Feline laparoscopy: description of the procedure, pros and cons, advice from veterinarians

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

When it's time for a cat's puberty, radical changes take place in her body. Due to the strong release of hormones during periods of estrus, cats become restless, aggressive and noisy. If you do not have a goal to breed a certain breed, it is better to sterilize your pet. Now many clinics practice laparoscopy as a method of sterilizing cats. Why is this needed? What are the advantages and disadvantages of feline laparoscopy? How to prepare an animal for surgery and how to care for a cat after it?

Why sterilize

Most owners get cats not for breeding, but as companions. The animal is either kept indoors at home, or has free access to the street. In both cases, problems begin when the pet reaches puberty. When kept at homeduring periods of estrus, the cat begins to behave restlessly, screams, becomes aggressive towards the owner. The animal is in an excited state and cannot calm down in any way. The behavior of cats during estrus is individual, but usually the owner notes that this is a rather painful process for the animal.

There are pills that some owners give cats during estrus. You can't do this! Such drugs have a detrimental effect on the body of the animal. Thanks to them, the cat calms down, and the owner seems to have helped his pet. In fact, in this way, he only destroys the he alth of the animal.

Other owners believe that in order to become happy, a cat must know all the delights of motherhood. It's a delusion! The cat is not a person. She is driven by instincts, and hormonal surges are pushing her to procreate. The cat breeds only because she is unable to overcome the call of nature, and not because she has a conscious desire to have offspring.

Pregnancy is a complex process that exhausts the mother's body and shortens her life. Childbirth can take place with complications in which both the offspring and the female herself may die. Even if you find owners for all born kittens, it is not a fact that after that they will not end up on the street. Due to people's prejudice against sterilization, the number of homeless animals is growing exponentially. They do not live long, they constantly starve, they freeze in winter, they are torn apart by dogs. This is the responsibility of people who do not sterilize domestic cats,"because it's pathetic."

Sterilization is an effective method of dealing with the increase in the number of homeless animals. In addition, it is useful for the cat itself. Sterilized live longer, they are not threatened with cancer of the reproductive system, they do not have to endure painful estrus. Such animals become calmer and more affectionate, they do not go far from home, they have less contact with other street animals. If you wish to spay a cat, laparoscopy is one of the most painless and gentle methods.

When can I have surgery

Sterilization is best done at 8-9 months of age. An older animal can tolerate anesthesia worse, and the possibility of complications for it is higher. If you need to sterilize a cat older than 7 years, it is necessary to conduct an examination of its state of he alth before the operation. You need to pass a biochemical blood test and make a cardiogram. In addition, it is worth performing the operation before the inflammation of the genital organs begins in the cat. The better the condition of her reproductive system, the easier the operation will be.

To reduce the likelihood of malignant tumors, it is desirable to carry out the operation in the interval between the first and second estrus. Every year, the likelihood of problems with the reproductive system increases, so you should not delay the operation. Doctors advise doing it in the summer. By this time, the fat layer in the cat after wintering decreases, which facilitates the healing of the postoperative scar. An overweight animal is slightly more difficult to tolerate spaying.

Types of sterilization

Today, clinics offer different ways to sterilize cats. All of them have their pros and cons. Sterilization is an operation whose purpose is to deprive an animal of the ability to reproduce. The following types of operations are distinguished:

1. Tubal occlusion - blockage or cutting of the fallopian tubes. The doctor ligates the fallopian tubes. Heat does not stop, the animal is simply not able to get pregnant. Almost all the he alth risks that unneutered animals have remain: inflammation of the mammary glands, ovaries and uterus, cancerous tumors.
2. Ovariectomy - removal of the ovaries. The cat has completely stopped estrus, but the risk of inflammation of the uterus remains.
3. Laparoscopy - removal of the uterus and ovaries. Heat stops, the risk of inflammation and cancer of the genital organs disappears. However, the animal takes the longest time to recover from such an operation. Yet most surgeons recommend this method.

The size of the postoperative scar and the number of stitches that the doctor will apply depend on what technique he practices. During abdominal surgery, an incision is made in the center of the abdomen or on the side of the cat. With conventional surgical intervention, the postoperative wound needs to be monitored. How long the animal will recover after surgery depends on the size of the suture and the severity of the operation.

What is the best way to sterilize a cat: laparoscopy or cutting? This question can only be answered by familiarizing yourself with all the advantages and disadvantages of this method.sterilization.

Introduction to Laparoscopy

The laparoscopic method of operation consists in the removal of the animal's genitals through small punctures, and not incisions, as is the case with conventional abdominal surgery. In this case, the wound reaches a size of 0.5-1 cm. The sutures are applied much less than in a conventional operation. The number of incisions can vary from one to three.

An endoscope is inserted into the puncture, at the end of which there is a small camera and surgical instruments. The image from the camera is displayed on the screen. With laparoscopy, sterilization of a cat at home is not carried out. To carry it out with you, you need to have a special device - a laparoscope. Reviews of laparoscopy in cats are mostly positive. Possible complications are more often associated with the incompetence of doctors than with flaws in the technique.

