CONGRATULATIONS!  Good for you!

You've not only adopted a new friend, You have SAVED a LIFE! You, have done an admirable thing. Thank you. You have no idea how happy we are to see these animal get homes. Please google "The Red Leash" when you have time, and you will know more about where we are coming from when it comes to this subject.

If you already have a pet, and are just reading this to learn about spaying and neutering,  well...good for you too! That is the right thing to do.

 Link to Animal Friends of the Valleys

Now, having said all that...what can you expect? What happens next?

The shelter will be bringing the new pet to an animal hospital to get "fixed". ("Spayed" for the females,  and "Neutered" for the males). The law requires that all these animals get altered before they are adopted, so that they don't later breed and fill up the shelters even more.

What is exactly done when they are spayed or neutered?

The females get a complete hysterectomy (we remove the whole uterus and ovaries). The males have the testicles completely removed (not just a vasectomy)

What to expect the day of surgery

The animals all get a fairly thorough examination prior to the procedure sometime in the late morning. We check their tempurature, heart, lungs, ears, teeth, gums, skin, body, genitals, eyes (superficially), legs, etc. We then call you and talk to you about what we have found, and what we recommend. If we find something going on, like an ear infection, WE WILL CALL YOU AND TELL YOU. Why? Because we want to run up a huge bill? NO! We will do this because it it the right thing to do! You need to know if there is something wrong with your pet. YOU DESERVE TO KNOW. I can't stand the thought of someone's pet leaving here with something wrong that we could have fixed but didn't bother to mention. If you can't do something about it now, at least you'll know about it and maybe you can take care of it later. Being aware is key.

Usually we will call you some time in the late morning or early afternoon. Animals need to be picked up during the week BEFORE 5:15pm, except Thursdays, when the pick up time is BEFORE 6:00pm. We will tell you what time they can be picked up  when we talk to you in the early to mid afternoon. Please make arrangements ahead of time. We discourage boarding them overnight due to space limitations. In certain circumstances, we can board overnight, but there is a fee. Please call for details.

How we handle the animals

The animals that come in from the shelter are kept as isolated as possible from other animals here (and even eachother). We wear gowns and gloves, and change them in between handling these guys. Why do we do this, are they sick? No, we do it routinely. We probably do it more than we need to, but we just like to try to prevent any spreading of potential diseases like kennel cough, etc.  At the shelter they are exposed to a lot of animals. It's the nature of the place. It's like day care for kids. We also clean the clippers and all the anesthetic devices, etc. in between the surgeries  Everyone is kept and handled seperately. The youngsters get "Nutrical" ( a supplement) when they awaken from anesthesia, to help keep their bloodsugar up. They really do well with this method. Our anesthetic protocol is a very safe one, and we have had a great success rate with it. A lot of times, you can hardly tell anything has been done. WE HAVE AN EXCELLENT TRACK RECORD OF AVOIDING CROSS TRANSFERRING INFECTIOUS DISEASES.

Common recommendations during and after the surgery ( for both shelter and non-shelter animals) Remember, all of the following things are optional (in most cases). But they are GOOD medicine. So we will be recommending them to you. Please realize that we care.

Having said all this, there are some things that we need to tell you about that concern anesthesia and the after care of these surgeries, whether you are adopting from the shelter, or bringing your regular (non-shelter) dog or cat in to be altered.

Pre-operative bloodwork, and an intra-operative iv catheter and fluids are a great way to help support an animal (or person, for that matter) during anesthesia. Why? The bloodwork helps examine the "inside of the body"...the kidneys, liver, bloodsugar, whether they are anemic,  which gives us a better understanding of how that animal might do under anesthesia (and may alter our choices of anesthetic drugs). They iv fluids are awsome. They help keep the blood pressure stable while under anesthesia, and really help support the bloodflow to the kidneys, which is a very delicate matter. Do these if you can.

Pain medication There is pain medication available not only right after surgery ("pain injection") and medicine to go home for a few days. Ever had a paper cut? Well, even a skin cut can hurt like heck. If you can, do this for them. If you can't, don't feel horribly guilty. Do the best that you can. You just need to know that it is available.

elizabethan collar (e-collar) We recommend these because they help keep the animal from biting, chewing or licking their incision, which can lead to costly rechecks, resuturing and more anesthesia. You can get one here or at PetSmart, etc. Call for prices. We don't care where you get one...What ever is cheapest and works is what matters. YOU are responsible for getting the right size, though, and you will have to put it on when you get home.

Fecal examinations and deworming all dogs and cats, especially puppies and kittens, should have a stool sample checked under the microscope, (this is called a fecal exam). There are a lot of internal parasites that you can't see with the naked eye, that they can spread to other pets, and even kids (if the kids handle feces out in the yard, then stick their hands in their mouths). The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Ga. says that all puppies and kittens should be dewormed at least twice (3 weeks apart) AND have a fecal examination done. If you read their literature, they even recommend it  even more that that. It's a real eye-opener. Make sure you follow up with this with your vetrinarian, ok? 

Anyway, I hoped this gives you a better picture of who we are, what we do, and why we recommend what we do. Give all of this some thought, and that way you can be better informed in discussing this on the day of your surgery.

Take care, and again...good job!

Dr. Susan and staff