Spaying
Spaying your pet has many benefits. The procedure prevents female animals from becoming pregnant and reproducing, helping your dog or cat live a longer, healthier life. Spaying will not change your pet’s personality.
By spaying your female pet, you protect her against potentially deadly diseases, including bacterial infections, reproductive tract diseases, and several types of cancer. You also won’t have to worry about her going into heat. This means avoiding the mess that often accompanies the heat cycle in female dogs and the pacing and crying that happens with female cats. In addition, spaying your pet will help control the dog and cat overpopulation problem, keeping more animals out of shelters.
Spaying, which involves removing the ovaries and uterus, is a surgical procedure and does need to be performed with the pet under anesthesia. We follow strict protocols and continually monitor your pet’s vital signs to help ensure her safety. Please see the descriptions under Anesthesia and Patient Monitoring for more information on what we do to keep your pet safe.
Call or visit our clinic to set up an appointment to have your pet spayed or to learn more about this procedure. If you are struggling with deciding whether to spay your pet, please contact us to discuss your concerns.
Neutering
Neutering your pet has many benefits. The procedure prevents male animals from reproducing and can help your dog or cat live a longer, healthier life. Neutering will not change your pet’s personality.
By neutering your pet, you’re reducing or eliminating his risk for prostate and testicular cancer, as well as sexually transmitted diseases. Neutering will also reduce or eliminate undesirable and embarrassing behavior, including roaming, fighting, humping, and spraying. In addition, neutering your pet will help control the dog and cat overpopulation problem, keeping more animals out of shelters.
Neutering, which involves removing the testicles, is a surgical procedure and does need to be performed with the pet under anesthesia. We follow strict protocols and continually monitor your pet’s vital signs to help ensure his safety. Please see the descriptions under Anesthesia and Patient Monitoring for more information on what we do to keep your pet safe.
To set up an appointment to have your pet neutered or to learn more about this procedure, please call or visit our clinic. If you are struggling with the decision of whether to neuter your pet, please call us or stop by so we can discuss your concerns.
Soft Tissue Surgery
At our clinic, we perform many types of soft tissue surgeries which are not associated with bone.
Common soft tissue surgeries we perform include spays, neuters, and front declaws in cats. Declawing cats is a controversial topic. At Stateline Animal Clinic, we will perform a front declaw on a cat after counseling the owner about the benefits and disadvantages of declawing. We do not routinely declaw the back feet of cats because we do not want to leave the pet without claws if it needs to defend itself.
Lump or mass removal is another common surgery we perform. After removing a mass, we send a sample to the laboratory for testing. The test will help determine whether the mass is benign or cancerous and what treatment, if any, is necessary.
We also perform surgeries such as bladder stone removal (cystotomy), foreign body removal from the stomach/intestines (gastrotomy/enterotomy), and abdominal mass removal. If your pet needs surgery that we do not provide, we will refer you to a veterinary specialist.
Orthopedic Surgery
We can perform orthopedic surgery in our clinic. If your pet requires a procedure we do not perform, we will refer you to an orthopedic surgeon.
Leg fractures are the most common orthopedic problem presented at our clinic and usually result from a mishap with an automobile. They can be treated in various ways depending on the location and type of fracture. We can apply a cast to treat certain fractures; however, many fractures will require surgical intervention:
- “Pinning” stabilizes the fracture by inserting a long stainless steel rod into the middle of the bone across the fractured area.
- “Plating” involves attaching a flat stainless steel plate to the bone using screws on either side of the fracture.
- “External fixation” stabilizes fractures using a series of pins on the outside of the leg that pass through the skin and into the bone on either side of the fracture.
We also perform a lot of orthopedic surgeries related to hip dysplasia and disc disease. Please contact us if you have any questions about these procedures or if you think your pet might benefit from them.