Services for your cat

Spaying Your Cat

Spaying, or ovariohysterectomy, is the most common surgery performed by veterinarians.  It is a major abdominal surgery, and the cat’s ovaries and uterus are removed.

Why Spay?
Here are several good reasons to spay your cat:

• She won’t go into heat after being spayed.  Cats in heat are extremely annoying and noisy.
• She won’t get pregnant.  Your cat avoids the risks of pregnancy, and you don’t have to deal with a litter of kittens.
• Cats who are spayed before their first heat have a significantly reduced risk of getting breast cancer later in life.
• She won’t suffer from reproductive infections and disorders later in life.
• It controls the population of unwanted cats, who are often euthanized.

When to Spay
There are varying opinions about when to spay your cat.  We recommend spaying at five months of age. Some cats, however, go into heat before they are five months old, especially during later winter and early spring.

Cats who are in heat can be spayed, but there is an increased risk because the blood supply to the uterus is increased.  The surgery requires a bit more care.  If your cat goes into heat before she is spayed, discuss it with your vet.

If your cat is an adult, the best time to spay is now.  The sooner cats are spayed, the fewer health problems they will have later.

The “One Litter” Myth
Some cat owners mistakenly believe that a cat should have one litter before she is spayed.  This is just a myth.  There are no advantages to allowing your cat to have a litter before spaying her.  In fact, there are decided disadvantages:

• Cats who are spayed before their first heat get the most risk reduction for breast cancer.
• Pregnancy and childbirth carry health risks for your cat.
• If she has a litter, you have to suffer through her being in heat first.
• It is expensive to raise a litter of kittens, and it is not always easy to place the kittens in good homes.

Preparing for Surgery
Spaying is major surgery, and your cat will have a general anaesthetic.  To prevent vomiting or choking during surgery, her stomach should be empty.  Remove her food and water the night before her surgery, and keep her indoors so she can’t hunt.

If your cat has not had her vaccinations or been microchipped, it is convenient to do it at the same time she is spayed.

Caring for Your Cat After Surgery
Your cat will probably be sleepy when you take her home.  She will have received pain medicine to keep her comfortable, and that makes her sleepy.  Here are specific instructions for taking care of your cat after surgery:

• Keep her inside in a warm, quiet environment for the first night.  She will need to use a litter box.
• She can have food and water the evening after surgery, but she may not be interested in it.
• If she is not fully awake and eating normally by the day after surgery, please notify your vet.
• Every cat recovers differently.  Let her decide how much activity she wants to do over the next few days.
• Treat her with extra gentleness until she has healed.  Limit contact with other pets and young children.
• Your cat has intra-dermal sutures, which are placed under the skin.  The sutures do not need to be removed, and your cat cannot chew them out.
• Check her surgery site every day for the next few days.  If you notice redness or excessive swelling around the wound, drainage from the wound or opening of the wound take her to the veterinary clinic.
• Call your vet if you have any questions or concerns.

Chronic Pain

Cats are very good at hiding pain and are often overlooked because of it. Pain causes a variety of clinical signs including reduced appetite, difficulty jumping, lameness and resentment of being handled or groomed. Pain relieving medication designed just for cats can be used to effectively relieve pain. The hardest part is usually recognising they are suffering pain.

Kidney disease

We routinely screen cats for evidence of kidney disease and when found, fully investigate the cause so we can recommend the best possible therapy. This often involves analysis urine, imaging the kidneys with ultrasound and collecting a biopsy when indicated. The Cat Clinic excels at diagnosing and managing kidney disease.

Services for your cat

The problems that our senior patients are at risk of developing include:

• kidney disease
• diabetes
• over active thyroid glands
• heart disease
• cancer
• high blood pressure
• arthritis

Over the last few years there have been excellent advances in the treatment of many of these diseases seen in older cats, especially kidney disease. For these new treatments to have their greatest benefit though, they must start early before you notice any signs of illness.

We consider any cat 10 years of age or older to be a senior cat and re recommend that all senior cats start on our Senior Cat Care Program. The program involves a full veterinary check up, weigh in, dental examination, arthritis assessment, blood pressure measurement and some simple blood and urine screening tests designed to detect early signs of disease. Senior cat checks can be done at the same time as an annual vaccination which saves on one extra trip to the vet.

