OK, maybe not without a few days of warm-up at my local humane society (if they’d ever consent to my volunteerism), but I’m pretty fast (if I do say so myself).
I was compelled to dwell on my cat neuter speed after reading about Dr. Randy Eisel of Naples, Florida. This vet is seeking a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records with his nimble fingers and altruistic intent to highlight the problem of pet overpopulation with some welcome publicity.
The cause needs all the help it can get. Perhaps a little friendly competition would help the PR machine get cranking into overdrive. Whaddaya say, Dr. Eisel? Can you beat a veteran speed knitter?
Um, some competitions you don't want to win. I wouldn't want my pet neutered by a vet -- no matter how skilled -- who was being driven by the desire to set a volume/speed record for Guinness or anyone else.
Yeh, efficiency is good, but only up to a point.
There's gotta be another way to get the message across.
Um, not good PR at all IMHO. I have had a cat neutered by a shelter that insisted they do their own ops for free before releasing the animal. She came out with a wound that looked like it had been closed with 3-4 blanket stitches and was in apparent pain for over a week. Since then I have been keen on selecting my own vet and having them take their time and charge as much as they need to to cover it, please ;)
I'm sure I wouldn't want my own cat neutered in record time but perhaps I should explain that a cat neuter is an extremely simple procedure. A cat spay is *much* harder. And these are neuters, not spays. Moreover, I do believe that the more cats we can neuter in record time (as long as the criteria for a responsible surgery are met) the better for the cat population at large--IMHO as a speed demon and avid cat neuterer.
I think you should realise the words are in flexible use depending on the person and region. Even formal EU documents refer to 'castrating' female pigs. I have certainly been a number of in conversations, often with veterinarians, were neutering was being used to cover both castration and spaying, inclusively.
56 neuters in 10 hours? I'm glad I live on the other side of the country. I don't want my family jewels anywhere close to your scalpel during a neuter frenzy. I hope the men in your life behave themselves... otherwise snip-snip-slash...oh it's just to ghastly to imagine.
I'm with you, Dr. Khuly - it doesn't seem to get any easier/quicker than a cat neuter. One of the vets I work for was an equine practitioner for the bulk of her career and has only been doing small animal for the last two years or so - she loves timing herself on neuters against our more seasoned small animal docs (she does a wonderful job, btw, so all quibblers just pipe down! :P) I'm amazed at that record and am more curious about other aspects of the surgery, i.e., what was their anesthetic protocol? I'm guessing he had techs premed-ing, tubing, etc., left and right, and I wonder if he used gas or injectable anesthesia. The logistics are mind-boggling! Good for him and the cat population in general. I've seen some suture lines from shelter kitties that were less than pristine, but I keep in mind that these kitties would have been homeless or euthanized otherwise...you do the best you can with what you've got. I wonder how bad his fingers/neck hurt at the end of the day!
I'm also in the "not my cat" camp, but Heck, if it gets 57 more cats neutered, sign me up to help out some how.. need someone to mop your brow? get you a drink? I'm so there (ok in spirit, I'm too far away physically)
Dr. Khuly, I'm with you . . .Twice a year I run a $10 spay and neuter day at my clinic in conjunction with a St. Louis area group. Most of the cats that come in are youngsters that were from litters birthed in client's barns or under their neighbors' porches. The majority would not receive any veterinary care without this program, although the numbers of truly feral cats is suprisingly low. The point: everyone got a full exam, the same anesthetic protocol as I use on my regular patients and recovery observation. I'm a stickler for my pretty surgery sites. No corners were cut and I still did over 20 cat spays and neuters in a morning. I could have done more if they had been available. It was my staff's work ethic that kept things moving. They induced and prepped so that I was able to move from patient to patient.
56 neuters in 10 hours? No problem. Just find the cats and my wonderful team could make it possible, . . .but I would have to listen to complaints about "that Tom Cat smell" all day. Ha Ha!
