Humane Society- Low Cost Spay and Neuter. Is it safe?
Hello friends,
Indy is coming up on 6 months old. We are ready to get him fixed to avoid marking and aggression. Our vet will charge upwards of $270, while the Humane Society in our area provides a Fix-a-Pet service for $55.
Our vet told us to be wary of low cost spay and neuter places because they do not offer as much pain medication and do not perform pre-surgery blood tests. I'm not sure if she is saying this because she wants business or has really had issues with this other service.
I feel like Indy should be a typical case as he has been a very happy and healthy pup.
What are your thoughts? Anyone have any experience with low cost spay and neuter places? I want Indy to be safe, but I don't want to spend over $200 unless it really makes a difference.
Thanks in advance!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tomahawk and Fences on
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Tomahawk and our kitten Maddie were fixed for free under a grant through our local sheriff's department. We didn't have to pay anything but the pain medication. It was done at a vet's office, but we did not do any bloodwork beforehand and everything came out fine for the most part. Tom did have some issues with the dissolvable sutures and leaking but he did come out of it ok.
I mean, whenever you adopt a pet from a shelter, they usually go home to you fixed. One of my previous adopted dogs was neutered the day I went to pick him up and they didn't give me any pain meds or a cone of shame. I just had to go to my vet and purchase it there.
Talk to the Humane Society about their program. If you do not feel comfortable after speaking with them, then you can try seeing if other vets in your area offer the service at a cheaper price. The vet clinic close by wanted to charge me around $200 and a vet clinic closer to downtown would have done it for about $90.
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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth and Indy on
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I will definitely check around at different vet offices around town. Thanks for the input!
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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We neuter / spayed all our rescues at the humane society, around $50-70. No problemo.
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That is great to know, Sam. Thanks!
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Permalink Reply by Mai on
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I got Chuckie neutered 2 months ago when he was 5 months old at a foundation called the H.O.P.E. Foundation and it was only $55. He was fine. We didn't get any pain medication and everything turned out great. No problems at all!
Before I took him to the foundation, I called around too and it was in the $200 and up at all the vet clinics in my area.
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I have heard that males heal quickly since it's not very invasive. Thanks! I'm glad to hear positive responses.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Well, I suppose I'll be the opposing point of view. :-) There is a reason they do pre-surgery blood work. A friend had a healthy pup from a nice breeder and went for a neuter only to have the vet call and say come get the pup and they could not do the surgery; he had really bad liver results on his blood work and it turned out he had some sort of congenital liver problem that about six months of some kind of supplements and special diet helped to the point that he could then get surgery. Since anesthesia is processed through the liver, dogs with liver problems face serious risks if they go under anesthesia. I would never do surgery without a blood test unless I had no other choice.
As for pain meds, in a neuter on a young pup only minimal pain control will probably be needed afterwords. A spay, on the other hand, is very painful.
Choice is yours. If it were my dog, I'd rather spend the extra $200 and know that all the blood tests were done and the pet was monitored until fully out from under the anesthesia. I would not hesitate to bring in a stray or something for catch-spay-release to a low-cost clinic because my risk tolerance would be higher, if you know what I mean.If there were liver or kidney function issues that might effect response to anesthesia, you would not see it in the every day behavior of your pet.
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Luckily, Indy is male, so it shouldn't be too terribly painful for him. Do you know what causes such liver problems? I would hate to find that out about Indy.
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Permalink Reply by Snickmom on
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Our vet always asks if we want the blood work up and pain meds, they are optional. I agree with Beth. Since I can afford it, I don't want to take the chance of a hidden problem.
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Permalink Reply by Lemmy Winks on
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Where I am, pre blood tests are optional, and I've heard mixed things about the HS here; "it was fine" and " They're a gawd-d@^m chop shop!" have been a quotes by people who went to them.... I would question the HS first about who does the work and if possible contact people who've gone threw them. You can never ask to many questions! If your boys well being on the line.
Another thing, I'm not sure if its the same with you, but here, you have to provide proof of income ( so prove you're in the poverty line) for them to do the discounted spay/ neuter.
Best of luck!
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Yikes! That is not a happy review. I will take your suggestion and get some references. I checked with our Humane Society here and it does not matter what sort of income you have for the low-cost spay/neuter. I guess that is a state by state sort of thing.
Thanks!
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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Your vet is correct in saying that they do not offer pre-anesthetic bloodwork or pain meds, however this doesn't necissarily mean its not safe. If if was a female dog I'd say have your vet do it, but for the males it is a much less invasive procedure and I'd say 9 times out of 10 you don't need much in the form of pain meds. You can talk to your vet about possibly doing the bloodwork there and getting some pain meds for the procedure but having the procedure done at a clinic. No vet will decline to do a pre-anesthetic blood panel. The low cost spay/neuter clinics in my area are done by volunteer vets, one of the vets who works at my clinic often does these procedures, the pets are monitored by lisenced technicians so they do have somebody monitoring. No doubt your vet would do a better job as far as monitoring and pain control go but honestly if I had a male dog and didn't work at a vet, I'd probably just do the bloodwork at my normal vet and then have the surgery done at a clinic.
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