Why is it so hard to find a spay and neuter clinic?

[Anonymous]

The advice we received was to take our dog to a clinic that just does spay/neuters for the safest results, but I literally can’t find one that has an opening. They’re all booked for months out and/or restricted to low income families. Is this normal? Not in DMV fwiw

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The advice we received was to take our dog to a clinic that just does spay/neuters for the safest results, but I literally can’t find one that has an opening. They’re all booked for months out and/or restricted to low income families. Is this normal? Not in DMV fwiw

Long wait is normal for low cost spay/neuter clinics. Just get in line and wait, it's not an emergency procedure.

[Anonymous]

Lots of cases does mean they know how to do the surgery but ime you can get safe surgery and convenient aftercare {eg animal rips a stitch, gets infection) with a local vet at high cost.
If money isn't the consideration do you have a trusted vet? If not you will need one. If you don't trust the one you have then hmmm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of cases does mean they know how to do the surgery but ime you can get safe surgery and convenient aftercare {eg animal rips a stitch, gets infection) with a local vet at high cost.
If money isn't the consideration do you have a trusted vet? If not you will need one. If you don't trust the one you have then hmmm.

We have a vet, but I wanted to go to a place that does them primarily. Our vet does not

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The advice we received was to take our dog to a clinic that just does spay/neuters for the safest results, but I literally can’t find one that has an opening. They’re all booked for months out and/or restricted to low income families. Is this normal? Not in DMV fwiw

Long wait is normal for low cost spay/neuter clinics. Just get in line and wait, it's not an emergency procedure.

We don’t need low cost, just a place that does them day in and day out

[Anonymous]

Your vet doesn't do them regularly? What kind of vet doesn't regularly perform spay/neuter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The advice we received was to take our dog to a clinic that just does spay/neuters for the safest results, but I literally can’t find one that has an opening. They’re all booked for months out and/or restricted to low income families. Is this normal? Not in DMV fwiw

Long wait is normal for low cost spay/neuter clinics. Just get in line and wait, it's not an emergency procedure.

We don’t need low cost, just a place that does them day in and day out

It's a packaged deal - vets that do spay/neuter day in and day out tends to be in low cost clinics. You mentioned some around you have income limit - did you check if they have sliding scale fees that you can pay if your income is above the states limit?

[Anonymous]

I don’t understand why some people think these spay and neuter clinics are more qualified than their vets. I feel like our pets got more personalized attention and care from our trusted vet who wasn’t just powering through a list of spays for the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why some people think these spay and neuter clinics are more qualified than their vets. I feel like our pets got more personalized attention and care from our trusted vet who wasn’t just powering through a list of spays for the day.

I feel the same. It's not the ONLY thing they do but these are very, very common procedures so they're doing a heck of a lot of them. Would never occur to me to seek out a high volume low cost clinic unless it was a money issue.

[Anonymous]

Have you just googled? This is what I did, and I found multiple spay and neuter clinics in my location, and yes, they do book months out, which is normal. My dog was seen rapidly because it was a medical emergency: he was sick with an enlarged prostate and neutering is the first surgical act that's recommended. But otherwise I would have waited patiently.

Is there a reason why you need the neuter immediately, like needing to board your dog? There are multiple sitters on Rover who are fine with an intact male or female. There's a box to check for it.

And yes, for best results, you should definitely stick to a surgeon who only does spays and neuters, day in, day out.

[Anonymous]

SpayNow is not convenient but is basically the Planned Parenthood of pets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why some people think these spay and neuter clinics are more qualified than their vets. I feel like our pets got more personalized attention and care from our trusted vet who wasn’t just powering through a list of spays for the day.

They are. In surgery, motor hand and eye coordination counts for a lot in the outcome. If you do exactly the same procedure all the time, your skill level for that procedure will be absolutely unmatched. It works for human surgeries as well. You actually DO want someone who does the same surgeries all the damn time. Bedside manner for surgery is not important at all - you're out like a light anyway, or your dog is. No surgeons and team are going to be cruel to your animal - that's not why they're in this business, PP! They're going to give your dog/cat the best care, because the best care means a clean and precise act done in the shortest amount of time to minimize anesthesia risks, all because they know exactly what to do.

You need to understand what's important here. "Personalized attention and care" doesn't mean what you think it means when it comes to surgery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why some people think these spay and neuter clinics are more qualified than their vets. I feel like our pets got more personalized attention and care from our trusted vet who wasn’t just powering through a list of spays for the day.

They are. In surgery, motor hand and eye coordination counts for a lot in the outcome. If you do exactly the same procedure all the time, your skill level for that procedure will be absolutely unmatched. It works for human surgeries as well. You actually DO want someone who does the same surgeries all the damn time. Bedside manner for surgery is not important at all - you're out like a light anyway, or your dog is. No surgeons and team are going to be cruel to your animal - that's not why they're in this business, PP! They're going to give your dog/cat the best care, because the best care means a clean and precise act done in the shortest amount of time to minimize anesthesia risks, all because they know exactly what to do.

You need to understand what's important here. "Personalized attention and care" doesn't mean what you think it means when it comes to surgery.

This 💯
When I needed surgery - I went to the doctor who did it day in/day out, that particular type only (and that surgeon won't even take my without my diagnosis). And the last thing I care was his bedside manners.
Same for my dogs procedure - Spaynow, 4 month wait, 2 visits (pre-op labs and surgery itself).
And I do like our vet for all other things

[Anonymous]

Good. Cheap. Fast. Pick two.

It's not hard to find a spay and neuter clinic. At all. It can be hard to find a cheap one that can see you this week though. Take a number and get in line, OP.

[Anonymous]

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