Alina Rojas, a California-based veterinarian nurse, is melting the internet’s heart after sharing footage from her work. As part of her work, Rojas cares for animals coming out of anesthesia after surgery. For animals, the entire experience can be disorienting and frightening.
“Some of them need a little bit more comfort after surgery,” Rojas’ social media post reads. “They are usually very confused about what is going on.”
Within the TikTok video, Rojas can be seen caring for a small dog that is visibly frightened from the anesthesia’s effects. Rocking him back to comfort, Rojas slowly calms the canine in her arms. The video has since wracked up millions of likes and thousands of comments.
“Thank you for taking such good care of her with love,” Ronnie commented. “I always worry when I have to leave my babies. I hope they have someone like you.”
“I cry too after anesthesia,” Krista G. commented. “I’m right with you, bud.”
“No way,” Maze commented. “So you’re telling me my dog did the same when he had surgery and I wasn’t there for him at the time?”
Patrik Holmboe, head veterinarian for Cooper Pet Care, spoke with Scrubs Magazine on the importance of keeping animals calm while they are recovering from their procedures.
“Anesthetics in dogs is a large topic, and there are certainly many different protocols and medications which can be used,” he said. “These can vary greatly based on a number of factors, such as the health and age of the dog, the type of procedure being performed, and the duration of anesthesia required.”
Typically, animals are administered a sedative one to two hours before a procedure.
“This is a medication generally given via injection, under the skin,” Holmboe said. “It serves to both calm the animal prior to induction, but also to reduce the amount of full anesthetic drugs needed during the procedure itself.”
Once sedated, the animal will receive anesthesia intravenously, followed by additional doses through a breathing tube. After the surgery is completed, the calming process can begin.
“This is the process of the dog waking up after the procedure is complete,” he said. “Just like in humans, the dog will be monitored during this stage to make sure things go smoothly and that the animal wakes up safely.”
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