Soft Tissue Surgery Photos Of Dogs and Cats in ThePetCenter.com

Dog and Cat Surgery Photos

"The Internet Animal Hospital"

Hundreds of pages and photos of real animal hospital cases

The Internet
Animal Hospital
Dog and Cat Health Care...
written and photographed by veterinarians
in actual animal hospital settings
Our mission is to inform and to heal.

Dog and cat health care articles written by veterinarians

ThePetCenter.com is presented to you as a free pet care resource by
PetFoodDirect.com and NationalPetPharmacy.com

Learn about normal blood values and pet health care

View dozens of real x-ray images in the Radiology Department

Soft tissue surgery on dogs and cats is a big part of everyday activities in any animal hospital. Spays and neuters, lump removals, wound repair, intra-abdominal exploratory surgery, procedures to prevent tomcats from suffering from a blocked urethra... all can provide a great degree of improved quality of life for our pets. Even the lateral ear canal surgery (see the image below) which some veterinarians utilize commonly for relief of chronically infected ears has its place in providing comfort and improved health for dogs afflicted with reoccurring ear infections.

Modern anesthetic procedures allow for safer, faster, and less stressful anesthetic/surgical procedures. Many patients will have soft tissue surgery done and will return home the same day. Be sure to obtain complete post-operative care information whenever you dog or cat has a surgical procedure. Home care is almost as important as what goes on in the animal hospital. Even after major procedures such as for pyometra or tumor removal most dogs and cats will recover quickly and be nearly completely healed within a few weeks. Return to active endeavors, though, should be carefully monitored under your veterinarian's instructions. The images below represent a number of commonly performed soft tissue surgery procedures.

Click on an image to view a larger version in a new window.

Closing a stomach incision	Anal sac removal	Skin trauma from "road rash"	Opening the ear canal	Cancerous growths in the spleen

Ligating blood vessels	A dog ovary	Locating a stomach foreign body	A look inside a dog's bladder	Incision after a skin growth removal

The Labrador Retriever below required surgery when a section of skin was torn or sliced away.
The cause of the skin tear was never determined.

Soft Tissue Surgery On A Dog

In this photo you can see the dog's upper foreleg has been opened by an unknown event while running in the woods. A barbed-wire fence, sharp branch or piece of sheet metal may have been the culprit. A clean-edged piece of skin was missing from an area medial to the upper foreleg extending to the area over the sternum. While under light general anesthesia the wound was cleansed. The surgeon trimmed the edges of the wound to ensure that a good supply of blood was present and the healthy skin near the wound was gently and deeply undermined. Doing this allowed the veterinarian to move healthy skin toward the center of the defect. Carefully placing a few dozen tiny sutures under the skin and into the bed of the wound (which was gently scraped to stimulate new blood vessels to form), the transposed skin was tacked to the wound bed. This eliminates spaces where blood, serum or contamination could accumulate and cause delayed healing. Drag your mouse over the image to see the completed suturing. Ten days of antibiotics and confinement to limit limb movement were recommended. The wound healed well in two weeks.