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Surgeries of the Reproductive Tract:
Castration Spaying C Sections
Most responsible pet owners end up getting their pets spayed or neutered.
There are way too many pets being "put to sleep" at our shelters to allow our pets to produce even more unwanted puppies and kittens.
In addition to the social responsibility of neutering or spaying your pet, there are several benefits to you and your pet:
Your pet avoids all the painful and often deadly diseases of the reproductive tract to include prostate cancer, uterine infections, breast and ovarian cancer, heat related bladder infections, and all the bite wound abscesses associated with the fighting
Female pets in heat, and male pets all the time tend to have a strong hormonal urge to roam and run away. This causes problems with the neighbors, the law, and greatly increases the chance of getting lost, stolen, getting hit by a car, or getting badly mauled and bitten.
There are behavioral benefits too. Especially for males.
Intact males tend to spend half their life marking territory. This is greatly reduced or eliminated if castrated prior to puberty.
Humping is like wise greatly reduced
Females in heat are anxious and confused and frustrated. And it's inconvenient to deal with all the whining, dripping blood, the attempts to "escape" and all the male suitors attracted to your yard.
All this is prevented if your pet is spayed.
And while it costs a little over a $100 to spay or castrate your pet in a safe, comfortable, and professional manner, it usually ends up saving you a lot of money in future veterinary bills.
As mentioned above, there are a lot of common diseases and injuries that are eliminated or greatly reduced in neutered pets.
We know a lot of you are very anxious and worried about the dangers and expenses of leaving your pet for surgery.
We know a lot of you are worried about your pet's fear, anxiety, and stress while away from home and about the fear and pain associated with recovering from surgery.
We take these concerns quite seriously, and as you will discern from reading at your right, much of spay and neuter protocol is devoted to maximizing anesthetic safety and a smooth, quick, pain free recovery.
As for any worries about expenses, there aren't any surprises; they're listed in the protocols to your right.
And as for the comfort of your pet during it's stay with us before, during, and after surgery, you simply have to trust us to care as much as we do. In addition, though, to simply being compassionate and caring, we have policies and facilities designed to prevent escapes, injuries, and infection while at our hospital. We are big believers in pain management, and big believers in pre-anesthetic sedation not only because it reduces the amount of anesthetic needed but also because it makes most patients calm and blissful.
Shelters and high volume neuter clinics can do a cheaper job, especially if subsidized with tax money, but a shelter spay job won't include all the steps, tests, pain medications, and care that we (and most other vets in our area) take to make sure that your pet will have a successful and positive experience.
Speaking of pet shelters, did you know that the number one cause of pet death is from running away and "getting lost" ?
This is greatly prevented by:
Having your pet neutered which greatly reduces the urge to roam
Leash walking your pets
Making your outdoor cats indoor cats at night
Having an appropriate fenced in area for dogs
Having an ID tag and collar on your pets.
Having a rabies-ID tag is also a legal requirement for both cats and dogs
Microchipping: If your pet does get lost, it has a better than 90% chance of being returned if it has a microchip. Please get one inserted . It costs $30 including the first year of services that includes placing pictures and newspapers ads, notifying all area vet clinics and shelters and also includes insurance for sicknesses and injuries incurred while lost.
We can insert a microchip in your pet at any time, but it's especially easy if they are under anesthesia, so consider it at the same time as you spay or castrate.
Thanks again,
Roger Ross DVM
Surgeries of the Reproductive Tract
This page is about what to expect when your pet needs castration, spaying, or a C Section
Castration
What: Also known as neutering. Also known as brain surgery. This surgery removes the testicles from the scrotum, there-by removing the major source of testosterone as well as the ability to make sperm.
When: Shelters frequently castrate kittens and puppies as early as 8 weeks old, but the very best time is after puppy or kitten vaccines have been completed, after the young pet's immune system is working well, but before sexual puberty. That means the best time is between 4 and 6 months of age for both male kittens and puppies. Castrating pets older than this is fine too but it may not be in time to prevent unwanted male behavior such as marking, roaming, and fighting.
The advantages are pretty straight forward; castrated dogs are much less likely to spend half their day lifting their leg on everything, much less likely to roam, and much less interested in fighting. And it means that many fewer unwanted litters being destroyed at the pound. They can't breed.
The disadvantages are also straight forward; castrated dogs can't breed if that's your intention, are more likely to get fat, and just maybe, may not put on as much muscle mass.
How Much? Castration is a very simple, quick, easy, and inexpensive surgery and unlike with human men, there doesn't seem to be any emotional or psychological loss involved.
Nonetheless, even simple surgeries require pre-anesthetic precautions, pain management, anesthesia, trained staff, facilities, monitoring, and follow up care.
Here's what to expect and what we charge:
Check In: We usually ask you to drop your pet off during the morning before 11 am on an empty stomach. That means no solid food for about 9 hours prior to surgery. Pick up is usually between 5 and 6 in the evening of the same day.
Consent Form: Anesthesia and surgery is serious business. A responsible adult will be asked to sign a consent form designed to inform you that of course there are some risks and expenses involved
Presurgical exam to make sure your pet is healthy prior to surgery.
There is no charge for this if your pet has been examined recently.
