Spay/Neuter FAQ

Spay/Neuter Surgery – Frequently Asked Questions

We’re glad you have decided to have your pet spayed or neutered! In addition to helping to reduce the number of unwanted pets born in our community, you are also helping your pet live a longer, happier life.

Did you know?

Spayed/neutered animals live an average of two to three years longer than other pets.
Spayed and neutered pets will never develop testicular, uterine, or ovarian cancers.
Spaying and neutering pets reduces undesirable behaviors, such as urine spraying in cats and marking with urine in dogs.
Pets tend to have fewer aggression-related behavior problems after being surgically sterilized.

For some helpful answers to questions you might have, please see below!

Click on the FAQs below to see answers:

Pets as young as three months old can have the surgery with no ill effects. If females are spayed before their first heat (which usually occurs when they are five to six months old), breast cancer can be almost completely prevented. Younger pets also recover more quickly from the surgery and experience less pain following surgery than older pets. In short – the sooner the better.

If your pet is younger than eight months old, please give them half their normal amount of food on the morning of surgery. If your pet is older than eight months, do not feed him or her any food after midnight the night before surgery. Do not take water away from your pet; make sure he has access to clean, fresh water at all times. We do require proof of a current rabies vaccination. If your pet has already been vaccinated against rabies, bring the original, signed rabies certificate or other proof of his rabies vaccination to the clinic with you. A rabies tag is not acceptable proof of vaccination. If you do not have proof of a rabies vaccination, we will re-vaccinate your pet at the cost of $15 (regularly priced Rabies vaccine). You are welcome to bring any other medical records with you to help us determine your pet’s other vaccination needs, but it’s not a requirement. Don’t forget to confirm the location of the clinic so that you will know how to get there.

Drop-off time: 8AM – 8:30AM
Pick-up time: 5PM – 5:30PM

If you have a cat, bring her in a secure carrier. If you have a dog, be sure he is on a secure leash that he cannot slip out of. If you drive a pick-up truck, please note that we are not allowed to release a pet that is not put inside the cab or into a secured crate in the back. This is for your pet’s safety and the safety of other drivers as your pet is very likely to be disoriented after surgery.

After you pick up your pet, you can offer him a small amount of food later in the evening and increase it gradually. Your pet may not be interested in eating at this time. This is perfectly normal. If vomiting occurs the first night, remove his food. Your pet should be eating/drinking normally the next day and not vomiting.

We recommend spaying dogs when their puppies are 5 weeks old and can be away from their mom for the day. We recommend cats get spayed when their kittens are 5 weeks old as well. However, if you have an outdoor cat or a cat that you think may not be able to wait that long, we can spay them sooner. This is sometimes necessary because they can come back into heat and get pregnant while still nursing their kittens. It is okay for the moms to go back to nursing after her spay.

No. Females should be spayed before the first heat which usually occurs at 5-6 months of age. We stress before, since a female can become pregnant at that age and she is in no way ready for it. Pregnancy will place a great strain on the system, often resulting in birth defects, and she may not be able to nurse, resulting in seriously malnourished offspring. In addition, early spaying prevents later problems, including mammary tumors, uterine infections, and uterine tumors. If a female is allowed to go through a heat before spaying, those problems may still arise later in life because estrogen is stored in the system as a result of the heat.

Yes, the surgery is painful. However, we provide all pets with very effective pain medication that lasts 24 hours after surgery, and offer additional take-home pain medication for purchase.

The tattoo is 1/2 to 1 inch long, straight line in green ink located right by the surgical incision. It will fade a little after the skin heals.

The tattoo program was started so that we comply with the highest standards of the Spay-Neuter Task Force guidelines. These guidelines were established to protect our wonderful patients and insure that they are treated safely and effectively. The tattoo is meant to be a permanent identification that your pet has been spayed or neutered.

Sometimes not. Of course this would only be an issue if your pet were lost or in a shelter without its medical history. With newer dissolvable suture materials, there are no stitches to feel in a female’s belly to indicate she was already spayed and if they have surgery at a young age, there is no scar to see. In male dogs, if you can’t see or feel a scar, there is a possibility that the dog still has testicles but they never dropped into the scrotal sac (cryptorchid). The doctor would open the male dog up like a spay to look for those testicles, a painful and unnecessary surgery that could have been prevented with a permanent identifying mark.