Neutering & Spaying

Spaying and neutering your cat prevents pregnancy and can help decrease the population of stray cats. Spaying and neutering cats also help improve the quality and length of their life. Another benefit to neutering your male cat is that it will largely eliminate fighting and night-time prowling, a common activity for intact male cats. It will also help keep your cat out of dangerous situations.

What is spaying or neutering?

Spaying is the surgical removal of the ovaries, with or without the uterus, from your female cat. If the ovaries are not removed, the bothersome heat periods still occur. Neutering (or castration) is the surgical removal of the testicles from a male cat.

When should I neuter/spay my cat?

Surgery is usually performed between 6 – 9 months of age. Having a spay done early can prevent exposure to estrogen, a hormone which can increase the risk of mammary cancer. Spaying will also eliminate those bothersome heat periods. Neutering will help to prevent your male cat from exhibiting spray behaviours such as urine marking.

What is the procedure to spay/neuter a cat?

Both spaying and neutering are surgical procedures that are performed while the cat is under general anesthesia. We schedule surgeries in the mornings of every weekday, Monday – Friday. We do not offer surgery procedures on Saturday or Sunday.

Drop-offs for surgery will be scheduled in the morning of the procedure, usually between 7:30 – 8:30 am, then your cat will spend the day in-clinic with us. They will be thoroughly examined by the vet and a pre-anesthetic blood test can be done in-house at this time as well. Once we determine that your cat is healthy enough to undergo the procedure, we will give a sedative and a pain reliever. When adequately sedated, we can administer I.V. fluids to help lessen complications during surgery. Once induced under anesthesia, the surgery will be performed by your veterinarian, who will be assisted by our registered veterinary technologists. Rest assured, your cat will be closely monitored while under anesthesia and throughout their stay with us. We also use the safest anesthetics available to ensure a speedy recovery

After your cat has rested and recovered for the afternoon, we will offer them a meal and water. Discharge times may vary depending on the speed of your cat’s recovery and what time in the morning the procedure was done. Generally, these times are between 5 – 6:30 pm. The doctor will call you once the surgery is complete to let you know how everything went and when a good pick-up time would be. When it is time to pick up your cat, a technician will go over discharge instructions with you. We will also send you home with detailed recovery instructions to follow.