Why Us?
There are now 3-4 low-cost spay/neuter places in the area to take your pet. What makes us different? We are the only group that provides 3 days of pain medication to female cats and includes e-collars in the cost of the surgery. How is this better for you and your pet? The obvious is your pet experiences less pain and discomfort post-surgery. E-collars significantly decrease the chance of infection post-surgery–which is when most infections occur. All too often animals lick their incisions, try to pull the sutures out, etc., and the owner ends up with a sick cat or an expensive trip to the ER. We decided that it’s in all of our best interests to send every female surgery patient, and large males, home with an e-collar.
Why are basic vaccines so important?
One of the most heart-breaking things I see as a vet are illnesses that could have easily, and cheaply, been prevented. More often than not I’m talking about Parvovirus in puppies and Calici/herpesvirus/distemper in kittens.
Parvo, while it can be successfully treated ~90% of the time, it can cost $7,000+ to do it. Calici causes mouth ulcers in cats, and makes eating, drinking, and swallowing, painful. Herpes often causes severe eye infections that lead to horrifyingly painful ulcers, permanent vision damage, and is a LEADING CAUSE of enucleation (eye removal). Distemper simply causes death, in 95%+ of cases.
IF you get your puppies/kittens vaccinated AND boostered per guidelines for the first few years of their lives, you can save yourself a significant amount of money, and them a lot of pain/trauma. If there’s anything I can instill in you…. Let. This. Be. It.
Please note: you must provide proof of a current, unexpired rabies vaccination at the time of service to receive a 3-yr rabies vaccine. Otherwise, by law, we can only give you a 1-yr vaccine.
What other routine surgeries do you offer?
Our partner clinic, Michigan Pet Surgery & Dentistry Clinic offers routine surgeries such as: dentals, ear hematomas, degloving injuries, tail amputations, wound care, enucleations, pyometras, entropion (eyelid) procedures, cystotomies (bladder stone removal), small mass removals, etc. We will occasionally do foreign body surgeries and splenectomies. We also will do “unblocking” emergencies for male cats.
We do not do trauma-related surgeries or bone fractures. We will do procedures for cats with standard mandibular symphysis fractures. Price depends on the size of animal, type of surgery, etc. We do not declaw cats.
What equipment do you have?
We have full gas anesthesia equipment, autoclave for instrument sterilization, surgical monitoring including Doppler for blood pressure, dental machine, chemistry analyzer, and the standard supplies and equipment you’d see at most clinics. For other blood work and urinalysis testing we send it to a lab and have the results in 1-2 days. We can provide the same testing capabilities of any veterinary facility.
What are your protocols?
Surgeries are performed under the guidelines by the Association of Shelter Veterinarians’ Veterinary Task Force to Advance Spay/Neuter. This is the gold standard for spay/neuter protocols.
What pre-surgical testing is performed?
Per the spay/neuter guidelines, pre-surgical blood work is deemed ideal and recommended, but not necessary for most patients. Blood work may pick up underlying liver/kidney/other issues, but rarely is it so severe as to affect the choice of whether or not to go ahead with surgery. All anesthesia has a risk. If you would prefer your pet receive pre-surgical blood work, contact us ahead of time or see your veterinarian to have it scheduled. We can send out a full panel of blood work for $100. Arrangements must be made to do this at least 48 hours before the surgery.
What additional services do surgery patients receive?
Flea check, nail trim, physical exam, and pain medication.
How do we operate?
Why do we operate this way?
How are we different than other low-cost S/N groups?
Common Questions from Pet Parents
How do we operate?
In order to keep costs low and continue to expand the services we offer, we primarily operate out of a residential location. This affords us plenty of space and flexibility.
Why do we operate this way?
Because we want to keep our prices as low as possible while providing the highest level of quality. We want to spend our time and money on specialized training and new equipment, not on overhead and administrative costs. We also want to be flexible enough to travel to other counties/states that need us, so a permanent brick and mortar business location is not for us.
How are we different than other low-cost S/N groups?
We offer treatment for other conditions your pet may have, and have the capabilities of a full-service hospital (except for xrays). For people who are looking for a “middle ground” we offer additional options. We already offer a 3-day pain medication in addition to the standard 24-hour anti-inflammatory but an additional 3-day anti-inflammatory can be added, blood work can be performed before surgery, etc.