A spay is the common term for the surgical removal of the ovaries and uterus of a female dog or cat to prevent pregnancy and eliminate heat cycles. The technical name for this surgery is ovariohysterectomy often abbreviated as OVH.

Although the surgery for either sex can be called a neuter, most of the time neuter is the term used for the surgical removal of the testicles of a male dog or cat. This is also known as castration.

Spay/neuter surgery benefits the community be reducing pet overpopulation and leads to fewer unwanted dogs and cats in shelters and on the streets. Between 6 and 8 million dogs and cats enter U.S. shelters every year costing local governments billions of dollars. As many as 4 million dogs and cats are euthanized each year because there are not enough homes available.

Female dogs and cats that are spayed have a reduced incidence of breast cancer (especially if done before 2 years old), uterine infections (pyometra) and tumors.

Male dogs and cats that are neutered have fewer prostate problems and no testicular cancer.

Spay and neuter surgeries help to prevent unwanted behaviors such as aggressive behavior towards other animals, roaming in search of mates, urine marking in dogs and urine spraying and odor in cats and persistent barking and mounting in dogs.

Most pets can be spayed when they are between 3 and 5 months old, before they are sexually mature and capable of producing puppies or kittens. (Cats mature at about 6 months old and dogs between 6 to 12 months old depending on their size). Pets that are spayed or neutered before the first heat haves smaller surgical incisions and recover faster from surgery than older pets.

All dogs and cats must weigh at least 2 lbs before surgery is advised.

Call the SBHS Clinic M-F from 10am-12pm or 2-4pm.

The wait for a spay or neuter appointment can be 2-6 weeks depending on the sex and size of your pet. Our surgery schedule fills up quickly. For more information about the next appointment call 805-964-4777 from 10am to 12pm Monday through Friday. If our schedule is filled or the wait is too long, low fee spay and neuter surgeries are also provided by the Santa Ynez Humane Society at (805) 688-8224 or C.A.R.E. 4 Paws at (805) 968-2273.

Surgery drop off is at 8:15 am and pick up is between 3 and 3:30 pm the same day. Make sure you are available at these times and are available by phone during the day should problems or questions arise.

Payment is due at pick up.

No bathing or swimming is permitted for 14 days after surgery, so you may want to bathe your pet the day or two before surgery if possible.

Check your pet for fleas and apply flea medication a few days before surgery is needed (topical medications should be applied AFTER bathing). We do not want fleas jumping into the sterile surgery area on your pet.

Cats
Male:	$35.00
Female:	$50.00
	Cats in heat: add $12.50 Pregnant Cat: add $20.00
Male Dogs
2 - 50 lbs.	$60.00
51 - 80 lbs.	$75.00
81 lbs and up	$85.00
Cryptorchid	add $25 - $60
Female Dogs
2 - 40 lbs.	$60.00
41 - 60 lbs.	$75.00
61 - 90 lbs.	$85.00
91 lbs. and up	$100.00
Pregnant dogs	add $25.00

The fees owners pay for spays and neuters at SBHS reflect only a fraction of the true cost of surgery. The balance of this cost is paid for by our organization. SBHS is a non-profit organization that relies on donations, boarding fees, membership fees and bequests to provide funds for our clinic as well as to maintain our adoption dogs and cats. We believe that pet over- population is a huge problem and that un-neutered pets result in the creation of millions of unwanted pets each year. Our low fee clinic exists to hopefully provide an incentive for owners in our community to have their pet spayed and neutered.

Full service veterinary hospitals have higher costs due to additional equipment available for emergencies and diagnostic procedures that are not available at our clinic. Full service hospitals may also provide IV fluids, pre-anesthetic blood testing and many have more sophisticated anesthetic monitoring devices. Surgery at a full service hospital is a better choice for your pet if your pet is older or has medical conditions. The bottom line is that your veterinarian has to charge more in order to maintain a full service hospital and we can charge less only because most of the cost of surgery is pain for by our organization.

“Heat” is defined as the period of time when a female dog will stand and allow breeding. The female usually ovulates during this time so if she mates with a male, pregnancy is highly likely. Female dogs will not breed if they are not in heat.

Female dogs have their first heat at about 6 months of age (larger breeds may not have the first heat until they are 12-18 months old).

There are two main phases to the heat cycle of dogs:

• Proestrus: bloody vaginal discharge, swollen vulva, males attracted to female but she will not allow breeding yet. Lasts an average of 9 days (6-11 days is normal).
• Estrus: less discharge which may be pink or straw colored, females will allow breeding. Lasts 5-9 days.

This cycle repeats every 6 to 7 months (normal can be 5 to 11 months a part). So most dogs have 2 heats per year.

We prefer to wait until the dog is out of heat. During the heat cycle the uterus is larger and there is more potential for bleeding during surgery. Spay surgery should be rescheduled for 3 weeks after the first day of vaginal discharge is noted.

Please call the clinic so we can reschedule the surgery for 3 weeks after the first day vaginal discharge was noted. Keep a very close eye on her to prevent her getting pregnant as male dogs will be attracted to her and may come into your yard to get to her or she may try to escape to find a male.

“Heat” is defined as the period when a female cat will stand and allow breeding with a male. Cats ovulate during breeding making pregnancy almost a sure thing. Females will not allow breeding if they are not in heat. First heat usually starts at 6-9 months of age (5 to 12 months can be normal).

A cat’s heat cycles are seasonal, traditionally while daylight is getting longer from Jan/Feb to Sept/Oct. Indoor cats exposed to more than 10 hours of light per day may cycle all year long.

