Public Free Pet Sterilization - Your Experiences

[Girino]

Today my little Serafina (7 mo. old kitty) was take to Zoonosis in San Isidro to be neutered.
We phoned un Tuesday morning to get an appointment, which was the next morning (today). Very fast!
We were told to bring a razor, a sheet, something to cover her after surgery and of course a pet carrier.

I was kind of surprised to hear that I have to bring a razor to shave my cat, anyway we did comply.
We entered the OR, which was a mix between a service room and a vet room. There were cardboard boxes piled up against the wall, a very basic operating table, other 2 cats on the ground, a cabinet with drugs. There was not much space to move.

The seaming was ready and standing on the same operating table where I was told to rest my pet carrier. There was a young vet and a butcher helper, which promptly gave her a shot without much compliments (shouldn't the shot be proportional to the weight?!). Then we were told to wait outside.

30 minutes and the spayed/neutered cats started being "delivered" to their respective owners in the waiting room. Serafina was last to enter and last to exit.
I asked the vet to please note on her record about the operation, and he wrote hysterectomy. I asked why they removed her uterus (which is usually done in adult female cats), and he started lecturing me that it is called orchiectomy in males and .... wait, I was right, he made an ovariectomy, so he corrected the name on Serafina's record.

I asked if he gave her something to wake up and he understood that I asked if I had to give her something to wake her up. And he said no.

When we exited the OR, we were waiting for a remis (which didn't arrive) and Serafina's front leg started trembling. The vets were chatting.
We called a relative, to pick us up and carry us home.
The anesthesia is taking forever to wear off. She nodded her head for 2 hours, then she dragged herself under the bed. She is VERY groggy and scared, her reflexes are slow.

Is this normal? I am so angry with myself for not having chosen a private practice, instead. I asked to our regular vet and to a friend volunteering at the pet association which rescued Serafina, and they all said that the public Zoonosis was fine. I specifically asked if they are serious and dedicate, but unfortunately I am left with the opposite impression.

My past experience with spaying cats in Italy was very different, they were given shot of epi or adrenaline to wake them up after the anesthesia, to see if there was any complication right on the spot. After 3 hours they were up and walking, whereas this is dragging on forever.
Is this the standard practice here or is it just the public service?

Clearly there won't be a second chance with Serafina, but I'd like to know what's out there, anyway.

 

[citygirl]

I was pretty shocked when they gave me back the first cat I had neutered here and he was still under anathesia. In the US they never send them home until they're fully awake. But here that seems to be common practice

The place you're describing sounds really rough but I will say that generally I have found vet clinics here (private) to be very basic, often lacking in any/all diagnostic equipment and yes, pretty unsterile environments.

Hope your kitten recovered. I lost one female during castration as she never woke up from the anasthesia. But the others generally seemed fine after a few hours.

 

[nlaruccia]

After ten years my friend just discovered my male Argentine cat who was neutered here, has no penis nor testicles. How could I have not noticed. I knew that the vet removed the testicles instead of emptying them, but is it normal to remove his penis? Maybe he is really a she, but she has no vagina. I'm totally stumped because I did a thorough check and my cat has no sign of any previous sex organs. My friend asked if he was a transgender. Does that mean he's eligble for the $8.000 peso transvestite stipen?

 

[Girino]

Hope your kitten recovered. I lost one female during castration as she never woke up from the anasthesia. But the others generally seemed fine after a few hours.

It is 11 pm and she is still quiet and groggy, she peed once almost on herself, drank very little water, somewhat managed to take herself to her favorite place, but she is not quite around yet, after 14 hours.
I am really uncomfortable with this, I feel like she was unduly heavily drugged.

They use the same dose for cats, regardless of their age and weight, and she is little and thin, so it looks like they gave her 2-3 times the dose required. I call this negligence, they call this best practice. So much!

 

[kiara]

Today my little Serafina (7 mo. old kitty) was take to Zoonosis in San Isidro to be neutered.
We phoned un Tuesday morning to get an appointment, which was the next morning (today). Very fast!
We were told to bring a razor, a sheet, something to cover her after surgery and of course a pet carrier.

I was kind of surprised to hear that I have to bring a razor to shave my cat, anyway we did comply.
We entered the OR, which was a mix between a service room and a vet room. There were cardboard boxes piled up against the wall, a very basic operating table, other 2 cats on the ground, a cabinet with drugs. There was not much space to move.

The seaming was ready and standing on the same operating table where I was told to rest my pet carrier. There was a young vet and a butcher helper, which promptly gave her a shot without much compliments (shouldn't the shot be proportional to the weight?!). Then we were told to wait outside.

30 minutes and the spayed/neutered cats started being "delivered" to their respective owners in the waiting room. Serafina was last to enter and last to exit.
I asked the vet to please note on her record about the operation, and he wrote hysterectomy. I asked why they removed her uterus (which is usually done in adult female cats), and he started lecturing me that it is called orchiectomy in males and .... wait, I was right, he made an ovariectomy, so he corrected the name on Serafina's record.

I asked if he gave her something to wake up and he understood that I asked if I had to give her something to wake her up. And he said no.

When we exited the OR, we were waiting for a remis (which didn't arrive) and Serafina's front leg started trembling. The vets were chatting.
We called a relative, to pick us up and carry us home.
The anesthesia is taking forever to wear off. She nodded her head for 2 hours, then she dragged herself under the bed. She is VERY groggy and scared, her reflexes are slow.

Is this normal? I am so angry with myself for not having chosen a private practice, instead. I asked to our regular vet and to a friend volunteering at the pet association which rescued Serafina, and they all said that the public Zoonosis was fine. I specifically asked if they are serious and dedicate, but unfortunately I am left with the opposite impression.

My past experience with spaying cats in Italy was very different, they were given shot of epi or adrenaline to wake them up after the anesthesia, to see if there was any complication right on the spot. After 3 hours they were up and walking, whereas this is dragging on forever.
Is this the standard practice here or is it just the public service?

Clearly there won't be a second chance with Serafina, but I'd like to know what's out there, anyway.

Unfortunately vets at public zoonosis are public administration employees which means they rule themselves by the law of the least effort. They were very unprofessional and irresponsible to let you leave with your cat before she recovered from anesthesia.

 

[La Fleur]

Clearly some people have very strong opinions about this topic. I had my two porteno cats (one male and one female) neutered at my own vet when they were about 7 months old. I paid for this but it wasn't very expensive.

The male cat was awake but groggy when I picked him up, but was then up and about within a few hours as if nothing had happened. The tiny female cat required a lot of anaesthetic - my vet said she needed more than any cat she had ever treated to go under enough for the operation. She was out to it when I collected her, and stayed out to it for many hours (the vet told me to expect that because she had so much anaesthetic). And then she stayed in her basket for more than a day afterwards. The vet came to the house the next day to check on her, as I called and was worried about her. The vet gave her some Bach Flowers Rescue Remedy, which really perked her up.

Her very strong spirit stood her in good stead when several years later she fell into the street from a sixth floor balcony. My vet was just wonderful over the four days it took for her to return to the world of normal cat life.

Vets may do things differently here from other countries (eg the waking up thing) but that doesn't mean they are bad vets. Mine is just wonderful and my cats trust her, as do I.

I hope your little Serafina is well now.

La Fleur (another cat lover)

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Cats, at least, you can carry home. When my malamute had a tooth removed recently, he spent all day at the vet, but had to stagger home on the leash (I can't carry an 85-lb dog for five blocks).

 

[Girino]

Serafina recovered fully only after 3 days and I am very glad about this.
I do feel for dogs' owners, I just hope Zoonosis have a room available to dedicate to post-op