Everything You Need to Know About Spaying and Neutering a Cat with City By The Sea Veterinary Hospital
What is the difference between cat spaying and neutering?
Cat spaying is typically the removal of the female reproductive tract, including the ovaries and uterus, whereas cat neutering is the removal of the testes. The difference lies between female and male procedures.
At what age should I have my cat spayed or neutered?
Generally, the consensus is between 6 and 8 months. It's best to perform this surgery before cats reach sexual maturity and before they have the urge to use those organs.
What are some benefits of spaying my female cat?
There are several benefits, with the biggest being population control. Shelters are often overpopulated with pets in need of homes. From a health perspective, if animals are not used for show or breeding purposes, their reproductive organs can cause harm, such as infections or cancers, as they age. Removing these organs at a young age helps them remain purely as pets.
What are the benefits of neutering my male cat?
Similar to spaying a female cat, male cats can become more aggressive as they sexually mature, often marking territory with urine. They may also attempt to escape to breed, leading to fights or accidents. Spaying and neutering reduce these behaviors.
Are there any risks associated with spaying or neutering a cat?
The risks are mostly associated with anesthesia drugs, with less than a 0.05% chance of adverse reactions. We take precautions, using the best monitoring equipment and adjusting as needed. Risks are minimal, especially in young, healthy animals.
What is the typical recovery time after spaying or neutering a cat?
Typically, it takes 2 to 3 weeks for the incision to completely heal. The procedures are minimally invasive, resulting in small incisions. Animals are usually under anesthesia for 30 to 45 minutes, with minimal bleeding and blood loss.
What complications should pet owners look out for after spaying or neutering their cat?
The most common complication is infection of the surgical site. We know animals are unpredictable, and because of the location of these incisions, they're in the areas that are not always the cleanest. So infections are the most common, but they're still not very common.
How should I prepare my cat for spaying or neutering surgery?
At City By The Sea Veterinary Hospital, we want to be prepared to know as much as we can about the function of your animal and what's going to happen under anesthesia. So we're going to want to perform a full physical exam. We're going to perform blood work on every animal that undergoes anesthesia, regardless of age.
Typically, in older animals, we'll perform chest X-rays as well. And once we have that information, if the physical exam is otherwise normal, that should be all you need to prepare. Sometimes these medications can make pets nauseous, and so we'll advise not to feed that pet breakfast that morning. We like that stomach to be empty so that there's an overnight fast, and that sometimes helps, but that's about all you need to do to prepare.
Sometimes we'll also send you home with medications to make the anesthesia go a little bit more smoothly, so that when they come in, they're less fearful and we need to use less medications to get that anesthesia rolling and keep the procedure smooth.
What shouold I expect during my cat’s post-surgery recovery?
The post-surgery recovery is usually pretty smooth. Cats are pretty fastidious in wanting to groom themselves. So with spays, we usually send them on with the Elizabethan collar, which are those lampshades that we put on their heads (e-collars), but we're also prepared for that with medications that really can reduce pain in pets so that they're not feeling that incision. Also, being prepared so that they're not excessively licking that area and introducing infection.
Can my cat eat or drink before the surgery?
We prefer twelve hours of fasting before we get started on surgery. Just no breakfast that morning typically. So, an Elizabethan Collar should be all that's necessary at a minimum.
How do I care for my cat’s surgical site after spaying or neutering?
The biggest side effect is a post-surgical infection at the incision, though rare. Some pets may gain weight due to a slower metabolism after losing sex hormones. Behavior changes are unlikely if the procedure is done before sexual maturity.
What are the common side effects of spaying or neutering in cats?
Typically, the biggest side effect is a post-surgical infection at the incision, but even that's pretty rare, just like I said earlier.
Some pets will gain some weight. When they lose those sex hormones, they do contribute to muscle mass. So, they feel like they're less active, their metabolism slows down a little bit, and they will gain some weight, but minimal.
How can spaying or neutering affect my cat’s behavior?
There's a myth that it changes their behavior, but it shouldn't. And that's another reason why we try to do this before they become sexually immature, so that those sex hormones are not really active anyway. There should be minimal effect on the behavior.
Older pets might have a change in behavior just in the short term, but they should adapt. It's really just that loss of testosterone, estrogen, or progesterone that they're primarily producing from their reproductive organs.
Will spaying or neutering change my cat’s personlality?
No, it shouldn't change your pet's personality.
What should I do if I notice complications after my cat’s surgery?
Obviously, call us, call your veterinarian right away. Contact us or your veterinarian immediately. We typically follow up with pets that have had surgery to address any complications and provide support to pet owners.
Can spaying or neutering prevent certain health issues in cats?
For sure. There have been several times when we have had older female cats that have had severe uterine infections like pyometra. Those can be life-threatening if they're not immediately dealt with, and they can be very expensive. So it's a much cheaper option with less complications, safer to spay your pet at a young age.
As far as male cats, we do see prostate issues. We see certain types of cancer. Primarily, the main reason is population control, and they just live a happier life.
How does spaying or neutering impact a cat’s weight?
Primarily, just because of the effects that it has on metabolism. So, when they lose those sex hormones, they can lose muscle mass and tend to gain a little bit more fat, but it's minimal and not substantial. Nothing that we can't adapt or help our pets adapt to.
Can you spay or neuter a pregnant cat?
I wouldn't say it's safe to spay or neuter a pregnant cat because it would terminate the pregnancy. That is something that would need to be discussed. And that's another reason why a physical exam is performed prior to us undergoing this procedure.
If an exam, obtaining a full medical history of the pet, knowing if it's indoor, outdoor, if it's feral, and where this cat has been in the past three to six months is also helpful.
What should I discuss with my vet before scheduling spaying or neutering?
So, obviously, we want to know if your pet is healthy, if it's eating and drinking well. We want to get a full history or as much information about how this pet lives, where it lives, how it lives its lifestyle, if it's free of any kind of infectious disease, which is why we run blood work and we do a full physical exam.
But everything we've discussed so far are very good questions for your veterinarian so that we can be more prepared for anesthesia and surgery as well.
How do I choose a veterinarian for spaying or neutering my cat?
There are low-cost spay and neuter clinics, which, for the most part, do a really good job, but they don't exactly have the relationship that your primary vet has with the pet. There's also a level of care that we or other primary vets can provide that is just different from low-cost spay and neuter clinics.
Whereas their main goal is to do as many as they can in a day, we might only do two or three. We're in communication with you the whole time. We tailor our anesthetic protocol to the pet depending on prior ailments or medical history. We also make sure we know everything we can about the pet, like blood work and X-rays if possible, or even EKGs and echocardiograms of the pet's heart, so that we can anticipate any unexpected issues when they're under.
How much does spaying or neutering a cat cost?
So it's a difficult question to answer just because of everything that we talked about. Low-cost spay-neuter clinics can cost you anywhere from $100 to $200 at primary care veterinary clinics. It really depends on what we find during our physical exam. If it's just a regular routine spay or neuter, generally we're in the $700 to $1000 range, but it could be more, could be less, depending on what information we have about the pet leading up to surgery.
If you have questions, we would love to answer them for you. Please give us a call at the office at (848) 217-5000, or you can email us at [email protected]. Our staff would love to talk with you!