Tail Talk with Dr. O’Hara

Dr. O'Hara's Operating Room: From Routine to Remarkable

• Dr. O’Hara • Episode 5

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What Are The Most Common Surgeries You Have Performed?

Ever wondered what happens when your furry friend needs surgery? Dr. O'Hara pulls back the curtain on veterinary surgical procedures in this enlightening episode of Tail Talk.

From routine spays and neuters to emergency foreign object removals (corn cobs, anyone?), we explore the most common surgeries performed at Abingdon Animal Medical Center. Dr. O'Hara shares valuable insights on what pet parents should expect before, during, and after their pet undergoes a surgical procedure. You'll learn why younger animals typically recover faster, how proper pain management accelerates healing, and practical tips for managing your pet's recovery at home.

The highlight of our discussion centers on Dolly, a mini schnauzer rescued from the streets on a rainy winter night. Her remarkable story involves a massive, heart-shaped bladder stone that was causing serious health complications. Dr. O'Hara walks us through how surgical intervention not only removed the stone but normalized Dolly's kidney values and potentially saved her life. It's a powerful reminder of how veterinary surgery can transform outcomes for our beloved companions.

Whether you're preparing for your pet's upcoming procedure or simply want to understand what happens behind the scenes at a veterinary surgical center, this episode delivers expert knowledge with Dr. O'Hara's signature blend of compassion and clarity. Give it a listen, and you'll walk away with a deeper appreciation for the surgical care that helps keep our four-legged family members healthy and happy.

Ready to schedule an appointment or have questions about your pet's surgical needs? Contact Abingdon Animal Medical Center at 276-628-9655 or visit MyAbingdonVet.com. Your pet deserves the perfect blend of small-town comfort and state-of-the-art care!

To learn more about Abingdon Animal Medical Center visit:
https://www.MyAbingdonVet.com
Abingdon Animal Medical Center
19586 Dennison Drive
Abingdon, VA 24211
276-628-9655

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Tail Talk with Dr O'Hara, where Eastern Tennessee and Southwest Virginia's favorite pets get the spotlight they deserve. He's the heart behind Abingdon Animal Medical Center, combining small-town charm with state-of-the-art veterinary care. Whether your furry friend purrs, barks or just steals your socks, this is the place for tips, tails and a whole lot of tail wagging.

Speaker 2:

From routine procedures to life-saving operations, veterinary surgery covers a wide range. Dr O'Hara walks us through the most common surgeries performed at Abington Animal Medical Center and what pet owners should know before and after. Welcome back everybody to Tail Talk. Skip Monty here, co-host slash producer, back in the studio with Dr O'Hara of Abington Animal Medical Center. Dr O'Hara, how's it going? It's going great, skip, good to be here. Well, we're glad to have you here too, and I know something we've talked about pardon me in the past is surgeries and how that works and what your thoughts are on that, and so really curious to know what are some of the most common surgeries that you've performed there at Abington Animal Medical Center.

Speaker 3:

Well, there's some you know, everybody knows about is like spays and neuters, right. Young puppies and kittens, right. And then I would say the most common thing I do is take growths off skin and underneath the skin, sub-q growths, and that's just real common. You take them off, make sure they're not cancerous. If they are cancerous, you want to make sure you send them off and make sure your margins are clean and what the prognosis of the patient's going to be. Send them off and make sure your margins are clean and what the prognosis of the patient's going to be.

Speaker 3:

And there's other oddballs. You know I do enucleations. You know that's where the eye is very diseased or something or popping out, and you got to take it out. I mean there's some wild stuff. There's splenectomies, where the spleen is bleeding or it's got a mass on it, and that's an internal surgery and we'll go take it out. You know, sometimes young dogs are, you know they get into trouble and they eat something they're not supposed to and it causes an obstruction and I got to go in and remove it. A couple weeks ago I had a dog eat a corncob that did not want to go through, so you got plugged up and I'd take that out.

Speaker 2:

So oh my gosh, surgically. Yeah, wow, cornc cob.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, you know the summer, summer causes some. You know fun and barbecues and he, he wanted to have some fun. I don't think it was worth it in the end, but he did fine. He's perfectly back to normal. He's great, so learns less than that, probably, probably not, but probably not, probably not.

Speaker 2:

That's that's so many, so many dogs. Well, what about this I've always been curious about? Do you do cataract surgery for dogs?

Speaker 3:

I do not. That's a specialty thing, but you can take out cataracts in dogs, but an ophthalmologist will do that. There's veterinarians just practice eyes all day and they're specialists and they can do that though.

Speaker 2:

Gotcha Just like with humans all day and they're specialists and they can do that though. Gotcha, just like with humans. Well, you mentioned spay and neutering cats and dogs is probably the most common surgery that you do. Is the recovery process for that, for spay and neutering? How does that compare versus other more complex procedures?

Speaker 3:

I think it's really simple. You know it's very small incisions. You know, bury their sutures. I don't think they can really mess it up unless they lick obsessively. But you know, we kind of put, you know, an e-collar on them to help them not do that.

Speaker 2:

An e-collar? Yes, a cone, oh, the cone of shame. Yes the cone of shame. Sorry, you probably don't like calling it that, but I love it from that. What's the movie?

Speaker 3:

dogs for dogs and cats, some dogs are just statue in it.

Speaker 2:

They won't move until Wow, Wow. I just don't see my beagle being able to do that. But anyway, are there any news? Sorry.

Speaker 3:

Skip, but they usually recover quickly too, because they're usually younger right. The younger you are, the easier it is to recover.

Speaker 2:

So Right, and most of the time that happens when they're puppies, right? Yes, gotcha, gotcha. Well, are there any surgeries that you've seen increase in frequency over the years, increase in?

