WI Humane Society spays, neuters more than 100 cats in one day

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The Wisconsin Humane Society recognized "Spay Day USA" Tuesday by spaying and neutering over 100 cats in one day. That's 5 times what they normally do in a day.

To make that happen takes a lot of moving parts including close to 2 dozen volunteers, several vet techs, and five veterinarians to perform the surgeries. But the crew at the Wisconsin Humane Society has the system down -- that includes Cindy Meyer who has been volunteering on this day for ten years. This year, her role is to clean all the instruments used in the surgeries and send them to be sterilized so they can go back into another surgery.

But the process starts with the drop off. Families have to pre-register for this day, and then drop off their cat or cats for the day.

“It's a good idea to make sure these animals are getting spayed and neutered so they're not recreating more nuisance in neighborhoods,” said Monica Geipel a cat owner who dropped off two cats to get spayed on Tuesday.

Then it proceeds almost like an assembly line. The cats are first lined up in the hallway, their cages covered by towels to keep them calm, and then they are taken into a separate room and given anesthesia. There is always someone in the room making sure every animal stays breathing and safe. From there the cats are prepped for surgery -- their nails are trimmed, eye drops are put in their eyes to keep them moist while they are out, their stomachs are shaved and sterilized and they are given pain medication.

The surgery is actually the quick part. It only takes only about a minute or two for the males and about 10-15 for the females.

Then the cats are brought out once again in their cages to the hallway where they recover. The families can come and get them the very same day.

It takes a lot of work to get to this point, but Humane Society officials say it's worth it.

“It's really an important surgery not only to reduce over population, but also for health benefits for the individual cat. It reduces certain nuisance behaviors like spraying but also reduces or eliminates certain cancers in cats,” said Angela Speed with the Humane Society.

A day like “Spay Day USA” just gives people that extra push and reminder to bring their pets in.

On Tuesday, the cats were all different ages. The oldest though was about 8 years old.

The Humane Society has a program that can help with the costs of the surgery if you qualify.