar surgeries requiring intensive management of pain and possible infections. No MD would operate on you without pain management or antibiotics on board, and we believe that no DVM should operate on your pet without providing them the same level of relief and protection.
The Importance of Follow-Up Care
Because we are greatly concerned with your pet’s full recovery, their first surgical follow-up examination within 14 days of their discharge is included with the cost of surgery. Please, always feel free to call us with your questions and concerns, because you are the best person to understand your pet’s normal behaviors. If anything seems “off” to you during their recovery time, we want to make sure we address it in a timely manner. These phone consultations are always at no charge to you.
Environmentally Conscientious
Not only it is the law, it is ethically and morally important to us as a laser surgery center that we keep all medical wastes out of our environment and from becoming health hazards, therefore a small, nominal fee is rolled into the surgical cost that assists us in having these materials specially carted away to where they can be properly processed and disposed of.
Reducing The Risk Of Complication
All surgical and anesthesia procedures come with a certain degree of risk. At the Suffolk Veterinary Group Laser Surgical Center, by taking our time to assess your pet as an individual, perform pre-surgical exam consultations and blood work, requiring all PetCare Team members involved in our surgical services to carry a professional license, and reviewing your pet’s medical history in its entirety, we strive to minimize those risks as much as possible. Because we believe that your pet deserves to be treated with respect, at Suffolk Veterinary Group Laser Surgical Center we don’t compromise your pet’s health or safety during surgery by reducing our quality of medicine, or creating “assembly line” styles of providing care. Your pet receives their own surgical time, sterilized surgical tools in individual packs designed to be used only on a single patient, and 100% of our attention while they are under anesthesia and recovery with us.
Choosing where to have your pet’s surgery performed is a very personal decision, and one made based on many considerations. Thank you for allowing us this opportunity to express how very important your pet’s lifetime of wellness is to those of us at the Suffolk Veterinary Group Animal Wellness & Laser Surgery Center. Please, contact us at 631-696-2400 with any questions. We would be very happy to schedule your and your pet a Pre-Surgical Consultation & Examination appointment at your convenience.