Small Animal Soft Tissue Surgery
The soft tissue surgical team offers a 24-hour, seven days a week on-call referral emergency as well as an elective surgical service for all types of soft tissue surgical cases. This service includes conventional, as well as minimal-invasive procedure,s using the latest equipment including a complete range of surgical staples. In-house dermatology, medical and oncology cases may also be referred to the surgical service for adjunct treatment.
Ancillary services of pathology and radiology complement our unit with intra-operative frozen tissue sections and intra-operative ultrasonography and contrast radiography on a needs basis. We are keen to provide an ongoing CPD service to our referring clinicians by way of telephone advice about cases or procedures, ‘seeing practice’ on their specific referrals and through didactic information sessions.
A current emphasis of the surgical team at the Animal Health Trust is the use of minimally invasive surgical techniques, and we are pleased to be able to offer this service, which will also include neutering via laparoscopy for any clients that would prefer this for their animals.
Soft tissue surgery staff
Rob Furneaux BVSc (Hons) PhD DACVS MRCVS
Head, Soft Tissue Surgery Unit
Rob graduated from the University of Sydney in 1966. The next three years was spent as a Teaching Fellow in the Surgical Department, Faculty of Medicine University of NSW where he completed a PhD in fluid compartment in the dog. He was also involved in the development of several surgical techniques, and the teaching of surgical physiology to final year medical students. In 1969, he took up an appointment at McGill University Montreal where he was an Assistant Professor in physiology and surgery. Whist there, he had a conjoined appointment at the Montreal General Hospital and at the Jewish General Hospital where he was an integral part of the teams investigating exocrine pancreatic disease and heart transplant techniques. In 1971, he was appointed Associate Professor of Surgery at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan. Whist there, he taught and practiced soft tissue surgery, including innovative cardiac surgery. He returned to Australia in 1973 and opened a surgical referral practice while maintaining close links with Medical Schools and continuing to help in the development of surgical techniques and instrumentation. In February 2007 Rob was appointed as a locum soft tissue surgeon at the College of Veterinary Medicine UCD Dublin, and moved to the Animal Health Trust at the beginning of October 2007 to head the soft tissue surgical unit. His interests include the pathophysiology and surgery of the liver and pancreas, and cardiovascular surgery.
Manuel Jiménez-Peláez DVM MRCVS
Soft Tissue Surgeon
Manuel graduated from the University of Córdoba (Spain) in 2001. The next three years was spent at the École Nationale Vétérinaire of Lyon where he completed one year small animal internship (surgery and medicine) and two years as lecturer in surgery, anaesthesiology, emergency and intensive care. During the last two years in Lyon, he also worked as a locum ambulatory surgeon in Lyon and was also responsible, with the surgical team of Lyon, in numerous surgical post-graduate training courses for veterinarians. Manuel was also involved in the development of several novel surgical techniques, including looking at surgical vertebral fusion models for children with scoliosis (in collaboration with a human medicine biomaterials laboratory). In 2004, he obtained one of only two positions available in France that year, as a resident of the European College Veterinary Surgeon approved programme at the prestigious private referral practice ‘Centre Hospitalier Vétérinaire Frégis’ (Paris) where he stayed for three years. After finishing his ECVS-standard residency, Manuel moved to the AHT in November 2007 to pursue his interest in soft tissue surgery in a referral environment with the ability to work in a large hospital and develop particular areas of interest such as minimally invasive surgery (laparoscopic and thoracoscopic surgery), thoracic surgery, oncologic surgery and brachycephalic airway syndrome surgery.
