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The Small Animal Surgeon

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The Small Animal Surgeon

Veterinary Surgical Specialist for Dogs and Cats The clinic operates out of premises in Papakura, South Auckland, through an agreement with Franklin Vets.
(8)

Permanently closed.

The Small Animal Surgeon Ltd (TSAS) was established in October 2003 and is owned and operated by Dr Ruth Youmans. Ruth is a veterinary specialist registered by the Veterinary Council of New Zealand in the field of Small Animal Surgery. Our primary function is to provide specialist consultancy, and surgical procedures to referring veterinarians and their clients to aid in the treatment of companion

and small animals (cats, dogs, etc). Clients are referred to Ruth by their general practice veterinarian in situations where specialist knowledge, skills and care are required or have been requested. The referred client and their pet will be requested to attend a consultation with Ruth to discuss patient history, presentation, initial diagnosis and possible treatment. From this point the client can then decide to progress with further specialist services or decide to return to their regular veterinarian for general practice care.

28/02/2023

Thank you Ashleigh. Thank you Cherie. Thank you to our previous nurses. Thank you to Sean and Ryan.

But especially thank you to Dr Ruth. So proud of you.

And that's a wrap.

02/02/2023

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

The Small Animal Surgeon will close from March 1st this year.

We would like to thank all our loyal clients and referring clinics for their support over the nearly 20 years we have provided surgical referral services. We have enjoyed the great relationships we have had with so many veterinarians and their clients, and it has been a privilege to help with the care of so many loved family companions.

Dr Ruth Youmans starts full time as a specialist surgeon with the Animal Referral Centre from mid April. From mid 2023, Ruth will be based at their new clinic in Freemans Bay in the CBD. This new ARC site will offer 24-hour care, and a wide range of specialist services including surgery, oncology, cardiology, neurology, critical care and on-site CT and MRI.

During the period March 1st – mid April 2023 (prior to Ruth starting full time), Ruth will be available at ARC on a small number of specified days to provide follow up care for recent TSAS cases.

Appointments for new referrals for Ruth can be made via the ARC website (or by contacting ARC directly).

We hope to keep in touch with you at ARC in the future.

15/12/2022

Ruth once again attended the NZ Institute of Specialist Veterinary Surgeons meeting in November this year. The meeting (as always) had great content - with each of the attending specialists and residents presenting on a surgical topic. Held in Akaroa, this gave Ruth the opportunity to visit a beautiful New Zealand location she had not previously seen (and a chance to catch up with other like-minded surgeons).

27/11/2022

Dedication.

A big thank you to Jamie who came in on Saturday (one of her days off) for an out-of-hours emergency, even though she had plans to be somewhere else.

(PS. The dog photo bombing the pic was not the patient ☺️)

25/10/2022

Our Practice in print!

In the world of specialist veterinary surgeons, publication in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Veterinary Surgery s the equivalent of 'seeing your name in lights'! While admittedly on this recently published article, our surgeon is only one of many co-authors, it is a very great honor to have worked alongside many other recognised leaders in the field to produce this review. And it is great to have the name of our New Zealand specialist practice recognised in an international publication as well.

16/10/2022

We were very privileged to care for a special patient for many years, and we were very sad to say Good Bye recently.

His lovely owners donated a special 'Thank you' lunch for our staff at a local restaurant. Thank you to them for the extra kindness and gifts; we had a wonderful time out, and love the framed photo for our consult room.

Some of our patients become truly unforgettable, and we know that his loss will still be affecting his family deeply.

14/10/2022

It's been Veterinary Nurse Awareness Week this week, so a big thank you to our dedicated nursing team of Ashleigh, Jamie and Cherie.

