Introduction
One of the most common surgical
procedures we perform is a cat neuter, know medically as an
orchectomy. It is performed for several reasons:
- It minimizes
roaming
- It minimizes aggressive
behavior
- It prevents male cats from
impregnating females.
- It minimized urinating in the
home (urine spraying).
Male cats are territorial and
prone to fighting, which leads to serious diseases, especially viral
diseases like FeLV,
FIP,
and FIV.
Neutering minimizes this fighting, helping also to cut down on these
serious contagious diseases.
Anesthesia
Pre-anesthetic preparation is important in
every surgery we perform, no matter how routine. all of our neuters receive
a physical exam prior to surgery. After this exam will we draw a small amount
of blood for an in-hospital pre-anesthetic
test. When everything is in order
we will give a sedative. This will calm the pet down and make the administration
of the actual anesthetic,
along with post operative recovery, much smoother. Once a pet is anesthetized,
prepared for surgery, and had its monitoring equipment hooked up and reading
accurately, the surgery can begin. Cat neuter surgery is a short procedure,
and only a small amount of anesthetic is needed.
Surgery
In general, neutering males cats is a
straightforward procedure. Most cats have both testes in the scrotum,
making them readily accessible by a scrotal incision. We do not
suture the scrotum after the procedure since it heals very rapidly by
itself.
In
this picture a small incision has already been made in
the scrotum with the laser, and the testicle is
visible.
Our
surgeon has the testicle in his hand which allows
visualization of all the internal structures. You can
visualize the white and glistening vas deferens at the
top of the picture going from the body on the right to
the testicle on the left. The vas deferens will be used
to tie off the blood supply to the testicle.
Due to the small size of the blood vessels we can use
the natural anatomy of the testicle to prevent bleeding when we remove
the testicle. The black arrow points to the knot in the vas deferens
made by the surgeon. After several more of these knots are applied the
testicle at the far left will be cut off.
Another technique to tie this knot involves the use
of a hemostat. This picture shows the beginning of the knot.
After the vas deferens and blood supply are wrapped
around the hemostat they are then passed through the center.
Here
is the final appearance after the knot has been
completed.
On occasion both testicles are not in the scrotum.
This means that one of them is in the abdomen or in the inguinal
canal, which is the passageway through the body wall into the
scrotum. Either way, we have to find this testicle and remove it
because it will continue to secrete hormones.
The skin
has already been incised and our surgeon is preparing to
enter the body cavity. The white glistening structure
visible is the section in the center of the abdomen where
the abdominal muscles and their tendons meet. It is called
the linea alba.
The
testicle is not the only thing that resides in the abdomen.
This is a picture of the urinary bladder (we hope you didn't
think it was the testicle!) that bulged out of the incision
in the abdomen. Obviously, it can interfere with the surgery
when it is this full with urine, so we remove the urine
before proceeding further.
Testicles
that reside in the abdomen are very small because they have
atrophied (shrunken in size) due to lack of use. They can be
quite difficult to find, and necessitate careful exploration
of the abdomen. The black arrow points to the atrophied
testicle. 
In this
case we use suture material to prevent bleeding. The black
arrow is still pointing to the testicle to help keep you
oriented. 
This
picture is from another surgery. We have already removed a
normal testicle from the scrotum and an abnormal testicle
from the abdomen. You can see the difference in size and
shape 
When the surgery is complete we sew up the
incision in the muscles and skin, and give a medication
for pain. Once the hair grows back it is
impossible to tell if surgery was performed.
Laser Surgery
Using the laser has many advantages over using a
scalpel blade. These include negligible bleeding during the procedure
and post operative pain. We can use the laser to make an incision in
the scrotum, which makes the healing process much more comfortable.
Our Laser
Page has detailed information on the use
of the laser for various surgeries.
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