Hearing from your veterinarian that your cat needs surgery can be a scary and overwhelming experience. Endless scenarios go through your mind, such as pain, risk, and post-operative care. However, laparoscopic surgery might be a viable alternative to traditional surgery, which is minimally invasive, significantly less painful, and offers a shorter recovery time. When making a decision about your cat’s surgery, At Calusa Veterinary Center, we work extremely hard to bring you factual information you can trust. We’ve taken the most frequently asked questions about cat laparoscopic surgery and answered them as thoroughly and accurately as possible to ensure you have the facts.
If you’re looking for a highly trained veterinarian in Boca Raton, FL, we’d love to see your cat for any laparoscopic surgical needs, so please call us at (561) 786-1100.
What is laparoscopic surgery or keyhole surgery?
Laparoscopic surgery uses specialized equipment to make tiny keyhole incisions into your cat’s abdomen to gain access and perform a surgical procedure. It provides high-resolution, magnified images of what's happening inside, guiding the veterinarian through the process. This is a unique surgical procedure, as a long incision is typically needed to access to a cat’s abdomen. However, by using keyhole surgery with laparoscopic equipment, very small incisions are all that is needed. It is a minimally invasive surgical technique that allows a cat to avoid major surgery that comes with pain, potential complications, and a prolonged healing time. Today, laparoscopic surgery is a very standard practice used for both pets and humans.
What are the differences between a laparoscopic spay and a traditional spay?
There are many differences between a laparoscopic spay and a traditional spay, the most significant being a much bigger incision with a traditional spay. This requires a healing time of 10-14 days, versus just 24-72 hours with a laparoscopic spay. Also, studies conducted by the Veterinary Medical Association have shown that laparoscopic spays are 65% less painful. This is why veterinary medicine has been so invested in laparoscopic surgery, because it allows access to the ovaries for removal with tiny incisions instead of a major surgical procedure. This is a major benefit, especially since spays are typically performed on younger cats that are challenging to keep still for extended healing time.
The other significant difference between laparoscopic spay and traditional spay is the risk factor. There are far fewer risks of complications postoperatively with laparoscopic surgery because the incisions are very small. This is due, in part, to the incision size, but also what is done with the ovaries. In a standard spay procedure, the ovaries are removed from the abdomen by manually breaking down the ligament that is attached to the ovary and connects to the diaphragm to keep the ovary in place. This is very painful to the cat since there are many nerve endings associated with this ligament. However, with a laparoscopic procedure, a veterinarian doesn't have to take the ovary out of the abdomen because the instruments being used internally provide high-resolution imaging into the abdomen. Therefore, the ovaries can be removed without tearing that ligament. This significantly reduces the pain experienced both during the procedure and postoperatively.
Adding to the benefits of laparoscopic spay over traditional spay is a reduced risk of bleeding during the procedure. There is no tearing of tissues, as a veterinarian is able to ligate vessels with electrocautery without tearing anything.
The only negative aspect of laparoscopic surgery is that it requires more costly equipment, and that equipment requires a lot more handling before and after the procedure. There is also significant training involved, therefore the cost of laparoscopic procedures is higher.
Besides cat spays, what other procedures is laparoscopic surgery used for?
Laparoscopic surgery is often used for liver biopsy, with liver disease being fairly common in pets. It's often difficult to understand the underlying cause without conducting a biopsy of the liver, which typically means a highly-invasive abdominal surgery to collect tissue. This is often too much for a pet owner to wrap their head around, considering it’s a very invasive biopsy. With laparoscopic techniques, a veterinarian can make small keyhole incisions to access the liver to obtain samples, and are also able to clearly see the surrounding organs with high-resolution magnifying imaging on the screen. This allows veterinarians to conduct these procedures without major surgery and weeks of recovery. The cat heals in a matter of days and the needed diagnostic details are collected with ease.
Veterinarians can also collect biopsies of other organs through laparoscopic surgery, that would otherwise require open surgery.
Laparoscopic surgery can be used to biopsy the following organs:
- Pancreas
- Kidneys
- Intestines
- Liver
There are also laparoscopic-assisted procedures, such as a cystotomy where the veterinarian makes a small incision into the bladder to remove bladder stones. This, again, avoids a long incision on the abdomen to access the bladder. This not done entirely laparoscopically, but the laparoscope assists the procedure in making it as minimally invasive as possible.
There are also more specialized procedures such as removing the gallbladder, which can sometimes be done with a laparoscopic technique, and a rhino on a cat’s nasal cavity to look at the airways.
Will a specialist be needed to perform laparoscopic surgery?
In most cases, a veterinarian with specific training in laparoscopic surgery is needed for such procedures. This doesn’t mean that a specialist is required to use the equipment, but it does require a veterinarian who has invested the proper time to receive the training such as we have at Calusa Veterinary Center. This also helps pet owners, who will not need a referral to a specialist and can instead use their regular veterinary practice which is more cost-efficient. That being said, certain conditions and more complicated situations might require a referral to a partner of your veterinarian who has the specific tools and equipment needed for a unique case.
How does the cost of laparoscopic surgery compare to traditional surgery?
Laparoscopic surgery is more expensive in most cases because the equipment is much more expensive and more tedious to care for than the standard surgical equipment. However, this type of surgery makes things more efficient which can help bring the cost down a bit. Overall, laparoscopic surgery is likely to be more expensive, but how much more depends on the procedure, the equipment, and the time involved.
Why would my veterinarian recommend laparoscopic surgery for my cat?
Veterinarians are often passionate about laparoscopic surgery because of the many benefits it offers to your cat. The value of this type of procedure cannot be overestimated.
Veterinarians often recommend laparoscopic surgery for the following reasons:
- Less invasive
- Less pain involved
- Post-operative pain medication needed for much less time
- Quicker recovery time
- Reduced risk
- Fewer post-surgical complications
At Calusa Veterinary Center, your pet is our priority. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call our team at (561) 786-1100, or you can email us at customerservice@cvcboca.com. Our staff would love to talk with you!
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