If you are not planning on breeding your dog or cat we recommend that he/ she be desexed between 5 - 6 months of age. Several health and behavioural problems can be prevented if neutering is performed at this age.
Desexing requires a general anaesthetic so your pet will need to stay with us for the day but will usually be able to go home that evening. Please make sure your pet does not get fed the morning of the surgery, water however is fine to give and should not be withheld. All vet practices perform desexing as a routine procedure but we make sure your animal receives the highest quality care.
The surgical procedure for female cats and dogs involves the removal of the uterus and the ovaries meaning that she will no longer come into season. Females receive 3 layers of stitches, the inner 2 dissolve and the outer skin sutures are removed by a vet or nurse 10 days after the surgery.
The benefits include; eliminating the risk of pyometra which is a life threatening infection of the uterus, prevention of other uterine and ovarian diseases including cancer, reducing the incidence of breast cancer (especially if desexed before the first season), reducing roaming behaviour (which leads to car accidents and dog or cat fight wounds) and prevention of pregnancy and of pseudo pregnancy problems.
The few disadvantages include a higher incidence of obesity (which can be controlled by feeding sensibly and giving regular exercise) and in some cases urinary incontinence can develop many years later in older desexed females. This is due to a reduced level of female hormones and usually can be treated simply with medication.
The surgical procedure for male dogs involves removal of both testicles. The scrotum is left in place. Your dog will have 2 layers of stitches, the outer skin stitches will be removed by a nurse or vet 10 days after the surgery.
The surgical procedure for male cats involves removal of both testicles. The scrotum is left in place. Male cats do not require any sutures.
The benefits of castrating your dog include; eliminating testicular disease including cancer, reducing the risk of prostate disease, reducing aggression, hyper sexuality, urine marking and roaming.
The benefits of castrating your cat include; reducing inter-cat aggression (and thus fight wounds and abscesses), urine marking and spraying and roaming (risking road traffic accidents, dog attacks and cat fights). Testicular disease is also eliminated.
Delayed Desexing for Large Breed dogs
There has been recently published scientific evidence that large breed dogs are less likely to suffer from joint problems and certain types of cancer if they are neutered/ desexed at 1 year of age or older. Due to this your vet may recommend to delay desexing until after 1 year of age. This can be discussed with your vet during your consultation.
It is recommended to desex both female (doe) and male (buck) rabbits between 4 - 6 months of age. This will prevent diseases such as the common adenocarcinoma (cancer) of the uterus as well as avoiding territorial and other behavioural problems. It will also help you keep your pet rabbit population under control.
All the same care is taken with rabbits when undergoing anaesthesia and surgery as it is with cats and dogs (sometimes more is required as bunnies can be very sensitive).
We administer a very safe anaesthetic, place great importance on keeping the bunny warm, give subcutaneous or IV fluids and of course pain relief is very important. Sometimes an injection to stimulate gut motility is also given before going home.
The surgery for both males and females is similar to that described above for dogs however we usually give rabbits intradermal (within the skin) stitches so that they cannot be chewed out.
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