What happens when you decide to
Spay or Neuter Your Pet

Before scheduling spay (female) or neuter (males) surgery for your pet, we require a complete physical exam. At that exam we make sure there are no physical abnormalities that could make surgery unsafe for your pet. We discuss pre-anesthesia blood work, and make sure your pet is up to date on his/her vaccinations. We also discuss any special needs your individual pet may have to make the surgery as safe as possible for them. We go over what is involved with the surgery, and answer any questions you may have.

The evening before surgery, one of our staff members will call to remind you to fast your pet, typically taking food and water away at around 6 PM. We have you bring your pet to the hospital the morning of surgery at 8:30 AM. (We do offer the option to house your pet at the hospital the night before if it is more convenient.)

Your pet receives another physical exam before any medications are administered. They then are given pain medication, and a pre-anesthetic tranquilizer. They are initially anesthetized with an IV injection, then intubated (a tube is placed in the trachea) and maintained on a gas anesthetic and oxygen. This is the safest type of anesthesia to use for these surgeries. Throughout their procedure they are monitored by a licensed veterinary technician. Their surgical site (abdomen for females, scrotal area for males) is clipped free of hair.

In the surgery, after being placed on warming pads and having a multi-modal anesthetic monitor hooked up, the surgery site is scrubbed and sterilized. In the mean time, the veterinarian has scrubbed, gowned, and gloved, and is ready to begin surgery.

Spay surgery in females removes the Y-shaped uterus and the ovaries, preventing future pregnancies and reproductive cycling (coming into heat). A 3 layer closure of the abdomen, subcutaneous fat and skin insures safe healing for the girls. Neuter surgery in males involves removing the testicles. This requires only 2 layers of closure, as the incision only needs to be through the skin. Spays generally take about 30 – 45 minutes; neuters about 15 minutes.

The animals are kept in the treatment / prep area while they are recovering, which generally takes about 10 minutes. During that time they are given additional pain medication, and once they have their tube removed and are starting to move around, we call to let you know all is well.

All pets go home with additional pain medication. Pets who have been neutered generally go home later that day. We keep the pets who have been spayed over night, recheck their condition and incisions the next morning before sending them home. Suture removal is scheduled for 10 days later.

Post-op instructions include small meals for the first day home, and RESTRICTED EXERCISE until suture removal.