Which Other Organizations Provide Spay And Neutering Services
255-5523
- Spay or neuter services are offered to qualified low-income clients by appointment only.
- Costs for cats are $50 for males and $55 for females.Costs for dogs are $75 to $140 based on weight and gender.* If a pet is pregnant, in heat, or encounters unforeseen complications, the cost of surgery will be more.
- Proof of income and a picture ID are required at pre-surgical exam
- All sources of income must be provided for every member of the household.
- Payment is due at time of drop off.
- Please withhold food from your pet after 10 pm the night before surgery leave water available all night.
Street Cat Hub
Offers help with trapping and surgeries for unowned street cats
For Bernalillo County residents:
Reasons To Neuter Your Male Cat
1. Reduce unwanted kittens and reduce exposure to disease – Reasons 1 and 3 above apply to males and females. Additionally, new young tomcats in the neighborhood may threaten other cats. Typically, these older Tom cats wont hesitate to fight for territory or other females. This can increase the risk of contracting FIV and/or FeLV from fighting and biting, not to mention receiving a nasty cat bite abscess too. These also require a vets visit so reason number 2 above also applies!
2. Un-neutered Tomcats will stray further away from home – These cats will risk crossing busy roads to find females and sadly may be the victim of a road accident.
3. Tomcats may start to scent-mark their home – This stinks and is very hard to remove. Ive heard reports of cats spraying beds, walls, and even a fruit bowl. Yuck!!
Treating Your Cat After Surgery
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Care After Arriving Home
After bringing your cat home, hell most likely be feeling some anesthetic effects. Typically, vets apply some form of protective ointment on his eyes to ensure they dont dry out. The ointment can cause the cat to have blurry vision.
Consequently, you need to place him in a dark, warm, and quiet indoor location to recover for twenty-four hours after the surgery. During this time, its important to keep other pets even kids away from the cat. Even the most affectionate and sweetest cat can become aggressive, biting or scratching anything when he feels frightened.
The hangovers of anesthesia usually disappear within 24 hours. After this period, the personality of your cat usually goes back to normal. Vets recommend that you stay with your cat on the first night in order to observe his activity levels and carefully monitor your cats recovery.
How Old Do Cats Have To Be To Get Fixed
So when it comes to how old do kittens have to be to get fixed? According to many veterinarians, healthy cats should get sterilized as young as eight weeks and are over two pounds of body weight. According to a well-known veterinarian, there are mainly three stages for spaying or neutering cats.
- At an early stage, spay/neuter gets done when the cat is of about 6 to 8 weeks of age.
- Or it is done around the second stage when a cat is about 5 to 6 months old.
- After about the first heat, somewhere between 8 to 12 months of age.
Increment in the procedure of spay/ neuter is because it is a humane and effective way to reduce the number of cats living on streets and improve health of those remaining. Not completing the surgery on time can result in overpopulation of cats, becoming a burden of euthanizing unwanted cats.
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Spaying And Neutering Considerations
A spayed or neutered animal will not be able to reproduce. Pet owners wishing to breed a cat in the future should take this into account. However, having a cat altered will improve overall health and may even add years to its lifespan. Spayed and neutered cats tend to be calmer than unfixed felines. Many pet owners with children choose to have cats fixed to make feisty, aggressive felines more docile and less of a threat to toddlers and babies. Some fixed cats gain weight after the procedure. This is due to hormonal and activity level changes. Many cat owners find it necessary to monitor a pets food intake after the surgery has been performed. Otherwise, spaying and neutering are quite safe.
How To Get In Contact With A Free Spay And Neuter Clinics For Cats Near Me
In order to get in touch with the spay clinic, you need to rely on Google. You can search on google and you will be provided with a list of spay and neuter clinics near me. There are many organizations that host various stay clinics too. You can contact those organizations too in order to get access to a clinic. These types of clinics are mostly available state-wise. Each state has a different agenda when it comes to neuter and spay clinics.
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Why You Should Keep Up With Annual Vaccines
- Staying on top of your pets annual vaccinations is vital to avoiding preventable diseases, especially ones that are fatal
- If you miss your annual vaccine, chances are youll need to come back twice in 4 weeks to get back to optimal protection. We make it easy on you & can email you automatically when your pet is due for vaccinations
For Participating Spay/neuter Providers
Mass Animal Fund Providers may request a voucher for low-income clients who qualify for assistance.
