General and Advanced Surgery

Surgery is conducted Monday to Friday in our dedicated sterile operating theatre. We not only have advanced equipment to monitor your pet whilst anaesthetised (Heart & respiratory rate, oxygen levels, blood pressure, ECG & body temperature) but have a dedicated nurse monitoring your pet’s progress during the anaesthetic till recovery.

Dr Murray Collings heads the Surgery team and is particularly skilled in soft tissue and orthopaedic surgery having achieved post graduate qualifications in surgery at the University of Melbourne at Werribee.

General Surgery include:

• Desexing – Speys and Castrations – dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs
• Caesarian operations
• Lump (Cancer) Removals
• Biopsy
• Laceration repair
• Abscess surgery
• Ear cleaning

Laparascopic Surgery:

• Spey – removal of ovaries
• Cryptorchid castration – where one or both testicles fail to leave the abdomen
• Minimally invasive abdominal surgery for abdominal exploration, including liver biopsy, intestinal biopsies

Minimally invasive surgery has many benefits for both cats and dogs, with a much smaller opening into the abdomen, your pet will recover faster and this means for dogs – we do not restrict activity for as long as conventional abdominal surgery.
Dr Murray Collings is a skilled Surgeon and has taken an interest in Laparoscopic surgery and is one of only a handful of non Specialist Vets in Melbourne offering this procedure.

Advanced Surgery include:

• Fracture repair
• Knee reconstruction (Cruciate repair)
• Patella stabilisation
• Cancer surgery
• Chest surgery
• Abdominal surgery – foreign body removal, bladder stone removal (can be performed keyhole)
• Hernia repair

 Surgery Requirements:

• No food after 10pm the night prior to surgery
• Normal access to water
• Admission is by appointment with the Surgery Nurse. Please allow 10 minutes.
• Discharge is by appointment with the Vet. Please allow 10 -20 minutes.
• Revisits are by appointment, generally 3 days and 10 days post surgery to evaluate your pet’s progress.
• To keep your pet safe and healthy whilst under General Anaesthesia all dogs and cats receive Intravenous Fluid Therapy.
• We recommend Pre Anaesthetic Blood testing prior to anaesthesia. For more details why this is good for your pet, see Scout’s story below.

Scout’s Story – The importance of Pre Anaesthetic blood tests!

Meet Scout – a gorgeous playful Kelpie pup belonging to Eliza.

Scout graduated from our Puppy Preschool in 2013 with honours! She was very attentive & very smart, loved the other pups and loved Anna.

When it was time for her to be speyed, Eliza took the option to run a blood test prior to the anaesthetic, and she was so glad that she did.

The blood test revealed that Scout had Kidney (Renal) failure – her kidneys were struggling to deal with their role of eliminating waste products from her body.

Everyone was shocked as outwardly Scout seemed fine – something we hear commonly.

Though Scout does have Kidney failure – she is one lucky dog. Lucky that her problem was detected early – before the onset of clinical signs. It is during this pre-clinical stage that if we can detect a problem that we have the best chance of treatment. This is why we strongly recommend blood testing prior to anaesthetics so we can detect any problems early and keep your pet as healthy as we can.

The benefits of Pre Anaesthetic Blood testing:

1. Early detection of disease

2. Establish a base line (reference) for future blood tests

So, now back to Scout…. We did not proceed with the Anaesthetic and Spey – anaesthetics can result in reduced blood flow to the kidneys and a worsening of her condition. Rather, Scout underwent some further tests to establish the severity of her renal failure.

She is now on a special prescription diet that supports kidney health and regular health checks – examination, blood and urine tests and blood pressure monitoring,  to ensure that the progression of her kidney disease is slowed down.

Scout’s Story – The importance of Pre Anaesthetic blood tests!

Meet Scout – a gorgeous playful Kelpie pup belonging to Eliza.

Scout graduated from our Puppy Preschool in 2013 with honours! She was very attentive & very smart, loved the other pups and loved Anna.

When it was time for her to be speyed, Eliza took the option to run a blood test prior to the anaesthetic, and she was so glad that she did.

The blood test revealed that Scout had Kidney (Renal) failure – her kidneys were struggling to deal with their role of eliminating waste products from her body.

Everyone was shocked as outwardly Scout seemed fine – something we hear commonly.

Though Scout does have Kidney failure – she is one lucky dog. Lucky that her problem was detected early – before the onset of clinical signs. It is during this pre-clinical stage that if we can detect a problem that we have the best chance of treatment. This is why we strongly recommend blood testing prior to anaesthetics so we can detect any problems early and keep your pet as healthy as we can.

The benefits of Pre Anaesthetic Blood testing:

1. Early detection of disease

2. Establish a base line (reference) for future blood tests

So, now back to Scout…. We did not proceed with the Anaesthetic and Spey – anaesthetics can result in reduced blood flow to the kidneys and a worsening of her condition. Rather, Scout underwent some further tests to establish the severity of her renal failure.

She is now on a special prescription diet that supports kidney health and regular health checks – examination, blood and urine tests and blood pressure monitoring,  to ensure that the progression of her kidney disease is slowed down.