anesthetic alternatives, neutering

najen

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I have 11 month old cat and he has been spraying. I need to get him neutered but he has a heart murmur. Are there any alternatives?
 

semiferal

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I agree - talk to your vet. Many kittens and young cats have heart murmurs and they usually are nothing serious.
 

stampit3d

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I don`t know if a vet would do it or not...but I think it could be done with a local...(as some farm animals are done with nothing to even numb them.)
Wanna hear a wild story???? (Don`t read any further if you are at all squimsh)
Years ago (when I was a teenager)I knew a girl who had several cats...and she fixed the males herself. I actually witnessed it....she had the cat on a towel in her lap while she was petting it...then she just reached down with a new razor blade and made 2 little slits in the bag, popped the testicles out and cut the cords...then gently pulled a bit on the cats tail to pull the cords back in. Took no time at all and the cat never even tried to get off her lap. It did little more than squirm a bit. Hardly any blood at all. She just continued to pet the cat and it acted as if nothing had even happened. I was in such total shock I could hardly believe my eye balls!
I would`nt attempt such a thing myself...but the experience does lead me to believe that this surgery could certainly be done with a local .
 

semiferal

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Originally Posted by stampit3d

I don`t know if a vet would do it or not...but I think it could be done with a local...(as some farm animals are done with nothing to even numb them.)
Wanna hear a wild story???? (Don`t read any further if you are at all squimsh)
Years ago (when I was a teenager)I knew a girl who had several cats...and she fixed the males herself. I actually witnessed it....she had the cat on a towel in her lap while she was petting it...then she just reached down with a new razor blade and made 2 little slits in the bag, popped the testicles out and cut the cords...then gently pulled a bit on the cats tail to pull the cords back in. Took no time at all and the cat never even tried to get off her lap. It did little more than squirm a bit. Hardly any blood at all. She just continued to pet the cat and it acted as if nothing had even happened. I was in such total shock I could hardly believe my eye balls!
I would`nt attempt such a thing myself...but the experience does lead me to believe that this surgery could certainly be done with a local .
My childhood best friend's dad used to do that. When they lived on a farm, they'd neuter all the male barn cats with razor blades on the picnic tables. None of the females were spayed but without any intact males around, they never got pregnant.

It's nowhere near as good as neutering by a vet, of course, but in terms of population control it's certainly a whole lot more civilized and humane than drowning the kittens.

But for a cat with a heart problem (and a heart murmur does not necessarily imply a heart problem), the stress of being conscious for surgery will probably be harder on him than light gas anesthesia. I'd go ahead with the surgery.
 

plebayo

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Talk to your vet. The vet will assess how bad it is. Usually neuters are done in like 5 minutes. It's really not invasive. They would probably put him under, hook him to an EKG. Quick as the vet can neuter him, and get him up ASAP. We get alot of prophy's with mur-murs. And we're just super sure to get the animal down and then up again. There is also several kinds of anesthetics. And your vet would pick the safest for your cats condition.
 
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