North Country Veterinary Services

Our regular business hours are Monday to Friday from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm and Saturday 8:00 am until 1:00 pm. The clinic is closed on Sunday.

For regular clients only, we are available from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm each weekday night, and from 1:00 pm to 10:00 pm on Saturday, and 8:00 am to 1:00 pm on Sundays and holidays for consultation and for some urgent care treatment.

We offer 24/7 emergency services to our large animal clients.

Yes, patients are seen by appointment.

Cash, Check, Care Credit, ScratchPay, Mastercard, Visa and Discover

Payment is required at the time of service.

We accept CareCredit and ScratchPay.

Spaying or neutering can be done at approximately 6 months of age. It’s important to bring your pet in ahead of time to help determine whether your pet is healthy enough to undergo the surgical procedure and for us to administer the appropriate vaccinations ahead of their hospital stay. Also, a pre-anesthetic blood screen is recommended prior to undergoing anesthesia and surgery.

This is a blood test that is run here in the clinic prior to surgery. It tests the organ functions, blood counts and clotting function of your pet. The pre-anesthetic blood screening is done to assure safety during surgery and the ability to heal following surgery

Procedures involving sutures are typically removed 10-14 days following the surgery.

No, there is no advantage to letting your pet have one litter. However, there are plenty of advantages to having you pet spayed or neutered. These advantages include decreasing the chances of breast tumors later in life, decreasing the chance of cystic ovaries and uterine infections later in life, decreasing the desire to roam the neighborhood, decreasing the incidence of prostate cancer later in life, helping prevent spraying and marking, and also decreasing the surplus of unwanted puppies and kittens.

No, we do not have a boarding facility.  Animals who spend the night in our hospital do so for medical reasons.

Today's modern anesthetic monitors have made surgery much safer than in the past.  Here at North Country Veterinary Services, we do a thorough physical exam on your pet before administering anesthetics, to ensure that a fever or other illness won't be a problem.  We also adjust the amount and type of anesthetic used depending on the health of your pet.  The handout on anesthesia explains this in greater detail.

Preanesthetic blood testing is important in reducing the risk of anesthesia.  We recommend that every pet get blood testing before surgery to ensure that the liver and kidneys can handle the anesthetic.  Even apparently healthy animals can have serious organ system problems that cannot be detected without blood testing.  If there is a problem, it is much better to find it before it causes anesthetic or surgical complications.  Animals that have minor dysfunction will handle the anesthetic better if they receive IV fluids during surgery.  If serious problems are detected, surgery can be postponed until the problem is corrected.

It is important that surgery be done on an empty stomach to reduce the risk of vomiting during and after anesthesia.  You will need to withhold food for at least 8 to 10 hours before surgery.  Water can be left down for the pet until the morning of surgery.

For many surgeries, we use skin stitches. Some of these will dissolve on their own, and do not need to be removed later. For some surgeries, especially neuters, we use absorbable sutures underneath the skin. With either type of suture, you will need to keep an eye on the incision for swelling or discharge. Most dogs and cats do not lick excessively or chew at the incision, but this is an occasional problem you will also need to watch for. If there are external skin sutures that aren’t dissolvable, these will usually be removed 10 to 14 days after surgery. You will also need to limit your pet's activity level for a time and no baths are allowed for the first 10 days after surgery.

Anything that causes pain in people can be expected to cause pain in animals.  Pets may not show the same symptoms of pain as people do; they usually don't whine or cry, but you can be sure they feel it.  Pain medications needed will depend on the surgery performed.  Major procedures require more pain relief than things like minor lacerations.

For some dogs, we may recommend an oral anti-inflammatory the day after surgery and several days after to lessen the risk of discomfort and swelling.  We use newer medications, which are less likely to cause stomach upset and can be given even the morning of surgery.

Because cats do not tolerate standard pain medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or Tylenol, we are limited in what we can give them.  Recent advances in pain medications have allowed for better pain control in cats than ever before.  We administer a pain injection prior to surgery.  After surgery, pain medication is given on a case by case basis.  Any animal that appears painful will receive additional pain medication.

While your pet is under anesthesia, it is the ideal time to perform other minor procedures, such as dentistry, ear cleaning, or implanting an identification microchip.  If you would like an estimate for these extra services, please call ahead of time.  This is especially important if the person dropping the pet off for surgery is not the primary decision maker for the pet's care.

When you bring your pet in for surgery, we will need to 5 to 10 minutes of time to fill out paperwork and make decisions on the blood testing and other options available.  When you pick up your pet after surgery you can also plan to spend about 10 minutes to go over your pet's home care needs.

We will call you the night before your scheduled surgery appointment, to confirm the time you will be dropping your pet off and to answer any questions you might have.  In the meantime, please don't hesitate to call us with any questions about your pet's health or surgery.