With many forms of injury and illness, an anaesthetic may be required. Anaesthesia is when an animal loses consciousness, but maintains their ability to breathe for themselves.

Prior to anaesthesia, your companion will be given a pre-medication, which will have a calming effect and provide pain-relief before surgery. If your pet is more "mature" you may be offered a pre-anaesthesia blood test to check kidney, liver and glucose levels.

During surgery your pet will be monitored by both the surgeon and a nurse. Monitoring equipment such as an oesophageal stethoscope, monitoring charts and various reflex reactions will be used to ensure a stable plane of anaesthesia. Here at Ashcroft Veterinary Centre we use gold standard anaesthetics.

During an anaesthetic oxygen is flowed through the circuit carrying the anaesthetic gaseous agent. The amount of this agent can be adjusted via a % dial, to make sure your pet is not too light or too deep. A number of warning systems are attached to the machinery to ensure safety. A spare source of oxygen is always available, should a cylinder run out.

As part of the NVQ3 in Veterinary Nursing, nurses have to demonstrate a vast knowledge of anaesthesia circuits, agents and how at tackle various situations.