Lakeside Veterinary Center, LLC
(301)498-8387

Feline Spays

Whyshould I fix my female cat if she is not broken?

• Unspayed female cats go into heat in abut February and remain in heat (showing signs about every 2 weeks) until September. During this time, they will roll around,yowl loudly, and act like they are in pain, and if they get outdoors they will  attract every intact male cat around.
• Cats in heat often urinate in the house outside the litter box.
• Unspayed female cats that get outdoors can and do get pregnant easily. Unspayed female cats often get life threatening a uterine infection called pyometra.  Treatment for pyometra is an emergency spay (ovariohysterectomy).
• Unspayed female cats are more prone to breast cancer than spayed females.

FrequentlyAsked Questions about Feline Spays

1.    Why should spays be performed at 6 months of age before the first heat cycle?

Some cats retain baby teeth in their mouth past the point where adult teeth should have pushed them out.  At 6 months of age, we can determine if the teeth are retained and extract the retained baby teeth to prevent crowding and dental disease. Spaying before the first heat cycle is the best way to prevent breast cancer.

2.    How long will my cat be in the hospital?

Surgeries are done on an outpatient basis.  Pets are dropped off between 7:30 and 9 am and discharged in the evening of the same day. Surgeries are admitted by appointment only.

3.    What doI need to do to prepare my cat for surgery?

Do notfeed your cat after 10pm the night before. She can have water until she arrives at our facility.

4.    Will shebe in pain?

Beforesurgery, she will receive a pain medication and a mild tranquilizer.  After about 20 minutes, she will receive ageneral anesthetic and be kept asleep with oxygen and isoflurane anestheticgas.  Prior to surgical incision, localanesthesia is injected and a different long acting local anesthetic is injectedin the area once surgery is completed. Most cats will receive an additional injection of pain medication oncethey are waking up from anesthesia.  All catsare monitored closely for comfort once they are recovered.  In the rare instance a cat seems to be inpain, additional medications are given to make them comfortable.

5.    What canI do to make it easier for her the day of surgery?

We have been using Lasersurgery (instead of a scalpel blade) for over 12 years with great success.  The Laser reduces pain, swelling and bleedingas compared to a scalpel blade.  Use ofLaser is an option provided to you. To learn more about Laser surgery clickhere here.

Westrongly recommend the use of some pain medications at home for about 7 daysafter surgery.  This is an optionprovided to you.

Some catswill do even better if a pain patch (provides narcotic pain medication for 3-5days) is applied after surgery.  This isan option provided to you.

6.    What arethe risks of surgery and anesthesia? How can I reduce that risk?

Therisks of surgery include bleeding (worse with a cat in heat) and woundinfection.  These risks are minimized foran experienced surgeon and our veterinary staff has over 30 years of experiencewith surgery.  The Laser reduces bleedingand sterilizes as it cuts; it is a great option to choose.

Therisks of anesthesia include the development of abnormal heart rhythms,decreased blood pressure (may exacerbate kidney problems), and in very rarecases, death.  We are lucky to have hadno anesthetic deaths in our canine or feline patients during elective spays.  We offer to you a preoperative EKG (checksheart rhythm) and preoperative blood tests to check for anemia and kidney orliver disease.  These tests tell us ifyour pet is as healthy as possible to undergo elective surgery. Both the EKGand the blood tests are offered as an option to you.