Our Spay-Neuter Work:
Prevention is the kindest way!

The kindest and most cost-effective way to have a dramatic impact on the largest number of cats and dogs is to invest in a well-designed spay-neuter program!

Kotor Kitties started in Kotor, the City of Cats, with the family vet of two of our founders. He immediately liked the idea of building a high-volume sterilization program. He saw the benefit of giving us a lower price that was fair to him and allowed us to sterilize as many cats as possible. He already practiced the surgical techniques that allow cats to recover quickly and return as soon as possible to their lives outside. Best of all, he was interested in learning the protocols to sterilize a high volume of community cats.

Our spay-neuter program has grown to include four veterinary clinics in different parts of the country. We require that any veterinarian interested in working with Kotor Kitties learns to work safely with cats in traps and use the proven techniques that allow the cats to return quickly and safely to their lives in the community. These are not widely known or practiced by vets in Montenegro.

Most community cats don’t have the luxury of a warm house and loving family to monitor their recovery after surgery. Many of the cats would find a sudden change of environment highly stressful, because they aren’t well socialized to an indoor environment and attentive people.

“Quick spay” techniques were developed to allow these animals to have a fast recovery, experience less pain, with as little fuss and handling as possible, so they can get back to their familiar territory and routines.

The large incisions that people used to see on their pets following spay or neuter surgery are rapidly disappearing in many parts of the world. The large incision size reflected the vet’s need to insert their fingers to feel and look for the ovaries and uterus. The technique which Kotor Kitties vets now use begins with a small, neat incision through which the vet inserts a “spay hook” to gently follow the curve of the abdominal wall and “feel” for the animal’s reproductive organs.

The “flank spay,” on the cat’s side, has become less common as well, except in the case of lactating females. In its place is an incision along the midline of the abdomen. The small incision on the abdomen stays warmer and the incision is better protected below the animal. New knots were developed, which are quicker to tie off blood flow to the organs before removal. Using dissolvable suture material eliminates the need for a post-operative vet visit to remove stitches. With the smaller incision, only a couple of stitches are necessary.

The result of all these changes is a quicker procedure for the cat, resulting in less time spent under anesthesia, a quicker wake-up and a faster return to normal life. They no longer need 7 to 10 days of at-home recuperation. The smaller incision also means less pain for the cat following surgery, although they still receive an analgesic for pain management. For the vet it means less time spent per cat, less anesthesia, and less suture material. These surgeries cost less in time and material.

To make it easier to identify community cats who have already been sterilized, the final step in the surgical process is to remove the top centimeter of a cat’s ear tip. This recognizable marker protects them from an unnecessary trip to the vet and opening for a second, unneeded surgery.

Our protocol calls for left tip removal for males and right tip for females. Some programs only tip one ear, regardless of gender. Whether or not the tip signifies the cat’s gender, it is an internationally recognized symbol of a sterilized cat. Please note that the tip is only about their ability to reproduce, and does not say anything about whether a cat is friendly or feral, owned or not.

Spay-neuter surgery is the most common operation veterinarians perform on cats and dogs.* There is always some risk with surgery and anesthesia, but the risk is very small in spay-neuter surgeries and it is offset by the tremendous benefit to the animals. 

For females the risk of uterine and breast cancer is greatly reduced (or removed), and in males the risk of developing an enlarged prostate gland or testicular cancer decreases. Without the hormonal drive for reproduction, males are less likely to be involved in fights, contract infectious diseases, be hit by cars, or mark their territory with urine. Females become more relaxed and content without the estrus cycle. They make better pets, and they’re better neighbors in the community.

Best of all, when you’re faced with massive overpopulation of unwanted animals such as Montenegro has, it is a humane way to reduce the overall population when a targeted approach is used through TNR.

*According to the American Veterinary Medical Association

Prevention is the kindest way!