Neutering

Controlling the pet population by having your pet neutered means fewer stray, feral, uncared for, shelter-bound kitties. Considering that homeless cats are not receiving veterinary care they are also likely to be spreading disease and parasites throughout your community. Please do your part to help decrease the number of unwanted kitties by having yours neutered before they can produce any litters.

What is neutering?

Neutering removes the male reproductive organs (the testes). A cat neuter results in the testicles being removed from the scrotal sac, unlike a vasectomy where the testicles remain.

When should I neuter my cat?

The best time to neuter your cat is before the onset of sexual maturity. The accepted age to have your cat neutered is between 6-7 months of age.

What is the procedure to neuter a cat?

Your kitty will be admitted to our hospital early morning; the admitting will take approximately 5 minutes during which a team member will ask you a series of questions about your cat’s recent health and activities. A treatment plan is reviewed with you; this includes ensuring all of your questions about the procedure have been answered, a breakdown of anticipated fees has been provided, and your consent to go ahead with surgery is obtained.

Once admitted to the hospital the veterinarian will perform a pre-anesthetic exam to make sure there are no obvious health concerns. If you have chosen to have pre-anesthetic blood work performed, it is completed (and reviewed) first thing, prior to anesthetics being administered. Once the results of the pre-anesthetic blood work are in your cat’s individual surgical treatment plan is developed by the attending veterinarian and relayed to the registered veterinary technician covering surgery appointments.

Medications are administered in a series of injections and are designed to provide sedation/anesthesia and preoperative pain control. An intravenous catheter is placed to provide direct access to a vein and to allow fluid therapy to be administered during surgery.

Once your kitty has been prepped for surgery, they are transported to the surgical suite where great care is taken to maintain sterility. The technician assigned to your kitty’s’ care will use both monitoring equipment and hands-on assessments to keep watch over vital signs throughout the surgery and make adjustments as needed.

Once the surgery is complete, your cat is moved to a recovery area where they are watched closely until they can hold their head up and the technician and veterinarian feel comfortable they are waking up nicely. Postoperative pain control is typically administered during the initial recovery phase then as needed.