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The Canine Spay
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If your bitch is
not required for breeding it is advisable to have her spayed. Spaying
involves removal of both ovaries and the womb (uterus) under general anaesthetic.
If it is caried out before the second season there is a great reduced
risk of mammary cancer developing in later life. It also prevents the
development of womb infections which are common in unspayed bitches which
can become fatal. It will also prevent ovarian and uterine cancers
and false pregnancy and reduce the risk of diabetes mellitus.
A spayed bitch
may be prone to weight gain so monitoring the food intake is essential. Coat
changes may occur and there may be a slight increase in the risk of urinary
incontinence (this does respond with treatment).
Spaying is recommended
3-4 months after the first season. The timing of this is important
due to hormonal factors.
Canine Spay FAQ
Sterilization of female dogs is commonly performed with a surgery
called a spay, in which both ovaries and the uterus are removed. It is
a major surgery. Owners have usual questions regarding this procedure.
Why All Female Dogs Should Be Spayed
Mammary Cancer
A female dog spayed before her first heat will have a near zero chance
of developing mammary cancer. After the first heat, this incidence climbs
to 7% and after the second heat the risk is 25% (one in four!). It is easy
to see that an early spay can completely prevent what is frequently a
very difficult and potentially fatal form of cancer.
But is it too late if a dog is already past her second heat? No, in
fact spaying is important even in female dogs who already have obvious
tumors. This is because many mammary tumors are stimulated by estrogens;
removing the ovaries, the source of estrogens, will help retard tumor spread.
Spaying removes both the uterus and both ovaries and is crucial in
the prevention as well as the treatment of mammary cancer.
Simple Convenience
The female dog comes into heat every 8 months or so. There is a bloody
vaginal discharge and attraction of local male dogs. Often there is an
offensive odor. All of this disappears with spaying.
What Is Pyometra?
Pyometra is the life-threatening infection of the uterus, which generally
occurs in middle-aged to older female dogs in the six weeks following heat.
The hormone progesterone, which primes the uterus for potential pregnancy,
does so by causing proliferation of the blood-filled uterine lining and
suppression of uterine immune function. It is thus easy during heat for
bacteria in the vagina to ascend to the uterus to cause infection. The uterus
with pyometra swells dramatically and is filled with pus, bacteria, dying
tissue, and toxins. Without treatment, the pet is expected to die. Despite
her serious medical state, she must be spayed quickly if her life is to
be saved.
This is an extremely common disease of older unspayed female dogs!
Pyometra is not something that might happen; consider that it probably
will happen.
The older unspayed female dog has an irregular heat cycle. There is
no end of cycling comparable to human menopause. If you still decide against
spaying, be very familiar with the signs of pyometra. (These include loss
of appetite, lethargy, vomiting, excessive thirst, marked vaginal discharge.)
Learn more about pyometra.
Now That We know why it Is a Good Idea To Spay, What Exactly Happens?
It is very important that the patient has not been fed in at least
8 hours. Anesthetic medications commonly induce nausea and vomiting can
be very dangerous in a sedated patient (vomit can be inhaled/aspirated
leading to pneumonia).
A preoperative evaluation is performed; blood work may be recommended.
Some veterinarians place an intravenous catheter to facilitate the administration
of anesthetic drugs, for any fluid administration, and for use in case
of emergency. This necessitates shaving a small patch of skin on one of
the legs. Should you notice such a shaved patch, this is undoubtedly from
an intravenous catheter.
A tranquilizer or other pre-anesthetic medication may be administered
to ease the induction of anesthesia. A special medication is given intravenously
to induce sleep. This medication is called an induction agent and lasts
only long enough to establish the maintenance of anesthesia by the inhalant
anesthetic (gas). Once the pet is asleep, a tube is placed in the throat
to ensure that a clear airway is maintained through out the procedure.
Sometimes a cough is noted for a couple of days after surgery. This
may have been caused by the tube in the throat. Such coughs only last
a couple of days; anything that persists longer should be re-evaluated.
The tube is hooked up to a machine that delivers a specific concentration
of inhalant gas mixed in 100% oxygen. A technician is assigned to monitoring
of the pet. The patient is monitored throughout anesthesia by checking
gum color, heart rate, respiration rate, and other parameters.
In the surgical prep area, the abdomen is shaved and scrubbed. The
bladder is emptied and the patient is moved to a surgical suite, where
she is draped with special clothes or papers to isolate the area where
surgery will take place.
An incision is made on the midline of the abdomen, and the three points
where the ovaries and uterus attaches are tied off and cut. The abdomen
is checked for bleeding and two or three layers of stitches are placed
to close the incision.
It is helpful to know that should the skin stitches come out, there
are two layers below holding everything closed. Sometimes skin stitches
are not placed but if they are present, you will need to return in 10 to
14 days to have them removed.
The anesthesia technician continues monitoring until the pet dog wakes
up and coughs out the throat tube. The patient is kept in an observation
room until she is able to walk.
