It is very important to get street animals neutered. Neutering will ensure that the animal will not breed anymore. This is one of the most compassionate ways to control the population of street animals.
Even pets should be neutered. There is no reason to breed your pets. If you need more pets, please consider adopting animals from shelters or the street. They all need a home. 
When to neuter?
In general, for animals in reasonable good health and sufficient weight, females at least 5 months old and males at least 6 months (ensure both testicles have descended) can be neutered. The reproductive organs contribute hormones for growth, so ideally, 7 months old for both females and males would be a better and safer age provided you can keep the animal confined to prevent mating until then, but please discuss this with your vet. Also, always ensure your animal is healthy before he/she is neutered and please let the vet know of any health conditions they may have.
NEUTERING
IMPORTANT: Please be informed that there are inherent risks in any surgical procedure and therefore, infections, sickness or even death, may occur despite the good faith and best practices of the clinic involved.
Pre-Surgery Stage
1. Ensure that the animal is healthy, to the best of your knowledge.
2. Fast the animal for 8 hours BEFORE you bring the animal to the clinic.
3. All neutering procedures should precede with an appointment as some vets may not entertain walk-ins.
Surgery Day
4. Bring the animal to the clinic by the time as agreed.
5. Be present while the vet examines your animal. The vet may require information about the animal which is crucial to the prescription of the treatment.
6. Ensure that any animal found to be less than 4 months old by the vet is NOT neutered unless there are extenuating circumstances, which would depend on the advice of the vet.
7. Ensure that any female animal found to be pregnant by the vet is NOT spayed. If you choose to do it, you may NOT apply for any aid from us.
8. All neutered community animals must have their ears tipped/notched – this is to prevent the animal from being opened up again in future. Some owners are known to have their home pets’ ear notched as well in case their pets get lost in future and are rescued by others. For males, even though the vet can easily tell if a male animal has been neutered from the absence of testicles but sometimes an undescended testicle may be mistaken for its absence. For females, the absence of the uterus cannot be detected and the incision line often cannot be seen clearly after it has healed. Hence, ear-notching is highly encouraged. It will also enable the easy identification of a neutered animal by sight. If you wish to apply for our neutering aid, the ear-notching is compulsory.
9. Please abide by the advice and instructions of the vet to ensure the wellbeing of the animal.
10. Pick up the animal from the clinic after the surgery by the time as agreed.
Post-Surgery Stage
11. After being neutered, all female animals are to be kept under shelter for at least five days and males for at least two days or until they have fully recovered, or as advised by the vet, before releasing them. Even after releasing, please check on the wound every day until it is fully healed. If there is any sign of possible infection, please take the animal back to the vet immediately.
12. After you have collected your animal(s) and if you are applying for our aid, we need a photo that shows the animal is awake and well. Any further updates from you is highly appreciated as we too are concerned about the animal’s condition/progress.
13. In cases of complications, please take the animal back to the vet for further consultation or treatment.
Boarding
14. If you cannot foster the neutered animal at home, then board him/her at the clinic. But as far as possible, do not board your animal any longer after he/she is fit to be discharged.
REASON 1: So that your animal will not be exposed to diseases, if any, in the clinic environment.
REASON 2: Your animal, once declared fit to be discharged, is better off being fostered by you at home. Many clinics do not have 24 hours monitoring.
REASON 3: The boarding space at the clinic is meant for sick animals. We should be considerate and not deprive a sick animal of the needed hospitalization.
15. If you are not able to foster the animal yourself, please make the necessary arrangements with a fosterer.
The ear-notch or flat tip will ensure your animal will not be accidentally picked up by a good samaritan and sent to the vet for neutering again.
The contents of this website are based on the opinions of Dr Chan Kah Yein, unless otherwise noted. Dr Chan is not a veterinarian and therefore the information on this website is not intended as medical or veterinary advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge based on the experience of Dr Chan and her community and is done so with the best of intentions. For your animals’ medical or veterinary needs, kindly consult your veterinarian or relevant authoritative sources.