Dog neuters, unless the dog has a retained testicle (known as prepped orchid), are not performed inside the abdomen. Instead, a small pre-scrotal incision is made, from which both testicles are removed, double-ligated, and then the incision is closed.

A dog spay is an ovariohysterectomy, which means that both the ovaries and the uterus are removed. The procedure involves making an incision on the midline of the abdomen. Once inside the abdomen, the ovaries and the uterus are located and removed. Dogs have a right and a left side, called horns, and a cervix. Everything above the cervix, which is both ovaries and the uterus, is removed. The abdomen is then closed up with a three-layer closure once the spay has been performed.

We would not recommend it because your kitten will not be fully protected. We recommend not letting them outside until they have received their rabies vaccine.

If your kitten misses a vaccine, give the veterinary clinic a call, and we will look at the vaccines that we've already given and that your kitten still may need. We can then come up with a new schedule.

Usually, the vaccines are safe, but with anything in life, nothing is 100%. Sometimes we do see decreased appetite or lethargy for about 24 hours. On very rare occasions, we see more severe vaccine reactions that need treatments. However, 99% of the time, it's just a little bit of lethargy. Sometimes the injection site hurts a little bit for 24 hours, but that's really it.

Yes. We do want to vaccinate them for basic protection against any viruses that we have vaccines for. Also, kittens and cats can sometimes escape outdoors, where they may come in contact with other cats. We want to make sure that they're protected. So we do recommend boosting those vaccines, even through adulthood. Additionally, if they ever go to boarding facilities or a groomer, they will need those vaccines to be protected.

Usually, we start at eight weeks of age. We don't want to start before six weeks because the kittens may still have some protection from maternal antibodies. At eight weeks of age, we usually start with the FVRCP vaccine, and they usually get three to four of those throughout their kittenhood. With feline leukemia, we start a little bit later and they get two doses of those. But as I said, we usually don't start before eight weeks of age.

For kittens, the core vaccines are FVRCP, which contains some upper respiratory viruses and also an intestinal virus. We also consider feline leukemia a core vaccine in kittens because we want them protected, and they should get at least two of those vaccines, regardless of whether they're going to be indoor cats or outdoor cats in the future. With adult cats, if they're indoor only and we start seeing them as adults and we don't have a vaccine history, we usually skip that vaccine, but we want our kittens to be protected. Another core vaccine is rabies, which is required by law in most of the states in the U.S. and is one of the most important vaccines we can give.

Let them set their own activity level. However, it's safer to keep them indoors as predators could pick them off as they get slower with progressing pregnancy. They will usually set their own activity level.

Transitioning your cat to kitten food one to two weeks before they start giving birth is a good idea. However, do it slowly to avoid causing stomach upset.