Welcome To St. Mary's Veterinary Hospital

General Information - Admissions

Patients are scheduled for admission Monday through Friday for surgery, dentistry and other medical procedures. They are also admitted for appointment drop-off service. Drop off service is available for clients who are unable to schedule appointments during our regular appointment hours.

A specific admission time is scheduled each pet admission. Scheduled admission times are between 7:00 and 9:00 am.

For patients requiring anesthesia, do not feed your pet after 6:00 pm the night before the surgery or procedure. Water can be given, though, up until the time of admission.

When dropping off your pet for admission, please allow enough time in your schedule for one of our technicians to take a complete medical history before leaving. An accurate medical history is a critical aspect of providing quality medical care.

To lower the risk associated with anesthesia, we recommend that all patients undergoing anesthesia, receive pre-anesthesia blood testing to ensure the liver and kidneys are properly functioning. Abnormalities of these organs cannot be detected by physical exam alone and cause increased anesthetic risk. Patients with pre-existing medical conditions and / or are 6 years and older are required to have this testing prior to anesthesia administration

To further reduce anesthesia risk, we also recommend the administration of IV fluids during anesthesia to maintain normal blood pressure and allow the rapid administration of drugs should an emergency situation develop. All non-elective surgeries are required to have an IV fluid catheter in place. This service is optional for all elective surgeries.

Elective surgeries are spays, alters, and cat declaws. These procedures require the patient to be current on both its distemper and rabies vaccinations for age. Please provide us with proof of these vaccinations at admission time if they were not given at our hospital. All cat declaw surgery is performed with the laser. Declaw surgery is far less painful and healing much quicker when performed by laser.

For pets undergoing surgery, we recommend your pet be discharged with an Elizabethan collar. The collar prevents your pet from licking the sutures out of the incision site.

22261 Three Notch Road
Lexington Park, MD 20653
301-862-2441