Dr. Allison Pollard makes a short incision in the cat’s shaved belly and inserts a spay hook, feeling for the uterus.
A slight tension on the tool indicates success and she withdraws it with the ovaries. A few snips, a tie-off and then closure with absorbable buried stitches. Done.
Total time: about five minutes. Male cats take even less time. The operation was one of close to 20 accomplished Aug. 12 in the Nova Scotia SPCA’s new mobile spay and neuter clinic while parked outside the Yarmouth shelter.
Media contact Heather Woodin says the SPCA wanted to make this community the first stop for the new service as it’s been made possible, in great part, through the donation of $800,000 from Yarmouth’s late Eleanor Dyke and family announced earlier this year. The SPCA also received a bequest of $1.3 million from Dr. Susan Roberts.
The mobile clinic will be travelling across the province, spaying and neutering feral cats, shelter dogs and also animals on First Nations.
“We’re just working out the process and the flow and getting a sense of where everything is,” said Woodin. “Everything went well and everything works.”
The first round of surgeries was a result of a cat colony survey published on the SPCA’s website last March asking homeowners and Trap Neuter Release groups to report any stray outdoor cats they were seeing or feeding. SPCA staff reviewed the respondents’ information and loaned out live traps.
Woodin was unable to supply a schedule for the mobile clinic’s stops in the province. “There’s a process to go through to get permissions from the Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association,” she said.
The scheduling also depends on when the veterinarian team of Dr. Pollard and vet tech Seanagh Corrigan are available as they are also employed at the SPCA Dartmouth clinic.
“There’s a great need, it’s going to take some time to be everywhere we need to be,” said Woodin.
Coping with feral cats? Here’s who to call:
email SPCA
Friends of TNR contact info:
Rowena d’Entremont: 902-762-2916
Kendra MacIsaac: 902-742-3137
CATSNIP email or call 902-742-6300.
Dr. Allison Pollard makes a short incision in the cat’s shaved belly and inserts a spay hook, feeling for the uterus.
A slight tension on the tool indicates success and she withdraws it with the ovaries. A few snips, a tie-off and then closure with absorbable buried stitches. Done.
Total time: about five minutes. Male cats take even less time. The operation was one of close to 20 accomplished Aug. 12 in the Nova Scotia SPCA’s new mobile spay and neuter clinic while parked outside the Yarmouth shelter.
Media contact Heather Woodin says the SPCA wanted to make this community the first stop for the new service as it’s been made possible, in great part, through the donation of $800,000 from Yarmouth’s late Eleanor Dyke and family announced earlier this year. The SPCA also received a bequest of $1.3 million from Dr. Susan Roberts.
The mobile clinic will be travelling across the province, spaying and neutering feral cats, shelter dogs and also animals on First Nations.
“We’re just working out the process and the flow and getting a sense of where everything is,” said Woodin. “Everything went well and everything works.”
The first round of surgeries was a result of a cat colony survey published on the SPCA’s website last March asking homeowners and Trap Neuter Release groups to report any stray outdoor cats they were seeing or feeding. SPCA staff reviewed the respondents’ information and loaned out live traps.
Woodin was unable to supply a schedule for the mobile clinic’s stops in the province. “There’s a process to go through to get permissions from the Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association,” she said.
The scheduling also depends on when the veterinarian team of Dr. Pollard and vet tech Seanagh Corrigan are available as they are also employed at the SPCA Dartmouth clinic.
“There’s a great need, it’s going to take some time to be everywhere we need to be,” said Woodin.
Coping with feral cats? Here’s who to call:
email SPCA
Friends of TNR contact info:
Rowena d’Entremont: 902-762-2916
Kendra MacIsaac: 902-742-3137
CATSNIP email or call 902-742-6300.
