Laser Surgery, a great substitute for the scalpel, has been around for over 20 years now, and has just become popular in veterinary medicine in the last ten.  Mostly because of its extreme cost, veterinarians have been slow to begin to use it.   

At Main Street Pet Care, we have evaluated several lasers and will eventually obtian one for use in declaws and in throat surgery.  
There are many myths surrounding laser surgery, the most common one is that it is pain free.  While pain is greatly reduced for some procedures, it is certainly not pain free.  Pain medication and pain control are extremely important with any surgery and must be properly addressed whether using a laser or not.

For declaws, it is can be less painful that other methods when properly used.  But pain medicaitons must still be used in order to provide humane surgeries.  We still do declaws at Main Street Pet Care, but we always try to encourage alternatives whenever possible. 

Currently, we invest our time and money in a full range of surgical safety monitors and additional personnel to monitor anesthesia patients.  We also have the most advanced pain treatments available in veterinary medicine, and pain control is an ongoing focus of the practice.

We have been told by hospital personnel that our surgical facility is equipped as well, or better than, some area hospitals!  The truth is that we do not think it is good enough yet, and we will continue to invest in safety and pain control for our patients before we obtain a laser surgical unit. 

Dr. Leavens loves the laser surgery machines, but it is a luxury toy that will come in the future.  For now, we will continue to focus on our primary mission and "make do" with our other state of the art equipment. 

Currently, our hospital offers flexible and rigid endoscopy, thoracic vascular surgery, orthopaedic and joint surgery, routine spays and neuters, and extensive soft tissue surgery and support.  We look forward to continuing to focus on the future, providing the best in surgery and medicine to our animal friends and their people!