Tip of the Week: Tat’s All, Folks
Did you ever wonder, Is this animal already spayed or neutered?
A tattoo placed on the lower abdomen of spayed and neutered animals is a great way to indicate that an animal has been surgically altered. Doing this avoids an abdominal exploratory surgery to determine that sterilization has already been performed.
There are a number of different techniques for placement of a tattoo. Information about techniques, as well as related videos, can be found here.
Doing this already? Need to ‘ink’ about it first? Let us know your thoughts.
Meet us here every Monday for tips we’ve gleaned and seen that may make your life a little easier, make a routine process go a little faster or deliver some extra comfort for the animals in your care.
Photo courtesy of Brenda Griffin, DVM, MS, DACVIM
Related links:
“Tip of the Week: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow”
Spay/Neuter: Resources for Veterinarians
Association of Shelter Veterinarians
Tags: Shelter Health, Spay/Neuter, Tip of the Week, Tips
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Caryl-Rose Pofcher Says:
My vet agreed to do this with my dog if I got him info about purchasing supplies and technique. She’ll be spayed next month and I like to think this will start him doing this routinely in his practice. I never expect my girl to become a stray…but who does? It’s a wise practice to tattoo.
Peg Nemoff Says:
While a tattoo on the incision line is good, the dog still has to be sedated and shaved to find the mark. A better option would be to place a mark in a location where you wouldn’t have to make the critter endure knock down and shaving. With feral cats, while under sedation for sterilization, we give them each a left ear tip which involves cutting off an approximately 4mm slice from the tip of the left ear. If you don’t want to ear tip the canines, then give them an inside ear tattoo to mark them as already sterilized. Then there is no question as to whether they are spayed or not.
Elyse Orecchio, Shelters' Edge Says:
Hi Peg,
Thanks for your comment. We checked in with the ASPCA’s Dr. Kathleen Makolinski, who said the following:
Eartipping free-roaming cats following spay/neuter is a great idea! Since an ear tip can be seen from a distance, cat caregivers can try to avoid trapping those cats who have already been sterilized and focus on those cats who still need the surgery.
Making a tattoo on the inside of the ear of a dog or companion cat is also valuable. However, if shelter staff or veterinary personnel in private practice do not search for this mark every time, a female dog or cat may undergo unnecessary surgery only to determine that the animal has already been spayed. A vast majority of dogs and cats can have their abdomen shaved, as if looking for a spay scar, while they are fully awake. And, if an already spayed animal happens to be anesthetized in preparation for surgery, it would be very easy to spot the tattoo on the abdomen prior to commencement of surgery.
Kathleen V. Makolinski, DVM
Senior Director, Grants and Spay/Neuter Programs
Veterinary Outreach
Mary Ellen Zoulas, DVM Says:
I tried to check out each of the 4 videos on tattooing and each said that they had been removed.
Elyse Orecchio, Shelters' Edge Says:
Thanks Mary Ellen, we’re looking into this and we’ll get back to you.