DESEXING

Desexing or Sterilisation

If you do not wish to breed your pet, both male and female dogs and cats should be desexed at, or over, 6 months of age. We can also routinely desex other pets such as rodents, rabbits and ferrets.

Desexing of pets is considered a routine procedure and we at Blair Street Vets safely desex thousands of pets each year. In males, this operation is called castration and in females, it is called spaying.

All of our prices include all necessary care and pain relief. We do not have 'hidden extras'. Young, healthy animals do not require 'fluids' and these can actually cause increased bleeding, if not required. The main indication for fluid therapy is low blood pressure which is usually a result of the pre-med used. Our anaesthetic and pre-medication regime is well-established and safe and our animals recover smoothly and quickly - usually leaving as lively as when they arrived.
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We rarely have a problem with animals removing their own sutures or excessively licking at their wounds so we do not routinely use elizabethan collars (cones).

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Castration

Castration involves the surgical removal of both testes. At Blair Street Veterinary Hospital, our cats do not require sutures and our dogs, rodents, rabbits and ferrets are expertly sutured so that the sutures are buried and dissolvable. This means that your pet does not need to return for suture removal.
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Castrating reduces wandering to find mates, urine marking/spraying, inter-male aggression, mounting and also eliminates the risk of testicular cancer and prostate problems in later life.

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Spaying

Spaying involves the surgical removal of both ovaries and usually the uterus as well. This is known as an ovario-hysterectomy. At Blair Street Vets, our cats are expertly sutured so that the sutures are buried and dissolvable. This means that your pet does not need to return for suture removal. Our female dogs are sutured in the usual manner and will need to return after 10 days for suture removal.
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Spaying eliminates the cyclical heat seasons that female animals experience. At this time, they can be difficult to manage as they seek to find a mate or become messy in the house. Entire (un-desexed) rabbits can become quite aggressive due to hormonal changes and ferrets that are not bred or desexed can experience bone marrow suppression and anaemia which can lead to death. Spaying eliminates the risk of pyometra (literally pus-filled uterus), a dangerous infection of the uterus which can be fatal. It also greatly reduces the risk of mammary (breast) cancer in later life, if done early.