11/10/2022

19 YEARS IN BUSINESS ...

Who'd have thought 😄

$PRACTICAL CPD (NZ) FRACTURE MANAGEMENT WET LAB - SEPTRuth in her demonstrator role at the latest fracture management wet...$

07/10/2022

PRACTICAL CPD (NZ) FRACTURE MANAGEMENT WET LAB - SEPT

Ruth in her demonstrator role at the latest fracture management wet-lab over the weekend of September 17th and 18th. Thanks to Damian Chase from VSA as course presenter, and of course Practical CPD for the invite to be a demonstrator.

Always great courses - with all participants coming away with improved skills.

(Photos reproduced with permission.)

30/09/2022

WEBSITE ISSUES

It has come to note our new website is not functioning properly, particularly the Online Referral page. The main issue the inability to upload files such as PDF's, word docs etc.

Please email us at [email protected] for any referrals or assistance until this is sorted.

Sorry for any inconvenience. We will be contacting the developers first thing Monday for resolution.

22/09/2022

NEW WEBSITE!

Finally we've got our website renewed - and a bit more up to date with our current staff. Still a few tweaks and fine tuning of content and photos, but hopefully it'll be kept relevant a bit more than the last.

Check it out:
www.smallanimalsurgeon.co.nz

The Small Animal Surgeon provide specialist consultancy and surgical services to referring veterinarians and their clients to aid in the treatment of cats and dogs.

$Tiny bones, nasty fracture!Chewie had a serious accident, and was run over - resulting in a fracture of her pelvis. At o...$

15/09/2022

Tiny bones, nasty fracture!

Chewie had a serious accident, and was run over - resulting in a fracture of her pelvis. At only 9 months of age and only just over 2kg she had to have surgery to repair the fracture and ensure her pelvis remained a normal width for the long term. (Dogs (and cats) that do not have surgery can sometimes be at risk for such severe pelvic narrowing that ultimately they can't pass motions).

We repaired Chewie's displaced ilial fracture with a small bone plate and tiny 2mm diameter bone screws. She went on to heal well, and we expect the 'metalwork' will be tolerated well and can be left in long term without issue. We have screws as small as 1.5mm diameter available and this allows us to treat fractures in even very small patients.

18/07/2022

Remember the fun post with Baba and 'strike a pose' from June 2022. Well Baba is entering an SPCA fundraising competition to appear in the SPCA 2023 calendar. Further information can be found here:
https://petsoftheyear.spca.nz/baba
All the best Baba.

SPCA Pets of the Year: Earn your pet a spot in the 2023 SPCA Calendar

05/07/2022

Extra-Capsular Cruciate & Patellar Luxation Repair Wet-labs

Ruth (right and middle) was asked back again to assist as a demonstrator, this time for Practical CPD's ex-cap cruciate and patella luxation repair wet labs, held over two days in the middle of June at the Kahuvets Education Centre.

Big thanks to Andrew Worth who led the course, and the friendly and enthusiastic attendees.

19/06/2022

We really appreciate it when we hear how our past patients are doing! We have just received this lovely photo of Mia, who has 'beaten the odds' with a terrific recovery after a very major surgery this time last year. If ever a dog could have a positive attitude - that's Mia! Mia lives in the beautiful Bay of Plenty and her owners make sure she gets to enjoy every day to the fullest. We all wish Mia and her family well and extend our sincerest thanks for the update!

08/06/2022

Point-of-care ultrasound is an established technique to help with patient care and monitoring, and Ruth was privileged to attend an excellent Practical CPD course with Dr Ivayla Yozova in May this year. She has already used some of her new-found skills to monitor the progress of an intensive care patient, and found the course to be extremely practical and useful. There is a real benefit for a surgeon to develop some skills in new areas too!

13/04/2022

Though New Zealand is moving to 'Orange' level tomorrow, it is still a government requirement for all clients to wear a face mask (covering mouth and nose) when visiting a veterinary clinic.

01/04/2022

21/03/2022

Thank you Marley! It was a pleasure to look after you, and we hope both legs keep getting better after your big surgery.

17/03/2022

When you can make a new friend nearly every day at work!

(Jamie with a lovely patient this week).