Not sure if an animal qualifies? Please review our Animal Eligibility Chart
To request a voucher submit a Voucher Request Form to Requests need to be for specific animals no general requests are accepted.
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Potential Problems After Your Cats Surgery
Regardless of the surgery, youll need to keep your cat inside for their post-op recovery period. And even indoor cats have to avoid running and jumping in order to have a trouble-free recovery. While ordinarily you want to give your cat plenty of perches and places to run, play, and stretch their legs, running and jumping during their post-op recovery phase could result in any of the following complications:
- Hitting something or falling in their disoriented state
- Loosening their skin stitches or sutures, which will delay skin healing
- Loosening or causing failure of internal sutures or closures, which can cause bleeding or even leakage of bacteria or urine into the abdomen
- Pulling off bandages or even slipping bandages into a position that could cause more damage or pain
- Causing a bone plate, pin, or screws to move or otherwise not heal correctly
- Other problems
What Do I Need To Bring With Me At The Time Of My Scheduled Voucher Appointment
- Driver’s license or official ID card
- Proof of low-income or moderate-income status, unless you sign and submit an affidavit swearing that your income is within the figures listed on the table above for low income or moderate income.
- Proof of vaccines within the past year if you do not want your pet revaccinated. Proof is a rabies certificate, not a pet health record.
- An alternate contact number for the microchip registration: someone who has a different phone number than yours. If your pet is already microchipped, please tell us.
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The Importance Of Spaying And Neutering Cats
Here at TheCatSite, were no strangers to talking about the importance and benefits of spaying and neutering your cats. Just in case youre wondering whether or not to spay or neuter due to the price, lets talk for a bit about why its so important to get cats fixed. If youre committed to spaying/neutering, feel free to scroll down to the next topic.
So, as a quick refresher.
Spaying and neutering are two separate surgeries that prevent reproduction in cats. In females, the surgeon will take out the ovaries and the uterus. In males, they will take out the testes. These surgeries are incredibly common, with millions of cats undergoing these procedures every year. Cats are never conscious and thus feel no pain during the surgery.
And since were doing a quick recap, just a few more facts.
Keep Neighborhood And Stray Cats Away From Your Yard
If your cat is spraying as a way to warn off outdoor cats, try these tricks:
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Cover any windows with blinds or curtains to block your cat’s view outside.
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Install motion-detection sprinklers near windows to deter outside cats from coming into your yard.
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Place Feliway diffusers inside your house in areas where your cat has marked.
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Use white vinegar or citrus-based sprays in the yard where outdoor cats have marked.
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What About Water And Food
Once your cat gets home from the vet, you should give him water. The amount should be minimal to avoid vomiting. Only keep a small amount of water in a bowl and then top it off when necessary. When your cat is awake and alert, you should offer one-fourth to a half portion of his normal food intake. If he vomits, you need to take away the remainder of the food. Avoid offering food again until the following morning.
The day after surgery, give your cat regular amounts of water and food. Since the anesthetics can make your cat a bit nauseous, its normal if he does not eat right away. But if your feline friend isnt drinking or eating normally 48 hours after surgery, you need to consult your vet immediately.
How To Care For Your Cat After Neutering Or Spaying
This article was co-authored by Pippa Elliott, MRCVS. Dr. Elliott, BVMS, MRCVS is a veterinarian with over 30 years of experience in veterinary surgery and companion animal practice. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1987 with a degree in veterinary medicine and surgery. She has worked at the same animal clinic in her hometown for over 20 years.There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article received 20 testimonials and 95% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 602,469 times.
Spay and neuter surgeries are routine operations, but theyre still surgeries. If you’re worried about how to care for your cat after its been spayed or neutered , youve come to the right place. There are several things you can do to help your cat recover from its operation and get back to its healthy, happy feline self.
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Why Spay & Neuter
You can save lives!
Potential medical benefits:
- Your female pet will live a longer, healthier life. Spaying your pet before her first heat helps prevent uterine infections and cancerous breast tumors in about 50% of dogs and 90% of cats.
