Preparing your home for your pet’s recovery

June 11, 2024

Coming home after surgery is exciting!

Not just for you, but for your pet. While it’s important that your pet feels at home, there are some changes that are important to make to ensure they stay safe and recover fully from their surgery.

Certain areas of your home pose a great risk to your pet. Hardwood or tile flooring can be slippery for our four legged friends, but after surgery it can be especially dangerous. Providing surfaces that are easy to walk on, with grip for your pets’ feet is essential. Throw rugs, non-slip mats, or carpet runners are an essential tool for recovery.

An area of the home where your pet can be restricted comfortably is very important. Some use a small room in their home, some use a crate (large enough to move around in), some prefer to gate off an area of the home such as the kitchen or living room, which is close to access to outdoor areas.

Most importantly: NO JUMPING! No jumping on/off the bed or couch, and no jumping up on people in the home. Overextension of the knee could compromise the repair of your pets’ leg and delay the healing time.

For the first 2 – 4 weeks following surgery, stairs should be limited to a short flight to get in or out of the house. Your pet needs to be on a short leash and slowly guided up and down 2 – 3 stairs, possibly with support of a harness or belly sling.

As hard as it will be, there must be no physical play! Slow, purposeful movement can slowly be increased as the weeks go by, but absolutely no running or play with other pets until the go-ahead is given by your vet. You can incorporate brain games and mental stimulation to help ease boredom during this time.

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Doppler in Anesthesia

By Drea Sullivan • December 11, 2025

Things to Know: A Doppler value is generally considered to be the Systolic Arterial Pressure (SAP) Dopplers require the use of a Sphygnomometer and inflatable cuff. The width of the cuff should be: 40% of the limb circumference in dogs, and 30% of the limb circumference in cats. (I like to have a tape measure handy to eliminate the guess factor). A cuff that is TOO LARGE will falsely decrease the BP reading. A cuff that is TOO SMALL will falsely elevate the BP reading. Perform 4-6 readings and average the value to ensure replicable results. A Doppler BP reading does NOT provide a DAP (Diastolic Arterial Pressure) or MAP (Mean Arterial Pressure) in small animals - even cats. Transducer tubing should be directed away from the patient (down the leg), with the patient in lateral recumbency. The cuff is positioned on the limb which is at the level of the right atrium (Forelimb or hindlimb which is “up” not at the level of the table). Don’t overinflate the cuff- inflate to only 20-40 mmHg above when the pulse sound disappears. Overinflation can cause falsely elevated results. Advantages: Doppler ultrasonography has several advantages when compared with other blood pressure monitoring techniques: Provides Audible pulse to aid in anesthesia monitoring Do not assume that if you can hear it, the blood pressure is good! You have to check it routinely and establish trends. Relatively easy to use. Affordable and readily available in most clinical settings. Appropriate to use in patients experiencing the following: significant hypotension, cardiac arrhythmias - tachycardia, bradycardia, arrhythmias, Vasoconstriction, Hypothermia More reliable in small animals (Neonates, cats, small dogs, exotics) than oscillometric techniques Can be used in awake patients for a pre-anesthetic BP reading Oscillometric techniques are not usually reliable with any form of patient movement. Disadvantages: Obtaining Doppler measurements in patients with severe peripheral vasoconstriction (Hypovolemia, shock, severe hypothermia) can be difficult but this is true for all methods. A Doppler may fail to provide a reliable reading when the patient's Systolic Arterial Pressure (SAP) falls below 80-90 mmHg in a dog, and 60-70 mmHg in a cat. Monitoring patient trends is extremely important as intervention should occur before the SAP falls to this level. Resources: https://todaysveterinarypractice.com/cardiology/todays-technician-blood-pressure-monitoring-from-a-nursing-perspective-part-2-blood-pressure-monitoring-techniques/#:~:text=75%20mm%20Hg-,Mean%20arterial%20pressure,TABLE%202. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1467298719303174#:~:text=The%20agreement%20between%20ABPDoppler,1998). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7838334/ https://www.vin.com/apputil/content/defaultadv1.aspx?pId=11290&id=4252629#:~:text=4%2C5,the%20direct%20blood%20pressure%20monitor.