Frequently asked questions

Instead of sending your pet to a large specialty hospital, board-certified surgeon Dr. Joshua A. Bruce comes to your own veterinarian's clinic and performs surgery there. He brings sterilized specialty equipment, implants, and two surgical assistants. More for pet owners.

Dr. Joshua A. Bruce, DVM, DACVS-SA, owner of Kentucky Veterinary Surgery. He became board certified by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2017. Meet Dr. Bruce.

Ask your primary veterinarian for a referral to Kentucky Veterinary Surgery. Your vet's clinic handles scheduling and provides your estimate, and once your pet is referred, Dr. Bruce will call you before and after surgery.

Please start with your veterinarian. Dr. Bruce needs a referral from your veterinarian before he can advise on your pet, and because surgery happens inside your vet's clinic, your clinic sets the schedule and provides the estimate.

KVS works with more than 50 partner clinics in the Louisville and Lexington areas, central Kentucky, and Southern Indiana. See our partner clinics.

Booking times vary, but surgery is usually scheduled about 2–4 weeks out. Your veterinarian's clinic schedules the surgery.

You drop your pet off at your regular veterinarian's office. Dr. Bruce calls you before surgery to answer questions and again afterward to explain what was found and done. Your clinic's team runs anesthesia and monitors recovery.

Depending on the procedure, most pets go home that evening. Some procedures, such as portosystemic shunt surgery, often need 24-hour hospital care afterward.

The owner will complete the consent form at the clinic on the day of surgery. Separately, you take written discharge instructions home after surgery. For TPLO, you also get a pre-op video from Dr. Bruce about a week before surgery. About TPLO.

At your primary veterinarian's clinic, usually starting at about 2 weeks for suture removal. Your procedure's recovery plan lists the rest.

No. For an emergency, call your veterinarian during business hours or an emergency hospital after hours.

Partner clinics book through the KVS QR-code magnet and answer the intake questions. New clinics can find contact details on the For veterinarians page.

Currently, Monday and Tuesday are Lexington-area days and Wednesday and Thursday are Louisville-area days; Southern Indiana books on Louisville days.

Your operating room, recovery space, and a team member to run anesthesia and medications. KVS brings two surgical assistants plus sterilized specialty instruments, equipment, and implants.

A very straight 90/90 flexed lateral of the stifle and a very straight PA (caudocranial) view, both including the calibration ball. See the For veterinarians page for how to send them.