Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Pain and surgery time in cats after different spay methods
By Case, J Brad et al.·Published in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association·2015·From the Department of Small Animal Surgery, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Comparison of surgical variables and pain in cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy, laparoscopic-assisted ovariohysterectomy, and laparoscopic ovariectomy.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 18 healthy cats underwent different types of spay surgeries: laparoscopic ovariectomy (LOVE), laparoscopic-assisted ovariohysterectomy (LAOVH), and traditional ovariohysterectomy (COVH). The cats that had the laparoscopic procedures experienced less pain four hours after surgery compared to those that had the traditional method. While the laparoscopic surgeries took longer, they did not have major complications, and the overall discomfort was lower for the laparoscopic groups. This suggests that laparoscopic spaying is a safe option that may help your cat recover more comfortably.
People also search for: cat spay surgery options · laparoscopic spay recovery · cat pain after spay surgery
Abstract
Laparoscopy is an established modality in veterinary medicine. To date, laparoscopy in feline surgery is rarely reported. The objectives of this study were to compare surgical time, complications, and postoperative pain in a group of cats undergoing laparoscopic ovariectomy (LOVE), laparoscopic-assisted ovariohysterectomy (LAOVH), and ovariohysterectomy via celiotomy (COVH). Eighteen healthy cats were randomly assigned to undergo LOVE, LAOVH, or COVH. Severity of pain was monitored 1, 2, 3, and 4 hr after surgery. Surgical time was significantly longer for LAOVH (mean ± standard deviation [SD], 51.6 ± 7.7 min) compared to COVH (mean ± SD, 21.0 ± 7.1 min) and LOVE (mean ± SD, 34.2 ± 11.2 min). There were no major intraoperative complications, although minor complications were more common in both laparoscopic groups. Cats sterilized via laparoscopy (LOVE and LAOVH) were statistically less painful than cats spayed via celiotomy (COVH) 4 hr following surgery. Results suggested that LOVE in cats is safe, can be performed in a comparable amount of time as COVH, and may result in less postoperative discomfort.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25415216/