Speaker 3:

frequency you know like well there's. Orthopedic issues are really becoming more commonplace. Like they we call it a ccl tear, a cranial cruciate ligament. In dogs. On the human side you would call it the acl tear, the anterior cruciate ligament. But that's a common thing. I don't fix those, I send those off because orthopedics now is so streamlined with specialists and the rehab process so and there's some great places close by that I can send them to, but that that's, that's an injury. I mean, I see that every week almost wow, is it?

Speaker 2:

is it? Do you think there's a reason for that?

Speaker 3:

there's a lot of theories on it. I mean it could be just like a person. It was an acute bad movement that blew the ligament. There's also a lot of thoughts. There's a genetic component to it and some breeds too. So yeah, and that the CCL literally is degenerating with time. You know, kind of.

Speaker 2:

Gotcha. Well, how do you post surgery? How do you manage pain and comfort for the patient?

Speaker 3:

Well, you definitely put them on post-op pain medications. We've got, you know, a couple options for that. We got anti-inflammatories, then we got gabapentin, things like that, depending on the pain level. That's going to be on follow-up, but you know, pain prevention is key because they've shown that if you stay on top pain control they will heal faster, you know.

Speaker 2:

So we really try and do that. I'm sure humans are exactly the same way. So does any particular surgery that you've done in the recent or not necessarily recent past, but in your career that really stands out to you Well.

Speaker 3:

I'm glad you brought that up because there was one I did not too long ago that really resonated how to me how surgery can really help a patient. So I'm going to talk about this dog, dolly, and I have permission from her folks to discuss this and they're really great people. So I'm going to shout out to Dave and Hannah Pollard for rescuing Dolly. They found Dolly on a cold winter night just in the middle of the street and it was raining and there was just this little mini schnauzer in the street. I'll show her Dolly. This is Dolly. It's just kind of after.

Speaker 3:

They found her and they looked for her owner on social media or who had her previously for a long time. So they did their due diligence with all that but never heard a peep. So they kind of took care of Dolly. But they noticed Dolly was urinating all the time, small amounts with blood in it. So they brought her into me, you know, diagnosed her with a UTI, put her on antibiotics and all that, but it continued. So I was like let's do some imaging, let's see if there's something else and Skip.

Speaker 3:

What we found was Dolly is a little 18-pound dog and this is a little bright white thing on the x-ray here that is a bladder stone. That is huge. Yeah, that's big. So we had to take Dolly to surgery and did what's called a cystotomy, where we open up the bladder and actually take that stone out, and so I performed that and she did great post-op. One thing that she was struggling with when we were on her pre-op blood work was her kidney values were sky high. But after we took the stone out she recovered great and her kidney values went back to normal and I honestly think the surgery saved her life and I'm really thankful for the Pollards for bringing her in and they paid for everything. And this is just a dog they picked up off the street and we got a great outcome with Dolly.

Speaker 2:

Wow, so that's amazing. That thing was huge yeah.

Speaker 3:

I actually do, I did, I did. Do you want to see it? I mean, sure, yeah, absolutely Put my glove on, cause it doesn't matter. But one cool thing about it, and I don't know if you'll be able to appreciate it, but it kind of looks like a heart. It does. It's just a big kind of heart. So I thought that was just a coining of the story, because they're in love with Dolly now and she's got a forever home, so that's great.

Speaker 2:

Oh wow, so I'm surprised they didn't want to keep that.

Speaker 3:

Well, no, it's a biological sample.

Speaker 2:

You can't keep it. Oh it yeah, oh okay, oh well. Well, it's very cool. It could be a good paperweight too. Well, what advice do you give pet owners to help their pets heal safely at home once the surgery's over?

Speaker 3:

well, take it easy, just like your doctor would tell you if you just you know, did an abdominal surgery on you. They probably like take it easy for a little bit. So sometimes we give them post-op little sedatives, take the edge off them so they're not running around like wild.

Speaker 2:

You know wild childs of course it's hard to do, yeah, hard to active dog. It's hard to keep.

Speaker 3:

Keep them still, yeah right, and then you brought up the cone of shame, of course, and then pain management, and you know, just stuff like that Just let them?

Speaker 2:

maybe, maybe. Well, I need to ask you this Whenever I take my dog I used to have several, but I'm down to one now but when I take them to the vet, I always swing by the Dairy Queen and get a pup cup. Is that something that you say stay away from, or does it matter?

Speaker 3:

What exactly is in a pop cup. That was good, I mean I think it's ice cream.

Speaker 2:

I think it's just ice cream is it? You know, I don't think it is is that a problem? I'll find out okay, I'll find out for sure, but if, but if there is dairy in it, is that a problem for dogs?

Speaker 3:

well, it's not that. Almost all animals becomes a little bit lactose intolerant after they get done. They are weaned off nursing, so I don't know.

Speaker 2:

We'll check that out. I'll call Dairy Queen and find out for the next episode. All right, man? Well, dr O'Hara, thank you for breaking all that down. A lot of us have to deal with surgery with our pets, and so we really appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us with such care and clarity. And so we really appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us with such care and clarity, and we'll catch you back in the next episode of Tail Talk, where pets always come first. Thanks, kid, thank you, we'll see you next time, doc, I'll see you.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for joining us on Tail Talk with Dr O'Hara. If your four-legged family member needs a checkup, a stylish groom or just a cozy place to stay, give us a call or text at 276-628-9655 or visit MyAbingdonVetcom to book your appointment. Abingdon Animal Medical Center a small town field with state-of-the-art care and plenty of belly rubs.