Heat cycles in cats last about 7 days. The cat will often roll, yowl as if in pain and try to get outside. If the cat is bred, she will ovulate and most likely become pregnant. If the cat is not bred, the heat will return in 3 to 16 days and the cat will continue to come in and out of heat until she is bred, or is spayed or stops cycling for a brief period in the winter.

Yes, since cats have many heat cycles during the year it is much more difficult to schedule surgery when they are not in heat once they are old enough to start cycling. The uterus is larger and the incision in the abdomen may need to be a bit bigger than normal and the surgery takes a bit more time so there is an additional fee of 12.50 added to the normal surgery fee for cats in heat.

Yes, if the pregnancy is not too far along.

Dogs and cats are pregnant for approximately 63-65 days. Spay surgery in the first half of the pregnancy is usually not a problem. There is an additional fee of $20.00 for pregnant cats and $25.00 for pregnant dogs.

Dogs and cats in the late stages of pregnancy should probably be allowed to have the litter and then be spayed as soon as the puppies and kittens are weaned (7 weeks old) and milk is dried up. Surgery poses greater risks in dogs and cats that are in the late stages of pregnancy as the uterus is very large and the potential for blood loss and blood pressure problems as well as incision problems are much greater.

No, weight gain is the result of too much food or too little exercise not because of surgery.

Absolutely not! Animals in heat are likely to become pregnant. Heat periods are often messy and difficult for owners.

No, there is no medical benefit to having a litter before surgery. In fact, females spayed before their first heat have a 95% decreased chance of having breast cancer. That reduction in becomes less powerful with each heat cycle. Even one litter adds to the pet over population creating more dogs and cats that need homes.

Overall an animal’s personality is unaffected. Playfulness, friendliness and socialization with people are not changed. The behaviors that may change are: a decreased interest in roaming, aggressive behavior toward other males, urine marking and mounting behaviors. 50% or more of dogs and cats will have a decrease in these unwanted behaviors after surgery.

The Director of Veterinary Services is Dr. Kathy Barron. Dr. Barron is a 1982 graduate of Michigan State University and was in private practice for over 20 years before coming to the Humane Society in 2005. Dr. Tom Thompson is a 1971 graduate of UC Davis and owned a small animal clinic in Santa Barbara for 31 years before joining the Humane Society also in 2005. Dr. Justin Fischer is a 2009 graduate of UC Davis and also works full time at CARE emergency pet hospital.

All dogs and cats receive an injection of pain medication before surgery and usually a small amount of tranquilizer to reduce anxiety. A gas anesthetic called Isoflurane is used to maintain general anesthesia. Female cats receive a second injection of pain medication after surgery and all dogs go home with a four-day supply of pain pills, either Rimadyl or Deramaxx.

Spay and neuter surgery requires general anesthetic, which always comes with some risk. We may decline to do surgery on older animals or those with health concerns that would increase the risk of anesthetic complications. For these pets we would advise surgery be performed at a full service veterinary clinic where additional monitoring and treatment equipment is available. Young, healthy animals seldom have complications. For the past several years, we have performed over 2,000 surgeries per year. Less than 5% of our patients had minor incision problems that required additional treatment. More serious complications such as low blood pressure, liver or kidney problems or heart arrhythmias from anesthesia are possible in addition to internal bleeding from the surgery itself. These complications are extremely rare.

We will be happy to see your pet for any post surgery problems at no charge during normal clinic hours Monday-Friday from 10am -12pm or 2-4pm. Please call for an appointment at 964-4777. After hours or on weekends, contact your regular veterinarian or CARE emergency pet hospital at 886-2777.

Give no food after 8 pm the night before and nothing to eat on the morning of surgery. Water is OK at all times. Bring your dog on a leash and your cat in a carrier to the clinic at 8:15 the morning of surgery.

No running, jumping or rough play for 14 days after surgery. Leash walks are OK. No bathing or swimming for 14 days after surgery.

Do not allow your pet to lick at the incision. Elizabethan collars are available at the clinic for $5.00 to prevent licking. No skin sutures are used and if the pet licks excessively the incision may open.

Give small amounts of food and water initially. Some animals can feel nauseous after anesthesia.

Start pain medication as soon as you get home unless otherwise directed.

Do not give any additional pain medications for humans (such as aspirin, Tylenol or ibuprofen) or any additional pain medications for dogs without consulting a veterinarian. Many human medications or combinations for medications can cause serious or even fatal complications in dogs and cats.

Keep your female cat indoors for 14 days and your male cat indoors for 3 days after surgery.

No jumping or rough play for 10 days for females, and 1-2 days for males.

Offer food and water as soon as you get home.

Watch for excessive licking of the incision by females. An Elizabethan collar can be purchased from the clinic for $5.00.

Do not give any additional pain medications for humans (such as aspirin, Tylenol or ibuprofen) or any additional pain medications for dogs without consulting a veterinarian. Many human medications or combinations of medications can cause serious or even fatal complications in dogs and cats.

Red, irritated or open incisions (usually due to the pet licking the incision) should be checked as soon as possible.

Persistent vomiting or diarrhea should be checked. The first day after surgery some pets may have nausea or diarrhea due to stress but this usually resolves within 24 hours.

Painful or extremely lethargic pets should be examined as soon as possible.

Pets with pale gums and extreme lethargy should be examined as soon as possible. Large breed dogs with a distended abdomen, retching and lethargy should be considered a medical emergency as these signs may indicate gastric bloat which can be fatal without immediate treatment.

Yes, with exceptions. The Santa Barbara County Responsible Pet Owner Ordinance was passed in January of 2010.