Background: Surgical sterilization of male cats is one of the most commonly procedures in the small animals practice, used as
a control method against the overpopulation of domestic cats. Orchiectomy also aims to prevent or treat hormone-mediated
diseases, disorders of the reproductive organs, such as testicular cancer, orchitis, prostatic diseases, trauma or abscesses. In
addition, it may be used to control undesirable changes in behavior in adult cats such as the case of territorial marking and
aggression. Several surgical techniques are described for orchiectomy in cats using different methods of hemostasis and/or
ligation of the spermatic cord. There is a paucity of scientific studies and comparative data that supports one technique over
the other, so this experiment was conducted to compare the three major open surgical techniques of ligation of the spermatic
vessels to perform orchiectomy in cats.
Materials, Methods & Results: Thirty-nine young entire adult male cats, with an average weight of 2.7 kg, were divided into
three groups. In group I, animals underwent orchiectomy using the suture technique to ligation of the spermatic cord. In group
II, the spermatic cord was used to perform an “eight-knot†on itself. In group III, the vas deferens and spermatic cord were used
together to make “square-knotsâ€. The outcome of surgical procedures was assessed by clinical examination, incidence of
complications trans and postoperatively, duration of the procedure and ease of implementation. None of the animals had
immediate or delayed bleeding after hemostasis. During surgery, there was no significant difference in procedure duration
among the three different techniques. Postoperatively, the overall clinical evaluation was normal and there were no changes in
behavior in any animal. It was noted a statistically significant difference in respiratory rate among groups, with the GI animals
showing high frequency at the postoperative period when compared to animals from GII and GIII. There were no major
complications in any of the techniques used and the parameters showed no significant difference among the groups.
Discussion: The three most widely used techniques to perform orchiectomy in cats were evaluated in this study. Even though
the respiratory rate has been shown to be statistically different among the groups, it was not a significant factor, because all
other parameters were normal. These clinical data reflect the absence of major complications of surgery such as infection, pain,
hypotension, hypovolemia or shock. In the current study, only adult cats were used and the structures of the spermatic cord
showed strong and efficient ligation of testicular vessels with the techniques used. It was clinically observed that there was
more edema in the group whose ligature employed was the suture technique. The catgut acts as a foreign body and interferes
with the inflammatory reaction, the time of absorption and wound healing. The “eight-knot†technique is safe and effective,
however, requires greater skill of the surgeon when compared to other techniques evaluated. The technique of “square-knotâ€
resulted in less tissue manipulation without damaging the spermatic vessels, demonstrated by the absence of bleeding and
minimal inflammatory reaction. This technique was effective, without complications postoperatively and easy to perform.
These data suggest that the three techniques are considered easy and efficacious to perform orchiectomy in cats, but the
technique of “square-knot†performed seems to be easier.
