Lisner Animal Hospital Surgical Authorization Form

Owner First and Last Name

First NameLast Name

Pet's Name

Bloodwork Requirements:

Bloodwork is mandatory for all pets undergoing procedures that require general or local anesthesia to assess organ function, clotting ability, anemia, infection, and provide a baseline for future reference. If the pet's bloodwork is older than 3 months, it must be repeated before or on the day of surgery. While bloodwork is recommended for procedures involving sedation, it is not required unless anesthesia is involved.

Vaccine Requirements:

All pets are required to be up to date with a rabies vaccine. If your pet is not up to date at the time of the procedure, a rabies vaccine will be administered.

Surgery Drop Off:

All pets are dropped off in the morning. Your surgery technician will give you a specific drop off time. Surgeries are scheduled sequentially throughout the day. Early drop offs allow the team to prep patients in order, and our surgeons can move efficiently without waiting for arrivals. It also allows our surgeons to perform thorough physical exams, review patient history and lab work, and confirm fasting status. This also allows the team to efficiently place IV catheters and give pre-surgical medications accordingly. Please plan on your pet staying with us the majority of the day. Your surgery technician will call when your pet is out of surgery and schedule a pick up time.

Pre-Surgery Preparations:

Please make sure that your pet has had no food or water after midnight the night before their procedure. Fasting is crucial to reduce the risk of vomiting and aspiration while under anesthesia.

If your pet is getting neutered or spayed, would you like a microchip?

If your pet is getting spayed or neutered today and has any retained baby teeth, would you like us to remove them today? This can help prevent localized periodontal disease, as retained baby teeth provide an extra spot for plaque and tartar to accumulate. Leaving them in can also cause other dental issues such as overcrowding of the mouth, malocclusion (misaligned bite), and negatively affect the development of the adult teeth.

If your pet is having a dental procedure, it is possible that we find a diseased tooth/teeth on their dental x-rays that may need to be extracted. Please check one of the boxes below indicating whether or not you would like the surgeon to give you a call before extracting any teeth. If you would like a call, please keep your phone on and near you. If the call is not returned within 20 minutes, the teeth will be left in place.

After dental extractions, we recommend feeding your pet soft or canned food only for 2 weeks to help protect their healing mouth. We offer Hill’s Prescription Diet Digestive Care Canned Food, which is soft, palatable, and easy to digest. Would you like to take some home for your pet after their dental procedure?

If your pet is having a mass removal or an amputation performed, would you like us to send a sample to the lab for biopsy?

Is your pet eating and drinking normally at home?

Is your pet vomiting or having diarrhea?

Is your pet coughing, sneezing or wheezing at home?

Please list all current medications that your pet is taking and when the last dose was administered:

Would you prefer your pet's take home medications to be liquid or tablets?

Would you like your pet to go home with calming medications for the duration of recovery? These are recommended (but not necessary) - keeping your pet calm for the duration of recovery is important for the healing process.

If your pet is due for any additional vaccines, would you like them to be administered today?

If your pet is due for heartworm, flea and tick medication, would you like that to be sent home today?

To prevent your pet from licking at their surgical incision during recovery, would you prefer to be sent home with a cone, a surgical suit, or both? If your pet is only having a dental procedure done, these items are not necessary.

What to expect after your pet has surgery

The effects of general anesthesia don’t go away immediately. It can take many hours for these effects to wear off. Your pet might be sleepy or tired for the first 24 to 48 hours after surgery.

Recovery can vary from a few weeks to several months, depending on the type of surgery your pet had. For example, soft tissue surgery might require a few weeks of recovery, while surgery on bones, ligaments, or tendons might require six months.

Your pet had a tube placed in the trachea during anesthesia to administer oxygen and anesthetic gas. This can occasionally cause mild irritation and a slight cough. A mild post-surgical cough will typically diminish over the next few days. If coughing persists or worsens, contact the hospital.

Your pet may lack or lose their appetite temporarily after surgery. In addition to nausea and mild regurgitation, this is a common after-effect of the anesthetic.
Some pets may be high-strung or experience anxiety post-surgery. If this is the case for your pet, your vet may also prescribe anti-anxiety medication or sedatives to help your pet remain calm while they heal.

Your pet may experience loose stool or diarrhea post-surgery. This can be attributed to stress or introducing a new medication. If you are concerned, call us immediately. We can assess your pet's recovery progress, evaluate any changes in their bowel movements, and provide guidance on diet and care.

It is very common for animals to not have a bowel movement for one to three days after surgery and not of concern if they are otherwise comfortable, eating, drinking, and not straining to have a bowel movement. 

Animals can show signs of pain in many ways. Sometimes obvious signs include crying, restlessness, unwillingness to lie down, excessive panting, difficulty getting up, or aggression. Other more subtle signs can be hiding, sitting or lying with their bodies tightly tucked up, or lack of normal grooming (especially in cats).

Your pet is due for a re-check 2 weeks after their surgical procedure to ensure proper healing. It is possible that they may require additional treatments or medications during the healing process that are not covered under the original cost of the surgical procedure.

Please enter the contact name and primary phone number to be contacted:

Should unexpected life-saving emergency care be required I would like the hospital staff to attempt the following life saving measures (select one):

I hereby authorize Lisner Animal Hospital to perform the authorized procedures, operations, placement of an intravenous catheter and associated anesthesia on my pet. While I accept that all procedures will be performed to the best of the abilities of the staff at this facility, I understand that veterinary medicine is not an exact science and that no guarantees have been made regarding the outcome of this/these procedures. I have read and understand the nature of the above procedures and accept the specific terms and conditions set forth herein. I acknowledge that I am responsible for payment in full for the above procedures and treatments at the time my pet is discharged.