Anesthesia & Sedation

We understand how stressful it can be to sedate or anesthetize one’s pet, particularly if that pet is older, critically ill or has pre-existing disease. We understand the risks of anesthesia and we take them seriously. This is why we have a dedicated team of professionals with outstanding expertise and advanced equipment to plan and perform anesthesia, to vigilantly monitor your pet during anesthesia, and to smoothly recover him/her afterwards. 

Our anesthesia department consists of highly trained anesthetists and a consulting board-certified veterinary anesthesiologist. Customized anesthetic protocols are carefully and collaboratively planned, often using advanced multimodal protocols, tailored to the individual patient, and locoregional blocks and epidurals to decrease systemic anesthetic needs and facilitate rapid recovery. Each pet anesthetized at CUVS has a dedicated anesthetist that is directly and continually monitoring the patient, using human medical grade monitors equipped with:

• electrocardiography (ECG)
• oscillometric and/or direct blood pressure monitoring
• pulse oximetry
• capnography
• temperature monitoring

Our anesthesiologist works closely with our other CUVS specialists to guarantee the highest standards of care. She is on-site weekly, for case management and for consultations with pet owners. Our critical care specialists are here 7 days per week to help manage the most critical patients or to intervene when the rare need arises.

Even if your pet has had complications under anesthesia previously, or has an illness that may make anesthesia more risky, you can take comfort in the knowledge that our anesthesia team works closely with all of our services to provide the safest sedation and anesthesia experiences.

Disease processes that could lead to more complicated anesthesia:

• Shock, sepsis
• Kidney disease
• Heart disease
• Liver disease
• Respiratory diseases
• Seizures or other neurologic diseases
• Anemia
• Endocrine disease (Addison’s, Cushing’s, diabetes, thyroid illness) 

Pain Management

We understand the impact of pain management on a pet’s life, and are committed to the effective relief of both acute and chronic pain. We prioritize multifaceted approaches to pain management, using a combination of systemic drugs, locoregional techniques and other modalities, as appropriate. Our specialists work together, and with our anesthesiologist, to design personalized and effective pain management strategies.

The Anesthesiology Service is headed by Dr. Elizabeth Goudie-DeAngelis. She is board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia (ACVAA).

“What I really love about being an anesthesiologist is that I get to help so many different pets and get the enjoyment of collaborating with almost every department. My specialty demands that I understand many different disease processes and how drugs affect each of them so that I can provide the most stable anesthetic episode for each patient and the most effective pain control.”