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What
is a dog spay surgery?
Questions and answers about the dog spay surgery.
The spay surgery entails removing the ovaries and most of the
uterus of female animal. The medical term is ovariohysterectomy.
There are well established reasons, both medical and
sociological, supporting spaying dogs and cats. The
surgery is usually done between 4 and 7 months of age... before
the dog goes through a heat (estrus) cycle. There is no
data to indicate dogs "should" have a heat cycle or have a
litter before spaying; nor does the surgery affect the
psychological character of the dog. |
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Call your local veterinarian if
your pet is sick or
if you need advice
about a specific pet. |
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Question:
I really don't want to put my
Bichon under anesthesia and my veterinarian says general anesthesia must
be used for the procedure.
Why should I have her spayed
anyway; she never goes outside except in the fenced in yard? I just
don't see a need for the spay.
 Image of an
infected incision |
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Answer:
dog... spay... what is
First, you don't have to do anything you don't
approve! As the dog's caretaker your duty is to learn as much
as you need to about spaying, vaccinations, medications and nutrition in
order to make what we call "informed consent". And your
veterinarian's duty is to tell you about pet health care and make the best
recommendations possible. Then you, the pet owner, make the final
decision.
Second, there are statistically proven health
benefits for the spayed dog or cat compared to those not spayed.
Pyometra doesn't occur in spayed dogs and they have decreased incidence of
some kinds of cancers. Spayed dogs do not attract male dogs because
they don't come into heat for three weeks twice a year like an unspayed
dog would.
Third, although it is considered major
intra-abdominal surgery, spaying is the most commonly performed surgery and
your veterinarian probably has lots of experience at doing it successfully. Most animal hospitals have modern, safe sedation and
anesthetic protocols and presurgical blood tests that all play a role in
achieving a successful outcome to the surgery.
You can get several opinions from other
veterinarians, too. Do a little research. Then... it's your call. |
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Doctor's Notes
Many veterinarians will try to use
subcutaneous sutures to close the skin incision of a spay surgery.
With no sutures externally to attract the dog's attention post op there's
less chance the dog will lick the incision area.
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Go
to
VeterinaryMedicalImages.com
to see a number of photos of dogs and cats with
various conditions and diseases. View a few
x-rays (radiographs), surgery images and parasites,
too. |
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Click on an image to view a larger version in a new window |
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An incision is made in
the abdominal midline starting at the umbilicus |
The ovaries and adjacent
uterine horns are located |
See the ovary and
uterine horn and
where the sutures are placed |
Some tissues are
removed
during the dog spay surgery
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Related Question:
I was always told a cat or dog should go through at least one
heat cycle before they got spayed otherwise they would never be
contented, happy pets. Is this true?
What about getting fat and lazy? I don't want that to
happen.
Image of a dog spay incision
that has been closed
with subcutaneous sutures.
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Answer:
dog... when
to spay... how old
No. It is
not true that cats or dogs "should" have a heat cycle prior
to being spayed. The only proven undesirable effect of spaying
or neutering at any age (other than being unable to have
offspring, which for most people is an advantage) is a decline
in total daily calorie needs. That simply means that you can
feed your cat or dog less food after being spayed or neutered.
The "disadvantage" is that if you continue feeding the same
amounts of food after the spay or neuter procedure over time the
pet will almost certainly become overweight. The fact is,
though, that cats and dogs cannot prepared their own meals so
you, the pet's owner, have the ultimate responsibility for your
cat or dog's body weight.
Every day we veterinarians hear well-meaning people state
emphatically that their cat or dog "got overweight after she was
spayed"... as if the surgery created the weight problem
and the amount of food being eaten is unimportant! This
is a classic cop out to deflect responsibility for the pet's
body condition to something other than ourselves. |
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Doctor's Notes
Follow the instructions!
After any surgery there is a period of
time before a surgical site heals well enough for the patient to begin
activity. Your dog will feel well
enough to be active well before the tissues have healed fully, so keep
your dog under control for at least ten days after a spay procedure.
Call the vet if the incision looks wet, inflamed,
or if pus is present! You should call long before the incision looks
like the image on the left side of the page |
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