What is it? - Neutering

Since this is only the third post, I thought I'd post about Neutering. I have found that although most people have had a pet during their lifespan, most don't know or understand what Neutering means. Many simply know it as a form of population/birth control for animals.

Neutering is another word for the surgical alteration of your pet that removes the animal's reproductive organs. For females, it is called Spaying which involves the surgical removal of the animal's ovaries (ovario-hysterectomy). For males, it is called Castration which is the surgical removal of the animal's testicals.

One of the most frustrating things I see when working with animals are people who see this surgery as a simple procedure. All sorts of animals go through it all the time, so therefore we see it as normal.

It may be common for the vets and vet techs that are working at the clinic, but it is not common practice to the animal - male or female. Yes, I know that a cat neuter is pretty simple ... I've done them during my job at the vet clinic (let's not get into that). But that doesn't mean that it doesn't cause the cat pain. It doesn't mean that the cat knows that it is a simple procedure. It is extremely invasive

Neutering is MAJOR surgery!

Next time you take an animal in to the vet clinic for neutering, please remember to follow the guidelines that vet sets out for you! They are often things like "keep the animal quiet" and "prevent jumping". They might possibly include "crate overnight to keep calm" and also "feed sparingly for the first 24 hours".

Have you ever seen a spay incision pop open because the cat went to jump onto a counter, missed and hit her abdomen on the corner? It's not a pretty sight, let me tell you.