Our veterinarians’ high level of expertise and our practice’s fully equipped surgical suite allows us to perform the vast majority of soft tissue surgical procedures that your pet may require. Soft tissue surgery encompasses any surgery that is not related to bones. It includes procedures such as desexing, exploratory laparotomies, caesareans, lump removals, biopsies, wound stitch-ups, removal of intestinal foreign bodies - the list is endless!

A very common soft tissue surgery is the removal of lumps. Some lumps may require a biopsy prior to removal to help understand whether they are cancerous or not. This information assists us in planning the surgery accordingly to give your pet the best possible outcome. Once the lumps have been removed we recommend sending them to our external laboratory for analysis.

Although most lumps are benign (not harmful), a minority are more serious (malignant). In the case of malignant (cancerous) tumours, early removal and an accurate diagnosis is extremely important to maximise the chances of a good outcome.

If you find a lump or bump on your pet please make an appointment to visit one of our veterinarians to discuss any surgery your pet may require. 

Soft tissue surgeries are offered on an individual basis as well. We are not limited to but include some of the following:

• Enucleation - eye removal if there is eye disease, tumours or unresolving ulcers.

• Entropian/ectropian repair - repair of the eyelid that either rolls in or rolls out - thus doesn't lie correctly. This causes ongoing eye disease issues thus surgery can repair the cause of the damage.

• Conjunctival Flaps - this is where part of the conjunctiva (tissue under the eyelid) if transplated over the eye to help an ulcer to heal. 

• Anal gland resections - removal of one or both anal glands. This is usally done due to anal gland infections or abscesses and anal gland tumours.

• Thyroidectomy - this is removal of one or both thyroid glands. Usually done in cats for hyperthroidism with great success and thus eliminates the need to give medications. It will only be done once kidney function is known. It can be done in dogs to remove a cancerous gland if needed.

• Sialoadenectomy - removal of the salivary gland usually in dogs, that have a swelling under the jaw or under the tongue.

• Ear canal resections and ablations - we can remove part (resection of usually the lateral ear canal)  or ALL (total ear canal ablation and lateral/ventral bulla osteotomy ie: TECA-LBO) of the ear canal. This is usually done in cases where there is ongoing ear canal disease that never seems to resolve on medications, tumours that need to be removed and in young cats that have viral polyps.

• Nasal plantum resection - this is removal of the nose usually needed when there is cancer and irrepairable trauma.

• Nephrectomy - removal of a kidney. This is usually done when one kidney is diseased ie: cystic, or has a tumour or toxic death.

• Liver surgery - we are able to offer liver biopsy for tumour or liver disease diagnosis as well as liver lobectomies (removal of a liver lobe) if necessary.

• Gastropexy - this is where the stomach is stitched in place to prevent bloating. This can be performed at sterilisation in predisposed breeds and can be done due to a bloat to prevent recurrence.

• Gastric dilatation volvulus - this is commonly known as bloat where the stomach had twisted, and is fatal if untreated. The stomach is surgically emptied and lavaged then repositioned in the correct place and sutured to prevent recurrence of twisting. 

• Cancer cut outs - routine as well as radical resection of tumours with necessary margins. Sometimes parts of bones and other tissues may need to be removed and skin flaps/grafts may be needed for closure. 

• General abdomen surgery - we do routine as well as some advanced procedures. 

• Mammary strips and resection - removal of mammary glands usually due to tumours. These usually need sterilisation at the same time if not already done. We can remove individual glands as well as strips enblock. 

Chemotherapy

We can offer a wide range of chemotherapy protocols for your pet. 

All our surgeries and chemotherapy are done on an individual basis and will be discussed and analysed for each animal. 

Urinary bladder stones in a yorkshire terrier