Advantages and disadvantages

Laparoscopy has a minimally invasive type of intervention, thanks to which the operation can be performed on young cats from the age of 6 months, as well as on older animals. Since the postoperative scar is very small, wound healing and recovery of the animal occurs quite quickly. The possibility of complications is minimized, the risk of catching an infection is less. No big ugly scars.

Because the incisions are small, the animal feels less pain as the wound heals. After laparoscopy, the animal may not wear a brace. There is no risk of seam divergence. If you suture with special absorbable threads, then it will not have to be removed after the operation.

The disadvantages of laparoscopy include its high price. Not all veterinary clinics have the necessary equipment, so finding a doctor who practices this sterilization method can be difficult.

What to look out for

When choosing a doctor for surgery, you should pay attention to the reviews of his other patients. Talk to the veterinarian, check what kind of education he has. A good doctor should give clear answers to all your questions. He is obliged to explain to you all the features of castration of cats.

Laparoscopy is an expensive operation. If you are asked to pay below the average cost, you should pay attention to this. You should not contact veterinarians who promise to perform a laparoscopy on a cat at home. For the operation, special equipment is needed, which can only be found in the clinic. Promotions for free sterilization or big discounts should raise doubts. It’s not worth saving on the he alth of a pet, so it’s better to pay more, but to a really qualified specialist. You should not contact a doctor who does not even examine the animal before the operation. If the cat is old, it must be examined, otherwise there is a high risk that the animal will not wake up after the operation.

Preparation for surgery

If the animal is not vaccinated, all necessary vaccines must be administered before the cat is spayed. Laparoscopy is done only three weeks after the last vaccination. The cat needs to be given anthelmintics, get rid of fleas and other possible parasites.

If the animal is already aged or haschronic diseases, it may be necessary to conduct a study of the animal's he alth status. To do this, you need to take a general blood test, make a cardiogram and ultrasound. It is impossible to sterilize a cat during estrus, otherwise the risk of bleeding is high. She must not be fed for 16 hours before the operation. Thus, vomiting can be avoided after anesthesia. The animal should have its nails trimmed so that it is less disturbed by the postoperative suture.

Operating

If all the tests in the cat are in order, the doctor decides to perform the operation. The cat is given general anesthesia. The skin area is moistened with a special solution and the interfering hair is shaved. The skin is disinfected with iodine solution. The operation should take place in a sterile room.

The doctor makes a puncture with a diameter of about 0.3 cm. For this operation, there must be free space in the abdominal cavity, so it is inflated with carbon dioxide.

What does feline laparoscopy equipment look like? This is a small probe with a camera and surgical instruments at the end, connected to a monitor. An endoscope with a camera, a light and surgical instruments are inserted into the puncture. Focusing on the image that appeared on the monitor, the surgeon removes the uterus and ovaries. Stops bleeding and sutures with absorbable thread or uses a special medical adhesive. After the puncture site is disinfected and sealed with a bactericidal plaster.

Caring for a cat after surgery

After laparoscopy, the cat can stay in the clinic or it can betake home. Of course, the first option is preferable, because this way the animal will be supervised and, in case of an emergency, will immediately receive qualified assistance. In the second case, you will have to look after the animals.

Immediately after the operation, you need to put on a blanket for the cat. Spaying by laparoscopy does not leave large postoperative scars, but the animal still needs to be prevented from licking the wound or combing it with its claws. An animal recovering from anesthesia is extremely clumsy. At this time, it can be left in the carrier or released and closely monitored. The cat may try to jump somewhere and fall, or get too close to hot surfaces and get burned. She might urinate, she might vomit.

You need to carefully monitor the condition of the pet. In the event that the animal has a high fever, breathing problems or bleeding has begun, the cat should be taken to the doctor immediately.

Judging by the reviews, sterilization of cats by laparoscopy is the most gentle for the body. The animal quickly returns to normal. Already a day after the operation, all processes in the body are getting better. The cat goes to the toilet on the tray, her appetite increases. You can feed your cat for the first time 6 hours after the operation with non-solid food.

Prevention of excess weight

After sterilization, serious hormonal changes occur in the cat's body. The animal becomes less active, but eats more. If during such a period you do not turnattention to the cat's diet, the animal will quickly gain excess weight, which then will not be so easy to get rid of.

Immediately after the operation, it is advisable not to include fatty and high-calorie foods in the diet. When feeding natural food, it is worth using lean beef, chicken and turkey fillets. Among ready-made feeds, it is better to choose those that are produced specifically for sterilized animals. Food should not lie on the plate all day, and it is not worth feeding the animal every time it asks. You need to feed your cat twice a day. The amount of food should be according to the weight of the pet and the manufacturer's instructions.

To avoid obesity in a sterilized cat, it is worth increasing its activity. After the animal has completely moved away from the operation, and the surgical scar has healed, it is necessary to closely monitor the weight of the pet. For a cat, you need to buy more toys, you need to actively play with it, you can buy special play centers for it. If the animal lives at home and it is vaccinated, the cat can be walked outside on a leash.

Thus, cat laparoscopy is one of the most gentle methods of sterilization.

It can be carried out only in the clinic, giving preference to a highly qualified doctor. The popularity of laparoscopy is just beginning to grow, therefore this method is not practiced in all veterinary clinics. However, when possible, it is preferred over the conventional method for spaying a cat, as it minimizes the possibility of postoperative complications.