Spay and Neuter Surgery

During one of my sessions at Tri County Humane Society, Kim the volunteer coordinator asked if I would be interested in photographing the spays and neuters in the surgery building. I agreed to, though with not having seen a spay or neuter I had no idea what to look forward (or brace) for.

It was a lot more interesting, and a lot less bloody/gorey/icky than I had braced for. The vet was well practiced, and the two ladies who were the techs were interactive and comfortable. There was also a vet tech in training there as well for more of a hands on learning. I apologize for the lack of names, my introduction was casual and assumed as they knew who I was, and I had worked with these ladies before. If I come across their names I will surely make note of them.





**Please note, the following pictures contain spay surgery images, so if your stomach is queasy about stitches, scalpels, cuts, blood and organs you may want to stop here**








The first surgery was a spay on a 6 month old female grey and white kitten. While the vet prepped, the techs prepped the kitten. She was put completely under, with a trachea tube to keep her breathing and a heart rate monitor stuck to her tongue. She was turned onto her back, and tied in a taunt spread eagle position with each foot tied gently to a corner on the table, so as to avoid movement during the surgery. She was then shaved and had her bladder evacuated. Poor little kitten had a lot of urine in there! She was cleaned, then a pale blue drape was laid over her with a hole for the incision. A small cut and some manipulation, and lots of clamps pulled the ovaries out.

 During this time I was snapping away at the vet, with some shots that were focused on the hands. Because there was a light above the table, my camera would read it as a spotlight which created an interesting look and helped to emphasize the delicate movements that were performing the surgery. The second picture below is of the ovaries and uterus, clamped and in process of being removed for sterilization. The third picture is of the female kitten's brother, in prep for his neuter surgery.