21st July 2012: Monday is going to be a very big day for us as our male cats Sammy and Jasper as well as our shih-tsu puppy Cujo are going to be neutered. My idea for this article came from the difference in price to neuter a cat vs. neutering a dog. I didn’t understand. Cujo is smaller than the cats. Do dogs have different “equipment?”
As it turns out, there are several differences. Take a look at the two YouTube videos I’ve provided. If you’re squeamish, you may not want to watch them. I found them highly educational and it shows how uncomplicated the surgery is. The female spaying is a bit more serious.
(Note: despite being an asset, embedded videos sometimes go dead because the video on YouTube is pulled or deleted or something).
First I’ll start with neutering a male cat. The cat is secured to the table and an incision is made into the scrotum. The testicles are then pulled out, cut and tied off. The veterinarian doing the procedure did state this is much easier to do on a younger cat as the skin gets much tougher as the cat ages. The operation is so simple stitches aren’t usually required. The operation shown on the video took less than five minutes to perform once the animal was sedated and strapped to the operating table.
Dogs are much different. I first learned this from my vet today and it made me curious to find a video of the actual procedure. My vet told me the dogs require a different anesthetic. They also need to be intubated during surgery and attached to a machine that keeps track of their vital signs. Some vets choose to use a local anesthetic and no intubation as the anesthesia risk is lower. Intubation is recommended to keep the airway clear in case of an emergency and the tube left in until the animal is very awake.
Female cats being spayed are usually intubated but not male cats being neutered. Female cats also don’t have to be hooked to the vital signs monitor during surgery. This operation is more dangerous on the female than on the male, especially if she’s in heat or pregnant. Stitches or staples are used to secure the incision.
When our cat Lola was spayed she was glued. Very tiny incision, but she pulled a bit of it loose about three weeks post surgery and had to return to the clinic for re-gluing. That procedure was done by the vet tech and took only a few minutes.
One word of advice on spaying a female. Don’t think that just because you female cat isn’t “vocalizing” that’s she’s not in heat. We had a three week waiting list when we chose to do Lola. So book a clinic appointment before you need is as spots fill up. She would go several days with the vocalizing, followed by a few normal days, then it would start up again. She was in heat when she was spayed even though she wasn’t displaying physical symptoms.
I hope these videos have answered some of the questions about what goes on during a spay/neuter session. Should you have any further questions, never be afraid to ask your vet to explain.
My question was cost. We have no clinic in my town as the vet who used to perform the spay/neuters died. Now the animals are sent on a three hour round trip to Spartanburg, SC.
I was quoted $95 for a male cat and $160 for our four month old puppy Cujo at a local vet. I called to compare prices in my area and the vet performing the surgery was the cheapest.
I sincerely hope all of you considering the surgery live in an area with lost cost spay/neuter. Take advantage of shelter/rescue dogs and cats when looking to add a new family member as the surgery is included in the adoption fee.
And watch the videos. They’re really interesting.
