[PennysMum]

I'd want a clinic that:

1.) does pre-operative bloodwork
2.) has a veterinarian do an exam and sign off on the bloodwork before induction-- this allows for the vet to customize the anesthesia protocol to the patient.
3.) has a vet tech or trained assistant monitoring the pet the entire time that it is under anesthesia. In some clinics, the doctor works on the animal pretty much alone. There should be someone else there monitoring vital signs. Animals very rarely just crash under anesthesia-- they will show signs before something reaches a critical state, and it should be somebody's job to watch for those signs while not worrying about the mechanics of surgery at the same time.
4.) places an IV catheter in the animal. This allows for quick administration of drugs in an emergency situation. Giving fluids during the surgery is even better!
5.) uses pain control as part of their pre-anesthesia protocol. Sevo and Iso don't block pain-- they just immobilize the animal! If the vet is ONLY using gas, the animal can still feel pain from the procedure. sending home pain control after the surgery is a good thing too.
6.) uses an appropriate anesthesia protocol that combines injectable drugs with gas. Gas is great, but if gas alone is used, it takes a LOT of gas to keep an animal under. Most animals who die under anesthesia are not suffering from an allergy or anything like that-- they die of cardiovascular failures, or respiratory issues. Gas anesthesia dilates the blood vessels, and if it is used at very high levels can cause a dangerous drop in blood pressure, which is the last thing you want. Using a pre-anesthetic injection, then a human grade IV injection like Propofol and THEN using gas allows for a much lower level of gas necessary to keep the animal under.
7.) uses Sevoflurane (preferably) or Isoflurane (also pretty safe, though Sevo is better) to maintain the animal under anesthesia at as low a level as possible. Believe it or not, there are some spay-neuter clinics out there that ONLY use Propofol to keep their patients under. Prop is cheap, but it makes me shudder just thinking of it. They'll inject the pet with Prop, start surgery-- and if the pet starts waking up, they give it more Prop. I can only imagine how terrifying that must be for the animal.
8.) has a tech or a trained nurse closely monitor the animal when it is waking up from anesthesia. Statistically, more animals die while they are recovering than when they are actually on the table.

Don't ever be afraid to ask questions about how things are done. A respectable hospital will have nothing to hide, and will be happy to let you know how they do things.