Surgeries Offered

We offer a wide selection of surgeries for animals large and small. The following list covers the most common procedures we provide, but we do offer many other surgeries. Please contact us if your pet needs a different procedure than what you see listed below.

Schedule Appointment

When is it time to set an appointment?

If you’ve seen your pet limping, being reluctant or unable to walk, or holding a leg up, it’s time to take your cat or dog in to be assessed by a veterinarian. Depending on your family veterinarian’s exam and diagnostic findings, Summit Veterinary Surgery is here to give your dog or cat exceptional surgical care in the Sacramento Valley Area.

TPLO

Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO) surgery corrects a torn cranial cruciate ligament in your dog’s knee. TPLO surgery is the most common procedure performed by Summit Veterinary Surgery, and Dr. Uhl performs over 500 of these procedures per year. Our surgery service offers this only surgery for cranial cruciate ligament ruptures in dogs over 25 pounds. Signs that your pet may have this injury include sitting off to the side instead of sitting straight, a clicking sound coming from the joint, and not bearing total weight on the hind leg. Cruciate injuries can be diagnosed by your veterinarian using a cranial drawer or tibial thrust test, and x-rays can help support the diagnosis.

MPL

MPL, or Medial Patella Luxation, is when the kneecap pops out of place and is most commonly seen in small breed dogs like Yorkshire terriers. Repair of this consists of four different procedures we can use to care for your dog or cat. First, we can deepen through the groove of the knee cap and fix the patella tendon insertion to run in a straight line. We can also tighten the connective tissue on your pet’s knee and loosen the soft tissue on the complimentary side of the knee to create a soft tissue correction for your pet. This condition can often be diagnosed in the exam room by your veterinarian. Often at home, you will see a normal gait with periods of holding the leg up before returning to a normal gait.

Extracapsular Repair

Extracapsular repair is surgery for small and less active dogs to fix a torn cranial cruciate ligament. Our surgical vet team will utilize monofilament nylon to replace the torn ligament in smaller dogs. Your fur baby can typically recover in around two to three months after this surgery.
Schedule Appointment

FHO

FHO surgery is utilized for dogs with hip dysplasia and arthritis. In this procedure, our experienced surgical team will remove part of the ball and socket joint, resulting in less pain for dogs. In addition, this surgery removes bone-on-bone contact, creating pain and inflammation. After the surgery, during the healing process, your dog’s natural healing process will form fibrous tissue to re-stabilize the hip joint. The success of this procedure in large dogs depends greatly on post-op rehabilitation, and referral to a rehabilitation center is highly recommended.

Tumor Removal in Cats and Dogs

Working with benign and malignant tumors, we can assess your pet’s situation and work with you to provide a surgical treatment plan for your furry family member. If your pet has a complex tumor, we may recommend pre-operative CT scans, which we can coordinate with a local center. If your pet needs chemotherapy, we can refer your pet to a pet oncologist, as our experience surgical team works closely with trusted local pet oncologists to provide the most up-to-date cancer care for your fur baby.

Fracture Repair

We fix your pet’s broken bones, whether that’s an elbow fracture on your bulldog, tibial fractures on your pet’s shin bone, or radius or ulna fracture on your pet’s forearm, your local vet can X-ray your pet, and our surgical team can evaluate and assess your pet’s needs to see if surgery is the right choice for your pet and which surgery to perform.
Schedule Appointment

OCD Surgery

Osteochondritis Dissecans are cartilage flaps that peel off the joint, causing inflammation and pain. Typically, OCD can develop in the joints of young, large breed dogs such as Golden Retrievers, Labradors, and Great Danes. Surgery often involves removing the cartilage flap with the treatment of the underlying bone or cartilage resurfacing techniques.

Laryngeal Paralysis Surgery

When your pet’s throat cartilage doesn’t open and closes properly, your dog’s airway can be compromised. You will often notice difficulty with breathing in the heat and loud panting. Many times you will notice a change in your pet’s bark. We can tie one side of their throat cartilage back, thus opening your dog’s airways to let them breathe more easily. This is considered a salvage procedure for severely affected dogs because it can have severe complications and side effects.

Brachycephalic Airway Syndrome

Brachycephalic airway syndrome is seen in dogs with short noses, such as French and English bulldogs. This is when the pet has extra throat tissue length, making them trouble breathing. We can shorten their soft palate over their trachea to open the passage for proper breathing. In addition, we can open up their nose and give the airway more room to breathe. We will also evaluate the cartilage, tonsils, and laryngeal saccules to determine if additional surgery is needed.
Schedule Appointment

Total Ear Canal Ablation

This surgery removes the entire ear canal in dogs with bad chronic ear infections that cannot be controlled with regular medications or dogs with tumors in their ear canal. Ear infections are painful for dogs and cats, and this surgery can be a good salvage option. For pets with ear tumors, we usually recommend CT scans pre-operatively, which we can hello coordinate for you.

Perineal Urethrostomy

A surgical procedure for cats, this surgery is for male cats having problems urinating. Male cats can produce a sand-like substance in their urinary tract that can obstruct their ability to urinate. Our experienced surgery team can widen their urethra to allow the sand to pass and prevent future obstructions.