Are there any complications to a spay or neuter surgery?

The most common and very benign complication we see with the spay is sometimes there'll be a slight reaction to the suture that we use. There might be a tiny bump at that site, which will go away over a matter of a couple of weeks. It's extremely rare to have any kind of complication from a spay or neuter in a cat. I can't even think of one happening here in our hospital ever.

There can be a complication anytime we put a pet under anesthesia. And that's why we recommend doing pre-anesthetic blood work just to make sure organs are functioning appropriately, but that's why every dog or cat that goes under anesthesia gets an exam by a doctor here at Advanced Animal Care, Berea. Some complications can't be predicted, and some will be during the surgery, and some could potentially be after the surgery. Sometimes a suture may break, or there can be a bit of swelling. An infection can develop, so we do our best to prevent any of these from happening, but there is always that possibility.

Complications in neutering can include post-operative hemorrhage, which can be avoided with good surgical technique. Infections at the incision site are rare but can occur. For spay surgeries, potential complications include abdominal infections (peritonitis), bleeding or hemorrhage within the abdominal cavity, ligatures not being tied correctly, or the surgical site opening up. However, these complications are incredibly rare when the procedure is performed by a trained veterinarian with good surgical technique.

Common complications that are associated with these surgeries are hemorrhage or excessive bleeding at the incision site, infection after the incision has been closed, that's why it's very important to make sure that your animal wears an e-collar after these surgeries, or possibly infection within the abdomen.

There can be complications. The number one complication is the dehiscence of the incision site or the sutures coming out of the incision site. This is usually caused by the dog being too active when they first go home. Other complications that can happen are infection at the incision site or infection in the abdomen, which is less likely to happen.