Internal Medicine
Veterinary Surgery
Veterinary surgery is surgery performed on animals by veterinarians. BVAH veterinarians are board certified and experienced to perform various types of animal surgeries. Veterinary surgery, just like in human beings, are complex operations and performed with sophisticated anaesthesia technics. A good physical restraint must often replace expansive anaesthesia procedures. This limits the number of surgical operations that can be performed on animals. Moreover, operations practised in the farm can not be performed in such aseptic conditions as in small animals clinics. Veterinary surgery is one of 20 veterinary specialties recognized by the American Veterinary Medical Association. Dr. Jaime I. Velasco, President of BVAH is a well noted specialist in the field of veterinary surgery.
Veterinary Anesthesia
Anesthesia in animals has many similarities to human anesthesia, but some differences as well. Local anesthesia is primarily used for wound closure and removal of small tumors. Lidocaine, mepivacaine, and bupivacaine are the most commonly used local anesthetics used in veterinary medicine. Sedation without general anesthesia is used for more involved procedures. Sedatives commonly used include acepromazine, diazepam, xylazine, and medetomidine. α2 agonists like xylazine and medetomidine are especially useful because they can be reversed, xylazine by yohimbine and medetomidine by atipamizole. Xylazine is approved for use in dogs, cats, horses, deer, and elk in the United States, while medetomidine is only approved for dogs. Most surgeries in ruminants can be performed with regional anesthesia.
General anesthesia is commonly used in animals for major surgery. Animals are often premedicated with a sedative, analgesic, and anticholinergic agent (dogs frequently receive buprenorphine, acepromazine, and glycopyrrolate). The next step is induction, usually with an intravenous drug. Dogs and cats commonly receive thiopental, ketamine with diazepam, tiletamine with zolazepam (usually just in cats), or propofol.[5] Horses commonly receive thiopental and guaifenesin. Following induction, the animal is intubated with an endotracheal tube and maintained on a gas anesthetic. The most common gas anesthetics in use in veterinary medicine are isoflurane, enflurane, and halothane, although desflurane and sevoflurane are becoming more popular due to rapid induction and recovery.
Common Veterinary Surgeries
Elective procedures
One of the most common elective surgical procedures in animals is neutering. Neutering in animals describes spaying or castration. To spay (medical term: ovariohysterectomy) is to completely remove the ovaries and uterus of a female animal. In a dog or cat this is accomplished through a ventral midline incision into the abdomen. The ligaments of the uterus and ovaries are broken down and the blood vessels are ligated and the organs are removed. The body wall, subcutis, and skin are sutured. To castrate (medical term: orchectomy) is to remove the testicles of a male animal. Different techniques are used depending on the type of animal, including ligation of the spermatic cord with suture material, placing a band around the cord, or crushing the cord with a Burdizzo. 
A cat spay
Neutering is usually performed to prevent breeding or prevent unwanted behavior or future medical problems. Please see spaying and neutering for more information on the advantages and disadvantages of this procedure. Neutering is also performed as an emergency procedure to treat pyometra and testicular torsion, and it is used to treat ovarian, uterine, and testicular cancer. It is also recommended in cases of cryptorchidism to prevent torsion and malignant transformation of the testicles. 
Pyometra surgery
Dental Surgery
Dental surgical procedures:
Dogs - Dental prophylaxis is commonly performed to remove tartar and treat periodontal disease. This procedure is usually performed under anesthesia. Other common procedures include extraction of abscessed or broken teeth, extraction of deciduous teeth, root canals, and removal of gingival hyperplasia and epulides.
Cats - Dental prophylaxis as described above for the dog and treatment and extraction of teeth with feline odontoclastic resorptive lesions (FORLs).
Horses - Floating (grinding down) of uneven teeth edges and removal of wolf teeth.
Surgical Oncology
In older dogs and cats tumors are a common occurrence. Common skin tumors include lipomas, mast cell tumors, melanomas, squamous cell carcinomas, basal cell carcinomas, fibrosarcomas, and histiocytomas. Skin tumors are removed through either simple incisions or through plastic surgery. Common oral tumors include melanomas, fibrosarcomas, squamous cell carcinomas, which are removed with as much surrounding tissue as possible, including parts of the mandible and maxilla. Other types of cancer requiring surgery include osteosarcoma, stomach and intestinal tumors, splenic masses, and urinary bladder tumors.
Ophthalmic Surgery
Common ophthalmic surgeries in animals include:
Enucleation to treat glaucoma or eye proptosis.
Cataract surgery
Entropion surgery
Ectropion surgery
Eyelid tumor removal
Cherry eye surgery
Exenteration (complete removal) of the orbit, especially for squamous cell carcinoma in the cat and cow.
Orthopedic Surgery
Common Orthopedic Surgeries:
Ruptured anterior cruciate ligament repair
For hip dysplasia:
Femoral head ostectomy
Triple pelvic osteotomy
Hip replacement
Leg amputation
Bone fracture repair
Arthroscopy
Other Common Procedures
Caesarean Section
Caesarean sections are commonly performed in dogs, cats, horses, sheep, and cattle. Usually it is done as an emergency surgery due to difficulties in the birthing process. Certain dog breeds such as Bulldogs often need to have this surgery because of the size of the puppy's head relative to the width of the bitch's birth canal.
Bloat Surgery
In dogs bloat or gastric dilatation volvulus (GDV) is a common condition where the stomach fills with gas and twists, requiring immediate surgical intervention to prevent necrosis of the stomach wall. The stomach is put back into its normal position and tacked (gastropexy) to the body wall. Sometimes a splenectomy or partial gastrectomy is also required.
Cystotomy
Cystotomy to remove bladder stonesA cystotomy is a surgical opening of the urinary bladder. It is commonly performed in dogs and cats to remove bladder stones or tumors.
Wound Repair
Bite wounds from other animals (and rarely humans) are a common occurrence. Wounds from objects that the animal may step on or run into are also common. Usually these wounds are simple lacerations that can be easily cleaned and sutured, sometimes using a local anesthetic. Bite wounds, however, involve compressive and tensile forces in addition to shearing forces, and can cause separation of the skin from the underlying tissue and avulsion of underlying muscles. Deep puncture wounds are especially prone to infection. Deeper wounds are assessed under anesthesia and explored, lavaged, and debrided. Primary wound closure is used if all remaining tissue is healthy and free of contamination. Small puncture wounds may be left open, bandaged, and allowed to heal without surgery. A third alternative is delayed primary closure, which involves bandaging and reevaluation and surgery in three to five days.
Foreign Body Removal
Bottle top swallowed by a dog that had to be removed surgically. A variety of objects are commonly swallowed by dogs, cats, and cattle. Foreign bodies can cause obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract causing severe vomiting and resulting electrolyte imbalances. The stomach (gastrotomy) or intestine (enterotomy) can be surgically opened to remove the foreign body. Necrotic intestine can be removed (enterectomy) and repaired with intestinal anastomosis. Foreign bodies can also be removed by endoscopy. The condition in cattle is known as hardware disease.