- Spaying your female pet also prevents potential complications with pregnancy, which can often be emergencies.
- Neutering your male dog or cat prevents testicular cancer and some prostate problems.
Potential behavioral benefits:
- Your spayed female pet won’t go into heat, so you avoid the related yowling and more frequent urination.
- Your neutered male dog will be less likely to roam away from home, risking injury in traffic and fights with other male animals.
- Your dog might be less likely to mount other dogs, people and inanimate objects after hes neutered. Some aggression problems may be avoided by early neutering.
- Your neutered male cat will be less likely to mark/spray their territory and is less likely to get into fights with other cats.
Spaying/neutering your pets is also very cost-effective. The cost of your pet’s surgery is far less than the cost of caring for a litter or the health complications that can arise later.
How Will Spaying Affect My Cats Diet
As soon as your cat has been spayed, youll start to notice changes in their behaviorincluding their feeding habits. Their appetite can increase by 20-25%, but their actual energy expenditure reduces by 30%. This means its very easy for your queen to overeat and store the extra energy as fat. If you decide to spay your cat while they’re still a kitten, they will still be growing and therefore needs a food that supports this without encouraging them to put on weight unnecessarily. Specific food, formulated for spayed/neutered kittens, is one of the best things to feed them at this point.
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Rule Out Underlying Medical Conditions
If your cat is spraying, the first step is taking your cat to the veterinarian to rule out an underlying medical issue.
Your veterinarian will likely recommend testing that includes a complete blood count, chemistry, and urinalysis. The purpose of the testing is to look for possible medical conditions such as urinary tract infections, crystalluria, bladder stones, kidney disease, or other conditions causing inflammation of the urinary system.
If one of these conditions is diagnosed, treating the issue should help reduce the spraying.
The Truth About Spaying Or Neutering Your Cat
An estimated 5 million to 8 million animals are euthanized in shelters across this country every year. Many organizations are working to decrease that number by opening low-cost spay/neuter clinics that will prevent more litters of cats that need homes. One such organization is LifeLine Animal Project, an Atlanta-based nonprofit shelter and clinic where more than 25,000 spaying and neutering procedures have been performed since 2005. Here, executive director Rebecca Guinn answers the most commonly asked questions about spaying and neutering cats.
Q: Why should I have my cat spayed or neutered?
A: Shelter euthanasia is the number one killer of companion animals. Spaying and neutering is the only way to reduce or eliminate that. Its also better for your pets health. And having a cat thats spayed or neutered will make your life easier.
Q: Shouldnt I let my cat have a litter before I spay them?
A: No. It greatly reduces the risk of certain cancers if you have them spayed before the first heat and certainly before they have a litter.
Most places are overrun with kittens. There are millions of cats and kittens that need homes and millions more that are abandoned. There simply arent enough homes for all the cats that get born every kitten season.
Q: Should I let my cat have a heat before I spay them?
Q: Is it OK to spay my cat when they are just a kitten?
Continued
Q: It can cost more than a $100 to get a cat spayed or neutered. I cant afford that. What can I do?
Continued
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How Much Does It Cost To Spay A Cat
The cost for spaying a cat varies depending on location and type of clinic performing the procedure. Private veterinarians generally charge more and there can be a range of prices for spaying a cat, even from vets in the same city. A random sampling of veterinarians found prices of $219 in Kansas, $250 in California and $590 in Illinois.
There are specialized clinics and shelters across the country focused on making the procedure affordable some even price the procedure based on income. Spaying a cat at some of these places can cost around $50-70.
When Should I Spay/neuter My Cat Or Kitten
In previous years, theres been a lot of debate on the proper timing of feline spays and neuters. So much so, that if you lined up 5 vets and asked them, you may get 5 different answers. This debate can lead to confusion and a reluctance to go ahead with the procedure. If you have previously owned a cat, the advice now is probably different from when you last asked.
A recent report by leading veterinarians has persuaded many governing veterinary bodies to call for neutering before 5 months of age. This is the time before kittens reach sexual maturity and holds the best chance of avoiding the problems listed above. For further reading on this, check out the Feline Fix by Five website.
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