Desexing
Desexing or neutering your pet is a surgical procedure that prevents them from being able to reproduce. In male pets it is commonly referred to as “castration”, and in female pets as “speying”.
When to de-sex your pet is an ongoing debate in the veterinary profession. Cat desexing is generally recommenced at 6 months of age to align with adult maturity. This prevents litters of kittens and urine marking/spraying in the house.
De-sexing female dogs is typically performed at approx 12 months of age in between their first and second oestrus cycle (season). There is a link between the number of 'seasons' a dog has experienced and the development of mammary carcinoma. However, there is also a link between overall health, including joint health, and the number of seasons. Please talk to us more about decision-making tools for your dog.
De-sexing male dogs does not have the same time imperative associated with de-sexing female dogs. Ideally, castration should be performed once your dog has reached full adult maturity, which is breed dependent and could be between 12 and 18months of age. Waiting until full maturity can help to promote overall health, particularly joint health. However, not castrating can lead to preventable health issues like prostate and testicular disease.
There are many benefits to de-sexing your pet:
- Prevents an unwanted litter, which can be very costly, and may add to the already overwhelming number of stray animals in the community.
- Promotes general health and longevity by helping to prevent preventable diseases such as testicular cancer and prostate disease in males, and pyometra (infection of the uterus) and mammary tumours (breast cancer) in females.
- Stops the “heat” cycle in females. Your dog or cat coming into season every 6 months can be a very difficult time to manage.
- Can help to decrease aggression towards humans and other animals, especially in male dogs.
- Can help to decrease urine marking in the house by male cats
- Can help reduce fighting in male cats, which in turn helps to reduce the prevalence of communicable diseases such as FIV
- Can help to reduce roaming, especially in male dogs.
- In most council areas, it significantly reduces animal registration fees.
Costs
Castlemaine Vet Clinic provides gold standard care when performing de-sexing procedures. We do not cut corners with pain relief. All spey and dog castration fees include pain relief prior to surgery, during surgery and after surgery to ensure your animal is pain free throughout the procedure and during recovery. In addition to general anaesthetic, animals will receive local nerve blocks to help reduce local pain and facilitate a smoother recovery.
All spey and dog castration fees include intravenous fluids, which help to maintain normal blood pressure during your animal's anaesthetic and normal blood flow to vital organs. This reduces the risk of post-operative complications and facilitates a smooth anaesthetic recovery.
All dog spey and dog castrations will be provided an Elizabethan buster collar to help prevent licking at their sutures. Alternatively, a recovery suit can be purchased for your dog.
All cat speys are provided with a recovery suit to help prevent licking at their sutures.
All speys and dog castrations are provided for pain relief to go home with. Additionally, extra analgesia which has a calming or sedative effect can be purchased to assist in keeping your animal quiet during the recovery period.
Additional extras:
-a pre-anaesthetic blood test to screen for potential risks can be performed on the day in the clinic prior to the procedure. This is recommended so we can identify any problems your animal may have which could affect the anaesthetic and type of pain relief we provide.
-Absorbable sutures are an option so that there are no sutures to pull out. Even with this option, we still recommend a buster collar or recovery suit to help prevent licking at the surgery site.
Below are our prices
Female Spey Surgery Prices:
Cat Spey: $297 includes: pain relief, IV fluids, Intradermal sutures, local nerve block & buster collar or recovery suit.
Cat Spey Pregnancy Surcharge: + $110 - $165
Dog 1-19kg: $547 (mature >14mnths: $792)
Dog 19.1-29kg: $595 (mature >14mnths: $848)
Dog 29.1-49kg: $712 (mature >14mnths: $940)
Dog > 49.1kg: $825 (mature >14mnths: $1070)
** All DOG speys includes: pain relief, IV fluids, Intradermal sutures, local nerve block & buster collar
Pregnancy Surcharge: + $275-$440
In season +$275
Male Castration Surgery Prices:
Cat Castrate: $175
Dog 1-19kg: $398
Dog 19.1-29kg: $492.8
Dog 29.1-49kg: $558.80
Dog 49.1- 70kg: $715
Dog >70.1kg: $880
**All DOG castrates include: pain relief, IV fluids, local nerve block, intradermal sutures & buster collar
Pocket Pets Desexing Prices:
Guinea Pig, Ferret & Rabbit Castrate: $352
Guinea Pig, Ferret & Rabbit Spey: $374