Warm Winter Wishes

At Butler Veterinary Clinic we take pride in offering the best veterinary medicine available, expecially in emergencies - when seconds count. With all of the new advances in monitoring equipment, one of the most overlooked vital sign is body temperature regulation. Hypothermia is one of the most common causes of death in emergency and surgical procedures.

We use multiple monitoring systems throughout our surgical procedures and emergency situations to alert our veterinarians of any potential problems. Our anesthetic monitoring system offers complete evaluation with continual monitoring and recording of EIGHT parameters! We also utilize three monitoring systems to evaluate repiratory rates, heart rates, and temperatures of all of our surgical patients.

In addition to our anesthetic monitoring system, we also have a surgical and dental warming pad that has three point monitors embedded in the mat. Our "smart" warming pad offers many significant advantages to other patient heating systems. "The last big innovation in patient warming was over 25 years ago with the invention of the force-air warming blankets" says John Bayard, senior product manager for Augustine Biomedical + Design. Dr. Augustine invented forced-air warming with the Bair Hugger, and it was the gold standard for many years, but now there’s a better way to warm through the next generation of patient warming systems using blankets that warm with a conductive fabric technology. Our surgical warming pad offers uniform heating with no local hot spots. There are multiple thermal sensors built into the pad that independently monitor temperature in real time. If the patient begins to draw heat off the pad at a faster rate, the pad automatically adjusts to prevent heat depervation. The pad regulates its temperature by also monitoring the temperature of the pad. In addition to the patient temperature monitoring, our surgical pad also has respiratory and pulse rate monitoring through internal sensors.

We also utilize IV fluid warmers during fluid therapy. The administration of IV fluids in surgery helps correct normal ongoing fluid losses, supports cadiovascular functions, and the ability to maintain whole body fluid voluming during long anesthetic periods. Fluid therapy also counteracts potential negative physiological effects associated with anesthesia such as hypothension and vasodilation. The use of IV fluids provides a continuous flow through the IV catheter to prevent clot formations, allowing us to quickly identify catheter problems prior to an emergency - as emergency medication is administered through the use of the catheter. While warming the bag of fluids assists in maintaining the correct body temperature, our IV fluid warmer is unique in that it warms the fluids just before entering the body. By introducing the fluids at 102°F (normal body temperature), your pet's body temperature is maintained. Without proper fluid warmth provided by our unique IV Fluid Warmer, your pet can be chilled from the inside out, leading to hypothermia and surgical complications.

For our emergency and post-surgical patients, we also utilize a smart warming blanket that has the same features as our surgical warming pad. Our recovery pad keeps our patients warm (102.5°F), monitors their respiration through motion sensors embedded inside the warming pad. By simply laying on our warming pad, we can monitor your pets respiratory rate without having them hooked up to wires - which can add to their stress. If it is necessary for us to monitor their pulse, we can simply wrap a sensor (an inch wide) around the leg. By using a leg monitor, we can reduce their stress and encourage them to rest and relax.

What is better than crawling into a warm bed? That is what all of the animals that stay at Butler Veterinary Clinic say. We have added a blanket warmer to our facility. This provides warm toasty blankets for our post-surgical patients, s'paw visitors, boarding guests, and all of the pets that just need that extra warmth. In addition to providing toasty blankets, our warmer also has a UV sterilizer for additional peace of mind.