Small Animal Surgery & Anesthesia

This exhibit let’s you be the surgeon.

• At the interactive hand-tie station, you can learn several knots and suture patterns that are used in dog and cat surgeries for various situations and tissues.


• X-rays are a very important veterinary tool used by surgeons to diagnose fractures, tumors, and foreign objects.


• Dogs and cats sometimes swallow non-edible items, such as quarters, rubber balls, and plastic toys. These foreign objects may lodge in the gastrointestinal tract and cause indigestion, vomiting, and diarrhea.


• At this booth, children can try to locate a foreign object on an X-ray. They will then gown up in full surgeon's gear. A gown, cap, and gloves are used by surgeons to maintain high levels of sanitation and sterility. This will help to minimize the spread of diseases and bacteria between people and animals.


• The children can then "perform surgery" on a plastic canine model to remove the foreign object.