How do I get an appointment?

We are located at the Guelph's first veterinary multi-specialty private practice, Guelph Veterinary Specialty Hospital in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. If you have a regular veterinarian, please call his or her hospital to arrange a referral to our service. Your general practitioner will contact us to provide your pet's medical history and will arrange an appointment for you. If you are a patient for one of the other services at our hospital, you may be internally referred to our service.

What kind of procedures do you do?

We provide a full range of dental and oral surgery services for a dogs and cats. We perform professional dental cleanings and assessments in addition to more advanced procedures such as periodontal flap surgeries, complicated extractions, palatal defect repairs, maxillary and mandibular fracture repairs, resections of oral tumors, root canal therapies, crown restorations, and orthodontics for painful malocclusions.


How much will it cost?

The cost of dental and oral care varies widely depending on your pet's diagnosis and treatment options. The costs of our services are comparable to other board certified specialist practices. Dr. Haws will examine your pet and discuss with you the diagnostic and treatment recommendations, and will provide an estimate. When indicated, a detailed examination and assessment under general anesthesia also will be done and a more accurate estimate then will be reported directly to you before proceeding.

Will students perform my pet's dental procedures?

No. Your pet's dental and oral procedures, including professional cleaning under general anesthesia, will be completed by the board certified veterinary dental specialist, Dr. Haws.


Where are you located?

Guelph Veterinary Specialty Hospital is located in Guelph at 1460 Gordon Street, next to Campus Estates Animal Hospital. Click on the following link to a map of the area.

If you are using a GPS system, please use the address "1460 Gordon Street, Guelph, Ontario". Look for the signs on our hospital, "Guelph Veterinary Specialty Hospital" and "Veterinary Specialists". Please check-in with reception upon your arrival.

Where do I park?

There is free parking in front of Guelph Veterinary Specialty Hospital.

I don't want to drive all the way home while I am waiting. What can I do in Guelph?

Here are some suggestions while you are waiting for your pet to be discharged:

Stone Road Mall - This is ten minutes northwest of us. There is a Chapter's bookstore with a Starbucks where you can find a comfy seat and a good magazine while waiting.
http://www.stoneroadmall.ca

The Guelph Arboretum - If you like flowers and gardening, this is fifteen minutes northeast of us and has free admission.
http://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum

And, of course, Tim Horton's:
http://www.timhortons.com/ca/locator/index.html

As always, you are welcome to wait in our reception area, but it is not the most exciting place in Guelph!

Will my pet require general anesthesia?

A physical examination while awake gives us some information about your pet's oral and dental health, but many diseases remain hidden. Even for very quiet and friendly pets, they will not hold still with their mouths open to safely allow us use dental instruments to clean and probe around all of their teeth. The only safe way to have their teeth fully cleaned, including under the gumline, and to have a detailed complete oral examination and assessment, is under general anesthesia.

We go to great lengths to ensure that your pet has a safe and uneventful anesthetic experience. Preanesthetic testing helps to screen for any hidden diseases that will change how anesthesia is performed. All vital parameters for your pet will be carefully and continuously monitored while under anesthesia by our dedicated technician. Additionally, a special warming blanket used in pediatric anesthesia is used by our service to help maintain normal body temperature. Local anesthesia ("freezing") is placed prior to surgery while under anesthesia to help reduce the amount of general anesthesia required, resulting in a safer anesthesia.

Also, we are supported by the extensive knowledge and expertise of the veterinary anesthesia specialists, who are involved directly in higher risk general anesthesias.

The regulatory body for veterinarians is the College of Veterinarians of Ontario. It determines the minimum standards of care by veterinarians. Below is a link to their position statement on the use of general anesthesia for dental cleanings:

http://www.cvo.org/uploadattachments/Dentistry.pdf

What can my pet eat before surgery?

To undergo anesthesia, your pet will need to be fasted. This means no food after 9:00 pm the night before surgery. Water does not need to be withheld. If your pet has any medical conditions, such as diabetes, that may require different instructions. We will contact you prior to surgery to let you know.


How long will my pet be in the hospital?

Almost all of our patients go home the same day. Our patients are admitted the morning of dental and oral procedures and generally go home in the afternoon or evening. We will be in touch with you through the day to let you know when your pet will be ready for discharge.


How long will my pet take to recover from surgery?

Pets recover surprisingly quickly, even from major oral surgical procedures. Most of our patients are quiet the first night home, but quickly return to their normal routines within a day or two. If your pet requires special feeding instructions after surgery, such as softened food, we will let you know at the time of discharge. Generally, we have our patients return for a recheck examination two weeks following oral and dental procedures. This allows us to check their progress and make sure that they are healing well.


Do you send reports to my regular veterinarian?

Yes. For all consultations and procedures, your veterinarian will receive a written report detailing the results of your pet's physical examination, any diagnostic and treatment recommendations, and any therapies performed.