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Pregnant Spay Policies

  • 1.  Pregnant Spay Policies

    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
    Posted 18 days ago
    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

    Hello,

    I'm curious if any of you have pregnant spay policies, especially if you are at a shelter that is considered "no-kill".

    If you do have policies in place, what all do they entail? Do you share this policy openly with the public


    #Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization


  • 2.  RE: Pregnant Spay Policies

    Posted 18 days ago

    Most often here,are found to be early pregnant during routine spays.

    We do have a policy for pregnant spays in our medical policies, in practice it is largely determined on a case by case basis.

    We are considered  a no kill and do not have a conflict in this regard. We are a small volume shelter and spaying a known pregnant animal happens infrequently.

    Will forward the policy if  requested.



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    Rochelle Hamp
    Executive Director
    Headwaters Animal Shelter
    MN
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Pregnant Spay Policies

    Posted 18 days ago

    Like Rochelle, most of our aborted pregnancies are early pregnancies found during routine spay. We also do a case by case basis. If it is for the health of the mother for example. We typically do not abort later term pregnancies as we will send those out to foster.  We do have policies for public animals at our spay/neuter clinics if they happen to be pregnant. Those mostly mirror our in-house animal policies. If a pregnancy is deemed to far along, our vets can refuse to do the spay/abortion. 



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    Erin Robinson
    Foster Coordinator
    Licking County Humane Society
    OH
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Pregnant Spay Policies

    Posted 17 days ago

    The video suggested was awesome.



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    Rochelle Hamp
    Executive Director
    Headwaters Animal Shelter
    MN
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Pregnant Spay Policies

    Posted 18 days ago

    We treat pregnant spays the same as other spays:  we expect the vet to have the technical skills to do it humanely, at any stage of pregnancy, so that the feti remain unconsious and insensate.  This includes allowing the uterus to remain intact and undisturbed after removal, before it is disposed of, following the guidelines of the AVMA and Shelter Vet Association.  If an accident occurs and the uterus is opened, leading to the kittens gaining consciousness, it is the vet's decision whether to euthanize or raise the kittens themselves. 

    We don't have the capacity to foster neonates, even with their mothers; beyond fostering, the likelihood of finding homes for the kittens is close to zero.  The overpopulation of cats in our area is extreme.

    Here are two resources you might find helpful to your discussion:

    Sara C. White, "Prevention of Fetal Suffering during Ovariohysterectomy of Pregnant Animals," Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 240, no. 10 (May 15, 2012): 1160–63, https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.240.10.1160.

    Brenda Griffin et al., "The Association of Shelter Veterinarians' 2016 Veterinary Medical Care Guidelines for Spay-Neuter Programs," Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 249, no. 2 (2016): 165–188.

    I think Hannah Shaw (Kitten Lady) did a beautiful video on the subject, discussing what situation and resources you have in YOUR community:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzPsrkf3YYM

    And here is a photo of "Mega Market Mama", the cat that reminds me why we have this policy:

    People were aware that she was on the streets in late pregnancy, in brutal heat (around 100 F) .  They kept posting pleas for help on social media while she was alive. Nobody would take her to our vet for care and a spay.  She collapsed and died on the street, as you see in this photo, with cat food sprinkled by her as the only thing local people would do to help her. I wasn't in the country at the time, or I would have personally picked her up, driven her to the vet, and managed her recovery after surgery.

    I have no problem defending our pregnant spay policy.  We only contract with vets able to spay all levels of pregnant cats.  And, like Hannah, I can't wait for the day when we'll have the balance of community resources and cats to give us the luxury of being able to foster late-term pregnant cats, knowing their kittens will be cared for and adopted.

    Good luck with your discussions and policy development!



    ------------------------------
    April King
    Volunteer and Board Member
    Kotor Kitties
    +1 206 407 5336
    http://www.kotorkitties.org
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Pregnant Spay Policies

    Posted 17 days ago

    We cover this topic in many of our sessions at the Community Cats Podcast.  The general recommendation is to spay.  But to ensure that there is clear communications with the veterinarian that they are comfortable with this before using them for surgery.  Neighborhood Cats covers this topic in their TNR Handbook too: https://www.neighborhoodcats.org/resources/books-guides



    ------------------------------
    Stacy LeBaron
    Head Cat
    The Community Cats Podcast
    Warren VT
    978-239-2090
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Pregnant Spay Policies

    Posted 17 days ago

    United Spay Alliance also recommends spaying. We also promote Feline Fix by Five -- a campaign to encourage more veterinarians to spay/neuter kittens by five months of age, to prevent more pregnancies before they happen. (We know many shelters and rescues are spaying at 2 months/2 pounds. FFF is especially geared toward private practice vets who are still recommending folks wait until 6 months or older. By dropping their recommended age down by even a month, they can help prevent a number of unwanted litters!)



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    Brianna Lovell Myers
    Administrative Director
    United Spay Alliance
    MD
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Pregnant Spay Policies

    Posted 16 days ago

    We do spay pregnant cats, like others most are early pregnancy but there are some that we do know are pregnant. We do not have a vet on staff and have all of our animals spayed/neutered at the low cost clinics we hold for the public, twice a month. So, if we are able to get a the cat into a vet we spay it. I am fortunate that the vet that runs our low cost clinics and therefore performs all of our pregnant spays is Dr Sara White, who April King referenced in her informative response. I know she is performing the surgery humanely. The problem I run into is that a few of my Board members and volunteers become very upset by these spays. I explain to them that they are humane and we discuss all the horrible things we see that happens to cats and kittens and that there are not enough homes but they are still bothered by it. Any suggestions on how to address that? 



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    Cheryl Koenig
    Volunteer Executive Director
    Sullivan County Humane Society
    NH
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Pregnant Spay Policies

    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
    Posted 16 days ago
    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

    We are a no kill shelter and our policy is to spay all feral cats that we TNR - if we have room we intake all "friendlies" for our adoption program.    For our shelter intakes if we don't know (typically in the first month) or there's a question of the health of the mom, we spay.   If it's a late term pregnancy we normally put in foster and let the kittens be born (unless there are other unique circumstances).   When they're 2 months/2 pounds, we spay Mom and babies and put all up for adoption. 


    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Pregnant Spay Policies

    Posted 14 days ago

    We operate a high-quality, high-volume spay and neuter clinic in Mexico,  which has the dubious distinction of being Latin America's #1 country for dogs and cats living in the streets.

    Today we spayed a female who had TVT.  Yesterday we had a pregnant dog with heartworm.  Not all of our patients are street dogs or cats but those who are are  anemic, malnourished, invariably have ehrlichia, anaplasma, parasites and other trans placental infectious diseases.  In short, they are in no position to give birth or nurse puppies or kittens.

    Our policy is to spay at any stage.  Maybe one day we will be lucky enough to revisit that policy.



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    Ursula Hendel
    Founder
    Granos de Arena
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    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Pregnant Spay Policies

    Posted 13 days ago

    We also spay for most pregnancies. If the animal is an owner-surrender (or an outdoor cat with a caretaker for our TNR program), we do let them have a say... but it's basically "can you foster and care for this family until the kittens or puppies  are 8 weeks old?" and if the answer is "no," we are going to recommend spay. We don't have enough fosters as it is, and it's really hard to get fosters who are able to make a 2-3 month commitment.

    I also recommend Hannah Shaw's video on this topic - it's excellent - and agree with Ursula's comment that maybe one day we'll be lucky enough to be able to revisit that policy! 



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    Erin Dams
    Community Relations Coordinator
    Roanoke Valley SPCA
    Roanoke VA
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    Original Message


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