The patient is anesthetized and placed on his side (lateral recumbency) in preparation for surgery. In this photograph his tail is pointing to the left. The red arrow indicates the anus, the blue arrow indicates the prepuce which covers the penis, and the green arrow points to the scrotum which contains the testicles. In preparation for surgery the hair on the scrotum has been plucked (clipping can cause excessive skin irritation) and the skin is wetted with alcohol. Separate incisions are made through the skin over each testicle. The two red lines indicate the locations of the incisions.
After the incision through the skin the testicle (green arrow) and the spermatic cord (blue arrow) are exteriorized. The spermatic cord includes the testicular artery and vein, connective tissue, and the ductus deferens which carries sperm from the epididymis to the urethra. The testicle and the spermatic cord are still covered by a layer of connective tissue. (In the open technique an additional incision is made through this connective tissue layer.) The red arrow again points to the anus.
The spermatic cord is tied on itself using an overhead knot technique rather than ligating with absorable suture material. The green arrow indicates the testicle, the blue arrow indicates the knot in the spermatic cord, and the black line indicates where the spermatic cord will be transected in order to remove the testicle.
Following transection of the spermatic cord to remove the testicle the severed end of the cord is pulled back through the loop of the knot and tightened. The completed knot is indicated by the red arrow. The now knotted spermatic cord is then released back into the scrotum. The same procedure is followed to remove the testicle from the other side.
The red arrow indicates the scrotum after both testicles have been removed. No suture material or tissue glue is placed in the scrotal incisions. They are left to heal on their own.
The now sterile male cat is recovered from anesthesia. This particular patient was also front declawed at the same time as his neuter.