My hospital feels strongly that a night in the hospital is important
to an uneventful recovery. This night in the hospital is analogous to strict
bed rest, just what you would expect to be needed after a major abdominal
surgery. This night also allows for proper administration of pain medication
for a longer time period as well as a post-operative check up with the
doctor the morning after surgery.
What To Expect at Home
Most spay patients go home the next day as if nothing had happened,
although some will need pain medication for a few days.
Some nausea may occur in the first couple of days after surgery and
it would not be unusual for the pet to refuse food for a day or two after
surgery.
As noted above, a cough may persist for a couple of days as a result
of the throat tube. This should not persist longer than a couple of days.
Dogs who show a propensity to lick their stitches will need an Elizabethan
or "E" collar to restrict access to the stitches. This is not very comfortable
for the dog but must be used strictly until the stitches are out and the
incision is healed.
Activity should be restricted during the week following surgery. Excessive
activity can lead to swelling or fluid accumulation under the incision.
If a fluid pocket forms, it should resolve on its own after a few weeks.
If a fluid pocket forms and drains liquid from the incision, the dog should
be re-checked with the veterinarian.
Spaying is one of the most important preventive health measures that
can be provided for a female dog of any age.
What About Behavioral Changes?
The female dog's reproductive tract is dormant for most of the
year. It only activates for the 3-week period of heat. This means that
from a behavioral stand point, the female dog acts spayed most of the time.
It is unlikely that any change will be evident.
Health benefits from spaying are too important to ignore. Please call
for spay scheduling for your female dog.
For further information, see:
http://www.expeditionsamoyeds.org/spayneuter.html
http://www.mindspring.com/~dwilson/pbrgrafx/spay-g.html
Date
Published: 1/1/2001
Copyright
2001 - 2007 by the Veterinary Information Network, Inc. All rights reserved.
This work was originally published by Veterinary Information
Network, Inc. (VIN) and is republished with VIN's permission.
TEXAS VET NEWS
By Dr. Bob Judd, DVM and the Texas Farm Bureau
Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network
http://veterinarypartner.com
Spaying
Your Female Dog
Pet overpopulation
is a major problem worldwide. One study indicated over 5 million
dogs and cats are euthanized each year at shelters just in the United States.
All female dogs should be spayed unless you are going into the breeding
business. Most vets talk to the owners of new puppies about spaying
when they are in for their first few visits, and many people do get their
pet spayed. However, some people want to breed to get the money back
they paid for the puppy. As far as breeding to get the purchase price
of a puppy back, it very rarely works that way. When you add up the
time it takes to set up the breeding and pay for vet fees if complications
arise at birth, there is very little money to be made. Breeding may
seem easy when the professionals do it, but it’s not that easy. If
your dog requires a c-section, then you can actually lose money in the process.
So unless you are a serious breeder, the prospect of making money breeding
your female dog is not a good reason.
However, the most compelling
reason to get your dog spayed is to prevent mammary or breast cancer.
Every week dog owners come to our practice with intact female dogs that
have mammary cancer. Mammary cancer is a malignant tumor that spreads
to other organs rapidly and generally leads to the death of the dog.
If your pet is spayed before she goes into heat, the incidence of mammary
cancer is zero-it just does not occur. After only one heat, the incidence
increases to 7% and after two heats it goes to 25%, or 1 in 4. Older
intact female dogs are almost guaranteed to develop malignant mammary cancer.
So for your pet’s health, get her spayed.
Date Published: 11/14/2005 12:36:00 PM
Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright 1991 -
2007, Veterinary Information Network, Inc
This work was originally published by Veterinary Information
Network, Inc. (VIN) and is republished with VIN's permission.
**********************
The number of dogs one unaltered female and her offspring
can produce in 7 years is 67,000. Every spay and neuter counts!
Is your dog a floozy?
Spay/neuter now!
Dogs have a greatly improved chance of long life, good health and contentment
if they are spayed. Spaying and neutering is the most reliable cure
for numerous health and behavior problems and acts as a powerful preventive.
In addition to conferring numerous health benefits, spaying and neutering
prevents, reduces or eliminates behaviors problematic in the home.
Spaying removes the ovaries and uterus, and so eliminates the possibility
of ovarian and uterine infection or cancer. Bacterial infection of
the uterus (pyometra) commonly afflicts older unaltered dogs. As pyometra
advances, bacterial poisons enter the bloodstream, causing general illness
and often kidney failure. If the uterus ruptures, the dog or cat
will almost certainly die. Pyometra requires emergency spaying, which
may fail to save an animal already severely weakened by the disease.
The best preventive is to spay dogs while they are young and healthy.
Spaying can also prevent mammary gland tumors, the most common tumor
in unaltered female dogs. Nearly 50 percent of mammary tumors are
malignant. Once a mammary tumor spreads to the lungs of bones, the
cancer will be fatal. An unaltered dog is approximately 200 times
more likely to develop mammary tumors than a dog spayed before her first
heat (by 6-8 months).
Copyright © Ahimsa Rescue Foundation 2003 - 2007
No reprints or copies without expressed, written permission
reprinted with kind permission from
Teresa L. Morton, Ahimsa Rescue Founder
http://www.ahimsarescuefoundation.org
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