June & July 2025 Update - Any person from the public can schedule an appointment.

Any person who has adopted from a 501(c)(3) organization is eligible to schedule their adopted pet for surgery and receive a $100 discount when proof of adoption is shown at time of scheduling. Must use code ADOPTED* at time of checkout online. Discount cannot be taken once scheduled online.

If you purchased your pet from a breeder, you can still have your pet sterilized through our hospital, however, you must contact the hospital directly for pricing & scheduling.

You can make an appointment by clicking the "Book now" button above and pre-pay/book for a date that works for you.

Alternatively, you can contact our hospital directly by visiting the website and chatting with a staff member. You can also call the hospital directly at (571) 378-1331 or email at hospital@wtarescue.com

Enter discount “ADOPTED” at time of checkout when booking online!

Please note, discount cannot be taken after scheduling online or at time of check-in. Discount can only be applied when scheduling online. Must show proof of adoption at time of scheduling online.

We recommend prioritizing surgery for your adopted pet before 6 months of age. We often perform spay/neuter as early as 12 weeks of age.

• Our primary goal is to minimize the risk of anesthetic death in any/all patients.

  While there are research papers linking a correlation (not causation) of early spay/neuter to obesity, joint issues, and possible neoplasia, these papers do little to represent the known increased risk of anesthetic death in patients over 6 months of age.

The spay neuter cost described above includes anesthetic induction, intra-operative pain management, intra-operative patient monitoring, and the surgical procedure.

Additional invasive procedures, such as IV catheter placement, IV fluids, and pre-surgival bloodwork can be purchased for an additional fee.

Length of anesthetic time (procedure time) will depend on several factors.

Age/Size: The older the patient, typically longer the surgery. This is due to size of the patient. The larger the patient, the longer the anesthetic time.

Gender: The gender of the pet differentiates the type of procedure being performed: spay vs neuter. A spay procedure (females) is more invasive and takes longer time under anesthesia. A neuter procedure (males) is less invasive and a quicker procedure in general.

Body condition score (primarily for females): If a patient is in good shape, it makes for a much easier spay procedure. Overweight female dogs are typically the more difficult procedure, as excess internal body fat increases risk of bleeding and anesthetic time.

Typical procedure times:

• Puppy spay (under 6 months of age): <10 minutes

• Puppy neuter (under 6 months of age): <2 minutes

• Adult dog spay (6months - 1 year of age in good body condition): 15-20 minutes

• Adult dog neuter (6months - 1 year of age in good body condition): 5-10 minutes

• Cat spay: 3-5 minutes

• Cat neuter: ~ 1 minute

These times are approximations of Dr. Burton's surgical time. All surgeries vary based on patient breed, gender, and anatomical variations.

Yes, when you select "Book Now", you can purchase additional add-ons to the surgery procedure. These items include vaccines, fecal testing, deworming, flea/tick prevention, heartworm prevention, heartworm testing (dogs over 6 months of age), FeLV/FIV testing (cats), and routine bloodwork.

We strongly recommend clients to pick up their pets as soon as they are recovered from surgery. Most patients are ready to go home within a half an hour after surgery, and most are discharged before noon on same day of surgery.

For example, if your pet is a male puppy under six months of age and the first surgery of the morning (8am), he likely will be ready to go home by 9am same day.

Dr. Burton & Dr. Ferguson are the primary spay/neuter surgeons at Wolf Trap Animal Rescue's Veterinary Hospital. Dr. Ferguson has completed a 1-year internship learning specialty spay-neuter techniques under the direct mentorship & expertise of Dr. Burton, performing more surgeries in one year than most Veterinarians perform in a career. She has proven to be one of the top in her field, and has recently joined the team at WTAR to help provide these essential services to the community.

Veterinary interns who have demonstrated exceptional surgical skills may be allowed to perform surgery under the direct mentorship and training of Dr. Burton.