Well, I assume the kitties will still need to be put under anesthesia. I sure hope there will be at least several vets on hand as well as LICENSED vet techs to handle any problems they might get into. Nothing that involves anesthesia is without potential complication, and if someone is so busy trying to make Guiness Book of World records they might not be paying attention to that cat they just handed off to the recovery line who is not coming around quite well enough. After all, ya gotta keep moving to get that prize!
If there were some similar contest to perform vasectomies on human men, I think it would raise some serious questions. I don't know why the same doesn't apply to cats. If there is a contest involved it means there is another priority taking consideration over quality and patient welfare. No matter how simple the procedure, I think competing for some silly record doesn't have a place in a surgical theatre.
I agree that the *cause* needs attention - more animals *do* need to be neutered (spayed and castrated). However, when I read this story, it left a bad taste in my mouth, even though I know how simple a procedure a male neuter is. It sort of implies that quality of the surgery is downplayed by the quantity.
Also, I can hear the clients now, "If this procedure is so darn easy and fast, why are you charging me $$$ ?!?"
I don't think that kind of a record is worthy when it could be of possible harm to the cats. ANY surgery is dangerous and you make it sound like you are more interested in setting a record that the care and safety of the cats. I would NEVER want you as MY vet.
Go for 60! Ten minutes apiece. I assume all you'll be doing is the cutting and stitching, and everything else is for the other people to handle. You may need two teams, leapfrogging to keep the cats coming at a good pace.
Heck, you could take pre-spayed females and just make an incision over the old scar, save some time. (That's what one shady animal shelter I know does, to get more fees out of the adopted cats)
For any of those who have doubts about the intentions of this event I suggest you read the original article in DVM Magazine. It was not done to set a world record (do you really think Guiness would create a speed surgery category?) but rather to promote awareness. 98% of the cats neutered on this day came from a local cat rescue clinic and were done at no charge.
I appreciate all of the comments about our Spay Day, but I continue to be amazed at how many people missed the point.That number of neuters in one day is a walk in the park . I spent half the day giving interviews and talking to reporters and having a pizza party with my staff. We followed all of the exact surgical protocols we do for every other cat neuter and had not a single complication. IT WAS A STUNT PEOPLE!!!! Overpopulation is a huge problem and if we are going to wake the collective consciousness of this society we need to do it loudly and boldly. Most people got the point, others didnt. So be it. For the record, I cant believe Guiness has any interest in sanctioning surgery competitions, even though a couple vets have sent me hate mail whining that they do more than that all the time.We had a great time, we neutered 57 cats (and my associates spayed 40 or so dogs and cats), we raised awareness, and I am incredibly proud of my awesome staff for all of their work. Not a licensed one in the bunch of them and they rock. Keep up all the good work out there and do whatever you can to raise hell about this problem. Go get em!!!
Yeh, efficiency is good, but only up to a point.
There's gotta be another way to get the message across.
I'm with you . . .Twice a year I run a $10 spay and neuter day at my clinic in conjunction with a St. Louis area group. Most of the cats that come in are youngsters that were from litters birthed in client's barns or under their neighbors' porches. The majority would not receive any veterinary care without this program, although the numbers of truly feral cats is suprisingly low. The point: everyone got a full exam, the same anesthetic protocol as I use on my regular patients and recovery observation. I'm a stickler for my pretty surgery sites. No corners were cut and I still did over 20 cat spays and neuters in a morning. I could have done more if they had been available. It was my staff's work ethic that kept things moving. They induced and prepped so that I was able to move from patient to patient.
56 neuters in 10 hours? No problem. Just find the cats and my wonderful team could make it possible, . . .but I would have to listen to complaints about "that Tom Cat smell" all day. Ha Ha!
If there were some similar contest to perform vasectomies on human men, I think it would raise some serious questions. I don't know why the same doesn't apply to cats. If there is a contest involved it means there is another priority taking consideration over quality and patient welfare. No matter how simple the procedure, I think competing for some silly record doesn't have a place in a surgical theatre.
Also, I can hear the clients now, "If this procedure is so darn easy and fast, why are you charging me $$$ ?!?"
Heck, you could take pre-spayed females and just make an incision over the old scar, save some time. (That's what one shady animal shelter I know does, to get more fees out of the adopted cats)