Desexing

At the Ivanhoe Veterinary Clinic, we perform desexing procedures on a daily basis Monday through to Friday.

We perform desexing on dogs and cats only.

Male animals are castrated (removal of both testicles) whilst female animals are speyed (removal of both ovaries and the uterus).

Feline Desexing

In our feline patients, we usually recommend both female and male desexing at 6mths of age. After discussion with the kitten’s family, however, sometimes this desexing date is brought forward if their family is very keen to allow them outdoors at an earlier age.

Canine Desexing

The story is less clear cut with our canine patients.

Whilst we still desex many of our smaller female and male dogs at 6mths of age, those patients that will grow to be medium or large sized dogs or those with anatomical concerns (i.e. inverted vulva) may benefit from delaying their desexing until they are more mature. Sometimes there are other things to discuss too such as cryptorchid castrations (when only one or perhaps none of the testicles have descended) or prophylactic gastropexies in dogs whose breed is predisposed to a condition called bloat.

Given that there so many things to discuss about this important topic, often it is recommended to bring your pet in for a consultation around the 6- month mark, in order to discuss our recommendations for your pet.

Procedure

Animals coming to the Ivanhoe Veterinary Clinic for their desexing procedure will generally go home that same day.

Desexing procedures are performed late morning/early afternoon and the pets are closely monitored during and upon recovery from their general anaesthetic.

We pride ourselves on ensuring that our patients are as comfortable as possible both pre-operatively and post-operatively, with our nurses regularly checking and assessing our hospitalised patients throughout the day. All desexing patients are examined prior to their anaesthetic, pre-medicated, placed on an intravenous fluid drip during their anaesthetic and provided with anti-inflammatories and pain relief to ensure optimal comfort.

We consider intravenous fluids and analgesia (pain relief) to be a necessity, not an optional extra. We treat your pets with love and great care and as if they were our very own.

Included in our fixed desexing costs are;

• Intravenous fluids,
• analgesia,
• anti-inflammatory relief,
• post-operative examinations and
• suture removal.