Neutering your cat

What is neutering?

Neutering is the general term that covers both spaying (female cats) and castration (male cats). Spaying is the surgical removal of the ovaries and uterus. Castration is the surgical removal of both testicles.

Why do we recommend neutering?

There are a number of benefits for neutering cats, including helping reduce the number of unwanted cats. In the UK there are lots of cats in rescue centres and without homes.

Benefits of spaying your female cat:

1. Prevents behaviours of being ‘in season’ or ‘in heat’ (when a female cat is fertile and can get pregnant) which can include calling, spraying pee and trying to escape or wandering further
2. Reduces the chance of womb infections, which can become fatal
3. Removes the chance of uterine cancer and reduces the chance of mammary cancer by 90% if done before 6 months old

Benefits of castrating your male cat:

1. Reduces roaming and therefore the risk of getting lost, injured or killed in a road accident
2. Reduces fighting with other cats. This helps prevent them catching and spreading infectious disease such as feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukaemia virus (FeLV)
3. Reduces the chance of scent marking by spraying pee in and around the house
4. Often results in male cats to be in better condition and not have a strong smell

What is involved in neutering?

Your cat will come into the practice in the morning and go home the same day in the afternoon.

Female cats will be shaved on the left side of their abdomen and will have a surgical wound here. The sutures used will be under the skin, so will not require removal.

Males will have a shaved patch under their tail over their testicles, and two small incisions over each scrotal sac. No sutures are used as the incisions are small and heal well without them.

Post-operatively it is important that your cat does not lick their surgical wounds. This can be avoided by using a cone collar, or a medical pet shirt (similar to a baby grow) for females.

What are the risks of neutering?

The risks of neutering are low.

The main risk is that cats are prone to putting on weight after neutering. It is important to control their food intake after neutering to prevent this.

Other risks are the same as any general anaesthetic and surgery.

Surgical risks:

• Bruising
• Pain
• Infections
• Excessive Bleeding
• Wound breakdown

Anaesthetic Risks:

• Gastrointestinal upset
• Adverse reactions to anaesthetic drugs
• Death (very rare)

How much does neutering cost?

Please see our price list here.

How do I book in for neutering?