Otherwise $20
Pre-Anesthetic blood work: Highly recommended but optional: $26
Hospitalization: no extra charge for the first day
Bathing and parasite control: only required if your pet is filthy or covered in fleas or ticks. Up to $25
Pre-anesthetic sedation and pain medications: No extra charge
Anesthesia: $50 for both cats and dogs
The Surgical Procedure: $25 for cats $35 for dogs
Extra Morphine, Domitor, or Anesthetic Reversing Agents if needed:
$0-15
Other extras and options:
Extraction of retained baby teeth, ear cleaning, toe nail trimming, and other minor requests: no charge
Dewclaw removal (Dogs): usually $5
Fluoride treatment: highly recommended if the adult teeth are in: $8
Polymer dental enamel sealants: $20
Additional pain medication to take home: $3
Follow up recheck if there are any problems: No charge
Suture removal 10-14 days after the surgery: No charge and not needed for cats
So, as you can see, the total cost is between $75 and 200
Spaying (Ovariohysterectomy)
What: This surgery removes the ovaries and the uterus. On the one hand this is a routine surgery in that we do so many, but in fact, it's a major surgery in that deep anesthesia is needed and we need to open up the abdomen to get to the female sex organs.
When: Shelters frequently spay kittens and puppies as early as 8 weeks old, but the very best time is after puppy or kitten vaccines have been completed, after the young pet's immune system is working well, but before sexual puberty. That means the best time is between 4 and 6 months of age for both male kittens and puppies.
The advantages This surgery means no unwanted puppies, no deadly uterine infections, no ovarian cancer, no mammary enlargement and no breast cancer. And it keeps your dog from going into "Heat" and all the roaming, running away, mess and bother of being in heat. It also prevents heat associated urinary tract infections. The costs of treating all these potential problems are a lot more than the costs of spaying your pet, so another advantage is that you save money !
The disadvantages There's only a few reasons not to spay your pet. Wanting to breed your dog is the most common legitimate reasons. Spayed pets are more likely to gain weight. Of course, there are costs and medical risks but usually less so than unspayed dogs.
How Much? The total cost varies from $90 to over $200 depending on which options are needed or wanted. Keep reading.
Here's what to expect and what we charge:
Check In: We usually ask you to drop your pet off during the morning before 11 am on an empty stomach. That means no solid food for about 9 hours prior to surgery. Pick up is usually between noon and 6 the next day.
Consent Form: Anesthesia and surgery is serious business. A responsible adult will be asked to sign a consent form designed to inform you that of course there are some risks and expenses involved
Presurgical exam to make sure your pet is healthy prior to surgery. To make sure your pet is not in heat which greatly increases the risk of bleeding and poor clotting. Especially in dogs.
There is no charge for this if your pet has been examined recently.
Otherwise $20
Pre-Anesthetic blood work: Highly recommended to reduce the risk of anesthetic problems in case of undetected diabetes, immune problems, kidney disease or liver disease: $26
Hospitalization: no extra charge for the first night
Bathing and parasite control: only required if your pet is filthy or covered in fleas or ticks. Up to $25
Pre-anesthetic sedation and pain medications: No extra charge
Anesthesia: $50 for both cats and dogs. A little more if extra morphine, domitor, or anesthetic reversing agents are needed
The Surgical Procedure: $40 for cats $60 for dogs A little more if in heat, pregnant, or if there are complications.
IV Fluids: Most young, healthy and robust pets do really well during spay surgeries and recovery quickly without IV Fluids. But surgical standards are rising and certainly no human doctor would perform anesthesia for a major surgery without an IV line open. Open abdominal surgery causes major stress to the cells, dehydration, electrolyte changes, and fluid losses...all of which are minimized by running IV Fluids. Highly recommended for older pets, pregnant pets, and pets in heat. $30
Other extras and options:
Extraction of retained baby teeth, ear cleaning, toe nail trimming, and other minor requests: no charge
Dewclaw removal (Dogs): usually $5
Fluoride treatment: highly recommended if the adult teeth are in: $8
Polymer dental enamel sealants: $20
Additional pain medication to take home: $3
Follow up recheck if there are any problems: No charge
Suture removal 10-14 days after the surgery: No charge
C- Sections
What: C Sections ... also known as a Ceasarean ... is where we surgically remove babies from the uterus. Usually because the momma dog or cat is having trouble with a normal delivery
When: usually at 2am. We, of course, do the surgery when ever it needs to be done in hopes of saving the lives of momma and all her pups if possible.
The advantages If the momma dog or cat can't deliver naturally then she and the babys are likely to die a miserable life.
The disadvantages This is a high risk and expensive surgery. If we do it too early it may be that if we had just waited a few hours the delivery might have been natural. On the other hand, wait too long and both the babies and maybe the momma become to weak or toxic to survice the surgery.
How Much? The total cost varies from $250 to over $400 depending on the hour and which options are needed or wanted. Keep reading.
Here's what to expect and what we charge:
After Hours Emergency: $50-100
Consent Form: Anesthesia and surgery is serious business. A responsible adult will be asked to sign a consent form designed to inform you that of course there are some risks and expenses involved
Exam to evaluate general health and to check for fever, infection, dead fetus', and hydration status.
We also do a vaginal exam in those pets large enough. $37
Oxytocin Injection: we often try to stimulate contractions in hopes of avoiding a C Section by using combination injections of calcium and oxytocin.
This injection costs $20 and sometimes needs to be repeated. If successful, then there is no need for the surgery.
Pre-Anesthetic blood work: Highly recommended to reduce the risk of anesthetic problems in case of undetected diabetes, immune problems, kidney disease or liver disease: All the problems are associated with late pregnancy $26
Radiographs: Needed only if we need to know how many fetus' are present or if they are alive. Often done if the momma dog or cat has already delivered but we suspect that one or more babies may be left inside. $75
Hospitalization: no extra charge for the first night
Bathing and parasite control: only required if your pet is filthy or covered in fleas or ticks. Up to $25
Pre-anesthetic sedation and pain medications: No extra charge
Anesthesia: $50 -$100 Anesthesia for this procedure is especially tricky.
The Surgical Procedure: $200 There is no extra charge to spay at the same time.
IV Fluids: Needed in most cases $30
Follow up recheck if there are any problems: No charge
Suture removal 10-14 days after the surgery: No charge
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