Spey and neutering services
Unless you are a registered breeder, having your dog or cat desexed at a young age has many advantages for both the animal and for pet parents. Desexing female dogs and cats (speying) is not only the most effective contraceptive — speying makes it impossible for an animal to become pregnant — it also confers major health benefits, eliminating or reducing the risk of a number of life-threatening health problems.
There are health benefits in desexing male animals too, including the elimination of testicular tumours and reduced risk of prostatic disease. Desexing the male of the species is also of enormous help in avoiding many of the otherwise difficult to control behavioural issues seen in entire male pets. And it invariably makes your male pet happier.
The benefits to your pet’s health and behaviour are in addition to the fact that by desexing animals we are reducing the number of unwanted pets born every year. It is often very difficult to find homes for an unplanned litter, especially of kittens. For far too many of these unexpected new arrivals life can be very short indeed. A caring, responsible pet lover will make sure their pets are not contributing to the many thousands of unwanted animals euthanised every year.
Neutering of both sexes is usually done at 5 to 6 months of age although in some large breed dogs we may recommend desexing at a little younger. Desexing before animals have reached sexual maturity helps reduce mammary tumours in females, and helps prevent the development of aggression. Older animals will also continue to derive benefits from desexing even if they have been bred.
Both speying and castration involve surgical procedures. Speying of females is the more complex, involving entering the abdominal cavity to completely remove the ovaries and uterus (an ovariohysterectomy).
Castration involves removal of the testicles through a skin incision either behind or just in front of the scrotum in dogs, or over the scrotum in cats.
Both procedures are safe and routine operations we do almost every day. Side effects and complications are very rare.
Before surgery your pet will be given a full physical examination to make certain he or she is healthy enough to cope with the operation. The procedure is carried out under a full general anaesthetic. Your pet’s heart rate, respiration, oxygen and anaesthetic levels are continually monitored both electronically and by a trained veterinary nurse, substantially reducing any risk from anaesthesia.
We also routinely use a pre-operative pain relief injection to ensure analgesia and rapid recovery after the surgery together with antibiotics to minimise the risk of infection.
Usually patients are in our hospital for the day of surgery only, going home the same evening. Most patients recover very quickly, feeling entirely feel normal within a couple of days.