Senior cats should then be reassessed every 6 months to ensure any disease is diagnosed early and optimal treated provided. A senior cat program allows us to provide your cat with the best possible care and advise you on the special needs of your senior cat to ensure a long healthy life.

How old is your cat in human years?

The clinical examination is an essential part of preventative health care, however, we need to do some tests to help up see how the body is functioning. A brief description of the tests and what they mean follows.

Blood pressure is just as important in cats as it is in people, it is much harder to measure in cats though.  We use an ultrasound detector to amplify the pulse to we can make the measurement. High blood pressure is often caused by kidney disease or overactive thyroid glands.

Urine specific gravity is a test on the urine that lets us know how concentrated a cat’s urine is.  Cats are desert animals and they are supposed to have concentrated urine. This is one test where a high result is good. Urine that is not concentrated can be the first sign of many diseases including kidney disease and diabetes. When urine is not concentrated, you will usually see an increase in thirst.
Urine dipstick analysis use test strips to measure the levels of many chemicals in the urine. This is an excellent way of screening for diabetes and urinary tract disease. Information about some parts of kidney function can also be determined.

Creatinine is a waste product that is made in the muscles. The kidneys remove creatinine from the blood. We measure the levels in the blood to help see how well the kidneys are working.  If they are not working well then creatinine will build up to high levels. Although it is the best routine blood test available it is not able to detect very early kidney disease

Urea is a waste product made from the breakdown of spare protein, much of which comes from food. Like creatinine we can measure urea and a build up show the kidneys are not working properly. It is not as accurate a test as creatinine but it will often detect kidney disease slightly earlier.

ALT is an enzyme that is found in the liver and elevated levels indicate liver problems. Common causes of liver problems in older cats include bacterial infections, liver cancer and overactive thyroid glands.

Total protein is a simple test that measures the levels of protein in the blood. Abnormalities can be caused by many problems including inflammation, blood loss, liver, kidney, or intestinal disease.

Packed cell volume is a measure of how many red blood cells your cat has in their blood and tells us if anaemia is present or if there is dehydration.

Phone us today to arrange a senior check for your cat and join our Senior Cat Care Program.

Want to adopt a homeless cat? Our adoption centre is full of healthy kittens and adult cats waiting to be adopted out. They come with a full vet check, first vaccination, worming, flea treatment, microchip, and desexed all for just $195. What a great way to get a healthy cat!

Visit our Adoption Center

Just like we humans do, cats often need a visit to the dentist and we are well equipped to cater for them. If treatment is required for tooth extractions or further dental prophylaxis, a short general anaesthesia is required. This allows complete ultrasonic scaling and polishing of every surface of the teeth. The equipment used is exactly the same high quality you expect when you visit your own dentist. X-rays can be taken of suspicious teeth and when required we perform surgical extractions using an iM3 dental machine. We can even treat fractured canine teeth with either a root canal therapy or pulp capping.
Prevention is always better than a cure. Various Dry foods have been formulated specifically to clean your cat’s teeth as well as a mouth rinse and drinking water additive.

Regular vaccination is an important part of routine health care for your cat and helps to ensure your cat remains fit and well. Many serious and life-threatening diseases can be prevented by vaccination.

The Cat Clinic takes referral for a wide range of cases including

• General medicine
• Oncology – surgical and chemotherapy
• Diagnostic imaging including ultrasound, radiology, dental radiology and endoscopy
• Radio-Iodine therapy for hyperthyroidism
• Dentistry including dental radiography and root canal therapy
• Soft tissue surgery
• Microsurgery
• Vascular surgery
• Orthopaedic surgery
• Renal Transplantation

Our clinic is well equipped with a modern ultrasound machine, video endoscopy and full range of feline surgical equipment.

Perhaps most importantly we have a hospital full of staff that love cats and understand their sometime unusual needs. This leaves the clients very happy that you chose The Cat Clinic to refer to.

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From the moment you walk into the clinic, both you and your cat will appreciate the clean, calm and quiet surroundings. The reception area and consultation rooms are cat friendly and, most importantly, our staff are too. Our veterinarians will understand your cats behaviour no matter how good or bad their manners. They are skilled at handling cats and by focusing on one species they are skilled in recognising and treating cat diseases.