Your questions about pet sterilisation answered

Having your pets sterilised is the most responsible thing you can do for them and for the pet population in South Africa as a whole. In this article, we answer your questions about pet sterilisation and aim to put your mind at ease that spaying and neutering your pets is the right thing to do for their health and for your benefit.

What does pet sterilisation mean?

Sterilisation refers to the surgical removal of your female pet’s ovaries and uterus (spaying) or your male pet’s testicles (neutering). This is done to prevent your female pet from going on heat and to prevent male pets from reacting to females’ heat cycles. 

Why should I have my pets spayed or neutered?

There are numerous benefits to having your pets spayed or neutered. These include health benefits, behavioural benefits, financial benefits and it may even increase your pet’s lifespan. These are just some of the main benefits of sterilising your pets:

Health benefits of sterilising your pet

• Greatly reduced risk of mammary tumours (breast cancer) in female pets.
• Complete elimination of any risk of ovarian or uterine cancers, as well as uterine infection (pyometra) in females, since the ovaries and uterus are removed.
• Elimination of the risk of testicular cancer in male pets, as well as reducing the risks of prostate issues.
• Reduces the risk of injury and infection from fighting among males.
• Reduces the risk of cats contracting infectious diseases like feline AIDS and FeLV.

Behavioural benefits of sterilising your pet

• Neutered male pets are more focused on their owners and not preoccupied with females on heat. They are less likely to try to escape the yard or to fight with other intact males in their home.
• Neutered males are less prone to engaging in marking, territorial or dominance behaviour.
• Similarly, female pets are more affectionate towards family members.
• Spayed females don’t bring unwanted males into your yard (who can smell a female in heat from kilometres away).
• Sterilised pets are calmer and less aggressive when they are not focused on opportunities to reproduce.
• It is kinder towards our pets to completely remove the urge to reproduce, rather than to restrict their behaviours and leave them with an unfulfilled urge.

Financial benefits of sterilising your pet

• Sterilised pets have greatly reduced risks of developing a range of cancers and infections, which are expensive to treat.
• Unplanned litters of kittens and puppies are expensive to care for until they are homed (and there is no guarantee that you will find homes for all of them).

At what age should pets be sterilised?

All pets should be sterilised before they become sexually mature. For small and medium dog breeds, this means spaying and neutering by six months old. Large breed dogs need more time to reach sexual maturity, so their age of sterilisation should be on the vet’s recommendation. Their bone and joint development depends on the influence of their hormones, so it could be detrimental to their musculoskeletal health to sterilise them too early. Ideally, all dogs should be sterilised by no later than two and a half years old.

Cats reach sexual maturity very early in their lives – by six or seven months old. The ideal time to start sterilising kittens is by four months old. If you have any questions about the age at which to sterilise your cat, please speak to the vet, who will be able to examine your cat and make a recommendation.

Should my pet have one litter before she is spayed?

No. This is an unsubstantiated claim. There are no known behavioural or health benefits to letting your dog or cat have a litter of puppies or kittens before she is spayed. Spaying before her first heat reduces and eliminates the risk of cancers and uterine infection.

Does sterilisation require general anaesthesia?

As with any major surgery, sterilisation is performed under general anaesthesia: the pet sleeps painlessly through the entire surgical procedure. Rest assured that we use the same anaesthetic choices as those used in human surgeries. Newer inhalant anaesthetic choices like isoflurane are reported to be ten times safer in older pets than intravenous anaesthetic only, which was previously used in veterinary clinics and practices. The vet will determine which is the safest and most effective anaesthetic for each individual case. 

Is sterilisation a safe procedure?

Sterilisation is considered a major surgical procedure, but it is safe for your pet to undergo when the vet assesses your pet and determines them to be healthy. Dogs and cats are given the same compassionate care during surgery as humans are when treated by medical professionals. Sterilisations are performed in a way that prioritises your pet’s health and wellbeing, on the operating table as well as long term.

The surgery is performed in an operating theatre equipped with oxygen and ventilation equipment. It is done with the use of sterile gloves and surgical instruments. In spay surgeries, the vet needs to enter the female pet’s abdominal cavity, so the sterility of the environment, the surgeons and their assistants is vital. 

After surgery, veterinary support staff carefully monitor each patient until they are fully awake and stable.

What happens before sterilisation?

When your pet is going to be sterilised, the vet will have advised you to bring them into the practice in the morning. They will also advise you not to feed your pet for at least 12 hours before surgery – not even a treat or a tiny mouthful of food. This is to ensure that if your pet vomits while under anaesthesia, they don’t inhale bits of food into their lungs, which will cause aspiration pneumonia. It is your responsibility to ensure your pet does not have access to food during that time. If you have multiple pets in your household, at feeding time separate the one who is due for surgery to make sure they don’t eat ‘by accident’. They may be hungry, but it’s for their benefit and to have a safe sterilisation surgery. 

If you have any concerns or would like to discuss anything about the procedure with the vet, don’t hesitate to ask. Before their sterilisation surgery, the vet will perform a pre-anaesthetic physical examination, during which potential anaesthetic risks are assessed and if there are any problems, these will be discussed with you.

What does spaying entail?

Spaying is the surgical sterilisation of female pets. The proper term for this operation is an ovariohysterectomy. During this operation both the ovaries (ovario-) and the uterus (-hysterectomy) are removed. The surgeon makes an incision through the abdominal wall and enters the abdominal cavity to access the ovaries, which sit very close to the kidneys and the uterus, which also connects up with the bladder at its lower point.

The ovaries produce ova or eggs, which are released into the Y-shaped uterine horns where they are fertilised when a male mates with the female. The fertilised eggs become embryos in the uterus and eventually grow into puppies or kittens during pregnancy. If only the uterus was removed so that the female couldn’t fall pregnant, the ovaries would still produce eggs and the female would still be influenced by her reproductive hormones – and intact males would still be influenced by the presence of those hormones. The complete removal of the ovaries and uterus has health and behavioural benefits for your female pets. 

What does neutering entail?

Neutering is the surgical removal of both the testicles of male animals, which is called castration. The testicles produce male reproductive hormones, which influence the male animals’ aggression, sexual interest and behaviour, and territorial marking. Neutering not only removes dominant male behaviour, but also eliminates the risk of testicular cancer, and greatly reduces the risks of prostate cancer and other prostate problems.

Neutering will help to calm the feelings of competition that sexually mature male animals experience. They will not engage in dangerous behaviour like escaping the yard in search of a female in heat, putting themselves at risk of injury or death by being hit by a vehicle, or the risk of injury, infection or disease from fighting with other male animals. Neutering is safe for male pets and will ensure they also live a longer, healthier life.

Are sterilised pets discharged from the hospital on the same day?

The rule of thumb is that no pet is discharged from the hospital until the vet is satisfied that they have fully recovered from the anaesthesia. Fortunately, animals usually recover very well after sterilisation and very little care is required at home after hospital discharge. Pets usually go home on the same day the surgery is performed. They may shiver or be a bit groggy or disorientated, so make sure they are in a safe, warm environment when they get home. Allow them to rest and go at their own pace. Full recovery from spay surgery can take up to two weeks, so keep an eye on your female pet and make sure she does not physically exert herself in that time (excessive play, jumping up and down from furniture, etc.). 

When must my pet’s sterilisation stitches be removed?

The sutures that are used to tie off blood vessels and internal organ structures will dissolve on their own. When there are sutures placed in the abdominal wall that do not dissolve, these will need to be removed by the vet from 10 to 14 days after the surgery. There is no additional fee for this.