We strongly recommend that all kittens not intended for breeding should be desexed at about 5 & half months of age before they reach sexual maturity.
There are many advantages to desexing our pets at this age. It prevents testicular cancer and helps to reduce male sexual behaviour such inappropriate urination (spraying) and will reduce the smell of tom cats urine. It will also reduce your tom cats urge to wander and fight.
Undesexed animals can be more prone to diabetes and other health problems as they get older.
What is involved in the surgery?
Desexing a male cat is also know as castration. The surgery involves removing both testicles. It is a standard procedure, but is still a major surgery, done under full anaesthetic. Your pet will have the hair around his testicles shaved and a surgical incision will be made, usually this incision is left open and not stitched so there are no sutures to remove later. He will need to be kept quiet for a few days after the surgery & may need to wear an Elizabethan collar to stop him from licking at the wound. While he is under anaesthetic we can also give him a desexing tattoo, microchip him (if not already done), do a microchip tattoo and clip his claws.
He will be admitted in the morning usually between 8am & 9.30am. The surgery is usually performed late morning after pre anaesthetic health checks & blood tests have been performed & he will then be ready to go home some time after 3.30pm. The surgical nurse will phone you with an update once your pet is in recovery. We are open until 8pm so a later pick-up is available if required.
The risks of desexing procedures
As cat desexing is a standard procedure, complications are not very common. However, complications can occur if the wound gets infected.
Anaesthesia also has its own inherent risks but we use the most up to date anaesthetic agents & monitoring equipment.
Post operative care
Post operative care will be discussed with you in detail when your cat is discharged. He will have pain relief given at the time of surgery. He will need to be kept inside & quiet until the wound has fully healed at about 10 days post-operatively. This means no excessive play & prevent physical activity such as jumping. This will allow his wound to heal without complications.
A complementary post op check will be arranged for 5 days post op.
