Understanding Cat Spays and Neuters at DePorre Veterinary Hospital
Generally, we use the term spay for female cats when we're performing an ovarial hysterectomy, which is the removal of the ovaries and the uterus. We use the term neuter for male cats when we're performing an orchiectomy, which is the removal of the testicles.
For most cats, we usually recommend their spay or neuter surgery around the five to six-month mark. That's generally when they're going to start coming into heat if they're a female cat. Also, that's around the time when we're wrapping up their initial kitten vaccine series, ensuring they're otherwise healthy, performing pre-anesthetic blood work, and more.
When do cats go into heat?
Cats are what's called induced ovulators, which means they will generally go into heat repeatedly, potentially every few weeks or so, and they will only actually ovulate if they mate. The main benefit of spaying a female cat is to prevent this behavior of going into heat frequently and to prevent breeding, which can lead to unwanted kittens.
What are the benefits of spaying or neutering a cat?
The benefits for neutering a male cat are similar to those for a female cat. The biggest one is that it helps prevent unwanted breeding and litters of kittens.
For female cats, the spay surgery also helps prevent future health issues such as mammary cancer or infections of the uterus called pyometra. Cats that are not spayed or are spayed later in life are at a significantly higher risk of developing mammary cancer. That is why we generally recommend doing spay surgeries when they're young, around six months or so.
On the male side, they can be more prone to certain types of reproductive cancers, mainly testicular cancer, if they are not neutered.
What are the risks of spaying or neutering a cat?
The main risks associated with spaying or neutering are just the small risk of any surgical or anesthesia complications from the procedure. In young healthy cats, these risks are generally really low. They would include any problems under anesthesia, which we can prevent the vast majority of with careful monitoring and personalized drug protocols that we always use for our anesthesia patients.
The surgical risks would include potential for surgery site infections or discomfort after surgery. But again, we can keep these things pretty well controlled with our standard surgery procedures and our recovery methods that we use after surgery.
What is the recovery process for spaying or neutering a cat?
For a female cat after a spay, the recovery is about 10 to 14 days. We generally want them to have restricted activity during that time, and we will need to use an e-collar or cone to ensure they can't access their incision and try to lick or chew at it. Generally, cats recover well. We send them home with pain medication after the surgery to ensure their pain is controlled and they usually bounce back quickly.
For male cats, the recovery is even quicker, and they are generally almost back to normal by the next day. They just have two very small incisions where the neuter was performed, and they often don't even have to have any sutures placed. Within a day or two, they're back to their normal selves.
What should I expect on the day of my cat's spay or neuter surgery?
On the day of surgery, we ask you to drop off your pet between 7:30 and 8. We want them to be fasted that day, so they should have no food after midnight, but water is okay. We perform the surgery during the day. We usually have our surgery patients stay for most of the day to recover and ensure they're comfortable, typically going home between about 3 pm and 5:00 pm in the afternoon. The doctor will always call you after the surgery procedure is done and the patient is awake to let you know that the surgery went well and that they're awake and everything's good, and to finalize a pickup time.
What is the post-surgery care for a cat spay or neuter?
There's really not much care required at home for the actual surgery site. Mainly, we want you to monitor the site to watch for any redness, discharge, or swelling—signs of potential infection. There is nothing topically that has to be put on the site. There's no bandaging involved. Other than monitoring, there really isn't anything else you need to do.
Will spaying or neutering change my cat's behavior?
We don't really see changes in their personality per se. It may affect their behavior a little bit, mainly because they don't have the same hormonal stimulation. So, they don't exhibit the same behaviors associated with going into heat or male cats seeking to mate. As far as their actual personality with their owners, we don't really see much of a change in that.
What should I do if I notice any issues after my cat's surgery?
If you notice any complications, we always want you to let us know right away. We don't generally recheck our spay and neuter surgeries on a regular basis, but we're always happy to take a look either in person, via email, or even talk on the phone if you have any concerns at all. If there are any potential concerns, we will definitely address those.
For the most part, the recovery is usually smooth and there is not really a need afterward to do much as far as rechecking.
What is FELV/ FIV in cats?
FELV is feline leukemia virus and it's an infectious virus that affects the immune system of cats. FIV is a similar viral infection that also affects the immune system and can lead to health problems down the road.
How soon should I bring my cat in to a veterinarian to get them spayed or neutered?
We generally target around six months or so to do spays or neuters. We want to make sure that they've been through their vaccine series first, they're healthy for anesthesia, we'll check their pre-anesthetic blood work. Once all that stuff is taken care of, we would proceed with the surgery.
Will my cat need pain medication at home after the spay or neuter?
Yes, we definitely want to send home pain medication for your cat. The most common type of medication that we use to send home is an NSAID medication, which is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, similar to Motrin for people, but the cat version. The neuter surgery is not nearly as uncomfortable, although there is definitely some discomfort involved, so we want to send home the pain medication.
The spay procedure, though, is an incision that goes directly into the abdomen and does require quite a bit more manipulation so there is significant discomfort there. Thankfully, we have good pain medications that we can use to control this.
Will my cat gain weight after a spay or neuter?
That's always a little bit of a concern because after their spay or neuter, their metabolism will go down a little bit and their calorie requirements will decrease a little bit. That's just something we have to keep in mind when we're talking about what diet they're eating and how much they're eating. As long as we manage the diet effectively, there really shouldn't be any weight gain.
Will my tomcat stop running away if I neuter him?
It'll definitely help. The sooner that it's done the better because once that behavior becomes ingrained and the cat's a little bit older, the benefits are a lot lower. However, if we do that early, they will be a lot less likely to want to get out and run away.
If you’re looking for veterinary care you can trust, call us at (248) 609-1625 or email [email protected]. We’re here to keep your pet healthy, happy, and thriving!
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