Community Animal HospitalsGuided by AAHA standards · St. Petersburg, FL
Community Animal HospitalsGuided by AAHA standards · St. Petersburg, FL
Lumps, fatty masses, tumors, skin tags and warts, removed in our own surgical suite in St. Petersburg. We recommend sending every removed mass to a pathology laboratory, so you find out what it was rather than guessing. Before any work begins you receive a written, itemized estimate.
Tell us where the lump is, how long it has been there, and whether it has changed. We’ll get back to you to arrange a time.
Lumps on or under the skin, including the soft fatty masses many older dogs develop.
Masses that need to come out with a margin of normal tissue around them, so nothing is left behind.
Lumps along the belly and chest of a female dog or cat.
Growths on the eyelid margin, which can rub on the eye as they grow.
Small growths that catch on a collar or comb, bleed, or bother your pet.
This is only a partial list. If your veterinarian has found a lump that is not here, ask.
Because you cannot tell what a lump is by looking at it, and neither can we. A harmless fatty lump and a tumor that needs more treatment can look and feel the same. A pathologist examining the tissue under a microscope tells you what it was and, for a tumor, whether it was all removed.
We recommend pathology every time. It is your decision, and it is listed separately on your estimate so you can see exactly what it adds.
Smaller lumps are generally simpler to remove than larger ones. If you are watching a lump and wondering, that is a reason to have it examined.
We examine your pet first. Whether x-rays are needed — including chest x-rays — is decided after the exam. If your veterinarian has already done this, we work from their records.
For all proposed diagnostics and treatment, before any work begins. Nothing is scheduled until you have seen it and said yes.
Pre-surgical labs are run in-house and reviewed before the day of surgery — never drawn the morning of.
In most cases your pet goes home the same day. Rechecks and suture removal are included.
Before surgery you can speak with the veterinarian doing the procedure — about what they expect to find, what recovery looks like, and anything that worries you. That is routine here, not a special request.
No referral needed. If your veterinarian has already examined your pet or taken x-rays, bring the records, email them to petcare@communityanimalhospitals.com, or tell us on the form who has them and we will request them for you.
The veterinarians across our two hospitals include two former owners of 24-hour primary care and emergency hospitals, and doctors with more than 25 years in practice ownership.
It depends on the lump. Its size, where it is and how many there are decide how long the surgery takes and how it is closed. A small skin tag and a large mass on the chest wall are different operations. Once we have examined your pet, you receive a written, itemized estimate — with pathology listed separately — before any work begins.
You receive a written, itemized estimate for all proposed diagnostics and treatment before any work begins. You will never get a bill you have not approved. If we find something unexpected during surgery, we call you before doing anything about it.
Many of our clients find that financing part or all of the procedure through Cherry works best for them.
According to Cherry, the application takes under 35 seconds from start to finish, and “Cherry performs a soft credit check which does not affect your credit score.”
Check your options with Cherry
We also accept CareCredit and Scratch Pay.
Most people are less worried about the procedure than about the anesthesia. That is a fair worry, and it deserves a straight answer.
Pre-anesthetic bloodwork tells us how your pet’s liver and kidneys will handle the anesthetic drugs. It is also how we catch the problem that changes the plan — before we start, not during.
The catheter means immediate access to a vein if we need it, rather than looking for one in an emergency. Fluids maintain blood pressure, which is what protects the kidneys under anesthesia.
A trained technician is assigned to your pet’s anesthesia and does nothing else for the duration — heart rate and rhythm, blood oxygen, blood pressure, temperature and breathing, continuously, with hands on your pet.
Anesthetised animals lose heat quickly, and a cold patient recovers badly — slower waking, more shivering, more pain. Active warming runs through the procedure and into recovery. It is unglamorous and it matters.
Almost never, and age by itself is not the reason to decline. In the largest study of US primary-care practice — 822 hospitals — the anesthetic death rate was 0.05% in dogs and 0.11% in cats. What moves that number is health status, not age: in sick patients it rises roughly twenty-five fold. Which is why what we do before the procedure matters more than the number on the birthday.
Bloodwork, a physical examination, and a plan built around what we find. If something turns up that changes the risk, we tell you before the day, not after.
AAHA’s 2023 senior care guidelines: “Advanced age alone is not a contraindication to general anesthesia.”
We do not provide overnight care. For most procedures your pet goes home the same day — home is quieter, and you are the person who notices first when something is not right. You will go home with written aftercare instructions and a number to call if anything worries you.
If your pet does need overnight monitoring, we will say so and refer you to a 24-hour facility that can give it. That is a judgment made on the day, about your pet — not a policy.
Most pets go home wearing a cone (an e-collar) so they cannot lick or chew at the incision while it heals.
Recheck visits and suture removal are included in the surgery price.
Questions after you get home go to us — six days a week, 7:30am–6:30pm.
5895 54th Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL 33709
Clients travel as far as 15–20 miles for surgery with us, from St. Petersburg · Gulfport · Pinellas Park · Seminole · Bardmoor · Tyrone Square · South Pasadena · Kenneth City · Lealman and beyond · Open 7:30am–6:30pm, six days a week
It depends on the size and location of the lump and how many there are. After the exam you receive a written, itemized estimate before any work begins.
Nobody can tell by looking. That is exactly what pathology answers, which is why we recommend it on every removed mass.
For most lump and tumor removal, yes. For some small skin tags and warts, it depends on the size and where it is — the veterinarian will tell you at the exam what your pet needs, and why.
Often, yes, in the same anesthetic. Tell us how many you have found and where, and we will plan for them together.
Usually. Recheck visits and suture removal are included.