Spay and Neuter Surgery for Your Feline

The spay or neuter cat surgery procedure is a routine procedure that prevents your cat from giving birth or fathering kittens. Our Durham vets consider this procedure to be essential surgery for all cats. It prevents the birth of unwanted kittens, and it protects your cat from reproductive diseases and cancers.

What to Expect When Your Pet is Spayed or Neutered

When your female cat is being spayed, we will place her under general anesthesia, and our vet will remove her uterus and ovaries. We will close the incision with a double layer of absorbable suture.  The cat neuter surgery procedure also requires general anesthesia. For this procedure, our vet will remove your cat's testicles.  We recommend post-op pain medication to minimize post-surgical discomfort.

Most cats wake up shortly after the procedure ends and can go home the same day. Your cat will likely feel some after-effects of the anesthesia, but recovery is fairly quick.

For most pets the spay or neuter cat surgery does not carry a high risk of surgical complications. The biggest concern, especially in young, playful pets, is that the pet will re-open the surgical wound during strenuous activity or play. To prevent complications we recommend that you try to keep your pet calm for the first ten days after the surgery.

Your cat can be spayed or neutered as young as eight weeks of age, but in general the vets at New Hope Animal Hospital prefer to wait until pets are between four and six months of age. Talk to our Durham vets about the best time to spay or neuter your cat.

Are you planning to have your cat spayed or neutered?