Veterinary Anaesthesia

We’re proud to have one of the largest specialist-led veterinary anaesthesia and intensive care teams in Europe

If your pet is undergoing diagnostic investigation or treatment they may need some type of anaesthesia, sedation or pain relief. The type of anaesthetic technique used will vary according to their individual needs.

At Davies we have five key ways that help make anaesthesia and surgery as safe and free of anxiety and pain as possible.

• Perioperative assessment and planning
• Individualised management
• Careful drug selection
• Close monitoring
• Excellent team work

Our Head of Anaesthesia, Fran Downing explains:

“The role of the veterinary anaesthesia service is to provide individualised peri-operative care for each animal. This involves extensive liaison with other services, risk assessment, stabilisation, appropriate drug selection and close monitoring during anaesthesia and recovery. We are also involved in the ongoing provision of fluid therapy and pain management throughout an animal`s hospitalisation period. This approach makes anaesthesia and surgery as safe and free of anxiety and pain as possible.”

We use a wide variety of drugs and different analgesic techniques, such as epidural analgesia and local and regional anaesthetic blocks, to provide optimal pain relief for your pet.

We use an extensive range of anaesthetic monitoring equipment that’s tailored to each patient. This includes:

• Electrocardiography
• Pulse oximetry
• Capnography
• Inspired gas monitoring
• Temperature
• Invasive and non-invasive blood pressure monitoring
• Central venous pressure monitoring
• Cardiac output monitoring with Transesophageal Doppler

Our dedicated intensive care unit provides even greater levels of specialist care, reassurance and comfort for critically ill patients and their owners. This allows continuous observation for patients that may require high dependency therapy, such as blood transfusions, blood pressure and ventilator support.

We offer 24-hour specialist support with overnight case care provided by our veterinary interns. As always, we offer advice to referring practices and welcome discussion with owners if they have specific anaesthesia concerns.