14/03/2022

This is Tahei. Tahei is an adorable one year old that came in for an elbow surgery. Tahei comes from Wainui - between Whakatane and Opotiki. Yep, we get clients from that far away. Hope your recovery is going well Tahei.

02/03/2022

In December we hosted our first 3rd year BVSc student for two weeks practical work experience. We think it went ok 😉

06/02/2022

Congratulations Jamie on your marriage to Gill.

19/12/2021

17/12/2021

This week we welcomed back Ashleigh to her full time role as veterinary nurse, after a year away.

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Videos

Hanna is having a happy 2021! We were very grateful to receive this lovely video of a favourite patient just recently! Hanna did not have the best year in 2019. In January, she had to have surgery for a cruciate rupture in her left knee - and later the same year she rupture the cruicate ligament in her other (right) knee and had surgery with us again. However, as you can see, she is back to fully fit and well, and enjoying her outdoorsy life in the sunny Bay of Plenty. Thanks again to Hanna's owner for cheering us Aucklanders up - we hope you and Hanna can stay safe at Level 2 and keep enjoying your freedoms! #cruciateligament #cruciaterepair

Well they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks ... but how about a 13 yo cat? Sean, as part of his first year of the vet degree and animal behaviour subject, was required to see if he could train a family pet, a new trick. After working with Vamp off and on for 6 days, Vamp was jumping through a hoop! (Apologies for the video quality.)

Bear 3 1/2 weeks after surgery

... with Bear improving day by day, 3 1/2 weeks after surgery (see story in the post below).

Bear 12 days after surgery

This is Bear, one of our latest miracle patients! Bear is a 7 year old Bull Mastiff Cross who was diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer on one of his back legs. After serious consideration, his devoted owners agreed that an amputation was worth doing to give Bear more time. Understandably, they were very concerned about his quality of life post-operatively, specifically how he would manage on three legs being such a large breed. Even the team here at The Small Animal Surgeon have been amazed at how well Bear has adapted to being a tripedal! See for yourself in the video below that nothing keeps a good dog down. Bear at 12 days after surgery.

We recently received a lovely video of Gypsy in her new home! She had surgery to remove a damaged femoral head (part of her hip joint) back in June, and now is fully recovered and back to running, playing and swimming. For this condition, follow up physiotherapy is particularly important, and veterinary physiotherapist Helen Robartes was a big help to Gypsy and her owners in the post-operative period. Lovely feedback from Gypsy's owners too : 'Hi Ruth Wanted to show you how Gypsy is now thanks to you all. She loves swimming and running - doesn't love swans! I'm so grateful for your awesome work. Great to have a happy, healthy pup.'

Butch had to have one hind leg amputated for a bone tumour, but then later on ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the other (remaining) knee. With triple tibial osteotomy surgery he has made a great recovery - great credit goes to his owners for his nursing care after his surgery! More than two years after he lost his leg he has an excellent quality of life, and can run and enjoy his lovely country home with his family.

Wilson with stridor after short walk before operation.

When you live as close to the beautiful Bay of Islands beaches, like Wilson does, you want to be outside and enjoying every day during your doggy retirement! Trouble was - Wilson really was having major difficulties with her breathing that meant she could do very few of her favourite things. Take a look at the video link attached which Ruth thinks is one of the best she's seen of a dog with stridor from laryngeal paralysis! Fortunately, Wilson's vet in Kerikeri referred her to us for corrective surgery (cricoarytenoid lateralisation) with us before the weather got too hot (Summer always makes affected dogs alot worse). Right from when Wilson got home her breathing was much better, and she is now enjoying the great outdoors again - climbing hills with no breathlessness and having fun at the beach. Her owners have provided wonderful feedback on her progress - " Now she has no problem walking up hills and we have never seen her breathless. We don’t believe she would have made it through the summer the way she was.". If you have an older dog with similar raspy, difficult breathing (Labradors are especially at risk for laryngeal paralysis) please talk to your local vet because there may be something we can do to help