The Association of Shelter Veterinarians veterinary medical care guidelines for spay-neuter programs

Abstract

As efforts to reduce the overpopulation and euthanasia of unwanted and unowned dogs and cats have increased, greater attention has been focused on spay-neuter programs throughout the United States. Because of the wide range of geographic and demographic needs, a wide variety of programs have been developed to increase delivery of spay-neuter services to targeted populations of animals, including stationary and mobile clinics, MASH-style operations, shelter services, feral cat programs, and services provided through private practitioners. In an effort to ensure a consistent level of care, the Association of Shelter Veterinarians convened a task force of veterinarians to develop veterinary medical care guidelines for spay-neuter programs. The guidelines consist of recommendations for preoperative care (eg, patient transport and housing, patient selection, client communication, record keeping, and medical considerations), anesthetic management (eg, equipment, monitoring, perioperative considerations, anesthetic protocols, and emergency preparedness), surgical care (eg, operating-area environment; surgical-pack preparation; patient preparation; surgeon preparation; surgical procedures for pediatric, juvenile, and adult patients; and identification of neutered animals), and postoperative care (eg, analgesia, recovery, and release). These guidelines are based on current principles of anesthesiology, critical care medicine, microbiology, and surgical practice, as determined from published evidence and expert opinion. They represent acceptable practices that are attainable in spay-neuter programs.

Usefulness of a general anesthesia protocol and work organization in mass castration and sterilization programs for dogs and cats

“…It is very likely that assessments based on clinical examination could be inadequate in detecting animals with subclinical diseases or those suffering from parasitosis, which could further increase the risk of anesthesia. However, in the opinion of the authors of this article and the authors of Anesthesia and Analgesia Guidelines for High Quality, High Volume Spay/Neuter Initiatives, the benefits of the surgery take precedence over the risk (12).…”

“…Nevertheless, the use of estimated body weight may be necessary when dealing with large numbers of patients, such as in spay and neuter clinics organized by universities in the United States (7,12).…”

“…Unlike similar clinics organized abroad, our clinics did not conduct a rigorous selection of patients, did not perform routine tests for FIV or FeLV in cats, and did not take into account the estrous cycle phase in bitches (7,12). It is very likely that assessments based on clinical examination could be inadequate in detecting animals with subclinical diseases or those suffering from parasitosis, which could further increase the risk of anesthesia.…”

“…One should not only choose the right anesthetic protocol, but also closely monitor the anesthetized patient and correctly respond to any problems that may arise during surgery (2). According to the United States Association of Shelter Veterinarians' Standards, the most important elements of patient safety during surgery are fluid therapy, preventing body temperature decrease (animals with reduced body heat take longer to recover due to the slower metabolism of drugs (9)), and the proper monitoring of the patient during the induction phase of anesthesia and under sedation (12).…”

“…To select an anesthesia protocol for spay and neuter clinics that would be the most suitable for Polish conditions, we compared our protocol with protocols used by St. Edward Island and Purdue University clinics (7,12) in terms of the mode of medicine administration, the cost of anesthesia, maintenance of anesthesia, and the level of complications.…”