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Surgery

We offer a wide range of surgical services at both the Richmond and Wakefield clinics. Our vets have years of surgical experience to help put your mind at ease that your pet will be in the best hands possible.

We constantly strive to improve with ongoing continuing development of all our staff from our nurses to vets.

We make sure as a team to discuss any planned surgeries with you, explain what is involved and most importantly how the recovery period will look like. We will make sure we have the best plan for you and your pet so we can minimise the risk of complications.

Our routine surgical offerings include de-sexing (castration and spaying), lump removals and grass seed removals. We can also deal with more complex soft tissue procedures including

  • Abdominal surgery for obstructions and biopsies
  • Spleen removal
  • Bladder stone removal
  • GVD and preventative gastropexy to avoid stomach twists
  • Prostate cyst/abscess treatment
  • Anal gland removal
  • Perineal hernias
  • Lung lobe resections
  • Cancer surgery
  • Eye and ear surgeries including conjunctival grafts

Town & Country Vet also offer multiple rigid and flexible endoscopes for nasal, esophageal, stomach and colonic endoscopy for things like foreign bodies, nasal and stomach biopsies.

Brachycephalic Airway Surgery


Town & Country Vet offer brachycephalic airway surgery to offer the best possible quality of life if your pet suffers from narrow airways. For our shorter nose pups including French bulldogs, Pugs, Boston terriers, Griffons and English bulldogs this surgery can be life changing. Airway surgery is delicate and we have specific protocols encompassing pre-surgical planning to post-operative care to get the best possible outcome for your pet.

Surgeries that we may consider in these patients include nasal widening, soft palate shortening, laryngeal saccule and/or tonsil removal.

Nose profile before surgery

Nose profile after surgery

Testimonial from our Hollee; a passionate veterinary nurse with a love for pugs!

I love my pugs, they have the funniest, cheekiest personalities! I soon came to realise though that I couldn’t enjoy taking them on walks during the day as they struggled to breathe, huffing and puffing down the street. I have come to a greater understanding of the effects that BOAS has on my dogs and the importance of advocating for brachycephalic obstructive airway surgery on these animals. I have two Pugs, who I got before I started my veterinary nursing career and didn’t quite understand the effects the cute squished noses have on the wee critters. Cash was 7 months old when he had corrective surgery done at the same time as castration. Cash just had his nasal passage widened; his soft palate was assessed under anaesthetic and was deemed ok at the time. Cash has a full and functional doggy life being the crazy little man he was born to be.

Lola was 3 years old when she had her surgery; it was a lot more complex due to her age and how long she had been struggling to breathe. She required opening of her nostrils, trimming of her soft palate and removal of her air saccules. Lola’s breathing and quality of life is now a lot better than what it was prior to surgery but not as much of a difference compared to Cash as he got his done before more permanent damage could be done.

If anyone has any questions regarding the surgery I am more than happy to have a chat about the procedure and answer any questions you may have to ensure your brachy can live their best life – Hollee

 

With care and management your dog can have a good quality of life. Don’t forget we are here to help and advise the best of your furry family member so if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask!

Click HERE for more information about Brachycephalic dogs

 

Referrals to Town & Country Vet


At Town & Country Vet we accept referrals from other Vet practices from Nelson, Tasman and many areas outside of our region.

We are not specialists and if we feel that referral to a surgical specialist offers the best outcomes for you and your pet then we will not hesitate to recommend this.

Town & Country Vet Referral Form  (PDF)

 

Download the referral form to complete and send back to our team on info@tcvet.co.nz

Town & Country Vet Referral Form  (ONLINE)

 

Online referral form to be completed online and attach clinical records