The surgical patient is placed under general anesthesia and secured to the surgical table on her back (dorsal recumbency). The hair in the surgical area is removed with clippers. The surgical area is then cleaned several times with two different disinfecting solutions. In this view the patient's head is at the top of the picture.

The surgical area is covered with two layers of sterile surgical drape material. The red arrows indicate two of the patient's mammary papillae (nipples).

An incision is made through the skin along the ventral midline. Fat below the skin is trimmed away revealing the body wall. The junction of the abdominal muscles along the midline is seen as a white line known as the linea alba.

The left ovary and uterine horn are retrieved from the body. The ovary (red arrow) is released by breaking the suspensory ligament which attaches the ovary near the kidney. Two surgical clamps are placed across the ovarian artery and vein (the ovarian pedicle) below the ovary. The left uterine horn is indicated by the blue arrow. The uterine horn is attached to a thin sheet of connective tissue called the broad ligament.

Two ligatures of absorbable suture material are placed around the ovarian pedicle below the clamps. The pedicle is then transected between the clamps (red arrow). The uterine horn is separated from the broad ligament. The ovarian pedicle is then released back into the body. The blue arrow indicates the left ovary and the green arrow points to the left uterine horn. The same procedure is then followed to remove the right ovary and uterine horn.

The left (blue arrow) and right (green arrow) ovaries and uterine horns have now been removed. Two surgical clamps are then placed across the body of the uterus. The cervix is located below the clamps (red arrow).

Two ligatures of absorbable suture material are placed around the body of the uterus (red arrow) and the body of the uterus is transected between the clamps. The uterine stump is then released back into the body. The now removed reproductive tract is indicated by the blue arrow.

After checking for bleeding from the ovarian and uternie pedicles the incision through the body wall along the linea alba is closed with absorbable suture material. The knots at either end of the suture line are indicated by the red arrows. The fat beneath the skin and the skin itself are then closed in a similar fashion.

The completed surgical incision is located between the blue lines. All suture material is buried beneath the skin. There are no sutures to be removed.

The now sterilized female patient is recovered from anesthesia. This particular patient also had a front declaw performed at the time of her spay.