Whiskey hours before her spay |
We’ve just gotten back from a trip to Kelowna for Whiskey’s spay. When we first got a dog, I didn’t realize there were several different options for spays (and for neuters), each with pros and cons. As I’m typing this, Whiskey is next to me sleeping and recovering.
fetching and swimming in Kelowna |
Just looking at a health perspective (let’s assume you aren’t leaving your dog in heat running around with intact males), there is up to a 25% chance of uterine infection with older intact females (pyometra) so if you aren’t breeding, getting a spay in North America is probably going to be considered. Here are the types of spay I was looking at:
Ovariohysterectomy
-traditional spay removing both the uterus and the ovaries
-removes chance of pyometra
-available anywhere
–increase chance of joint disease and cancers since hormones are absent
Ovariectomy
-removing only the ovaries
-removes chance of pyometra
-typically a key hole surgery requiring a smaller incision
-quicker surgery and potentially safer
-less painful with a smaller cut
-quicker recovery time
-less vets can do this
–increase chance of joint disease and cancers since hormones are absent
Ovary sparing spay
-removing only the uterus and cervix, leaving at least one ovary
-removes chance of pyometra
-still small chance of ovarian cancer
-increased chance of mammary tumors over other spays
-keeps heats but no bleeding
-keeps all the hormones
-difficult to find an experienced vet that does this
one last sunset picture |
For larger breeds, because it’s healthier to keep the hormones, spays are usually delayed until the dog is “fully grown” although with an OSS, you could even do it earlier. I only really researched about spaying later because of this, and honestly I wanted to delay any kind of optional surgery as late as possible. Once I did look into it, I found the only vets near where we lived that offer this special spay were at least a 4-5 hour drive away. Poor Whiskey had no idea where we were going when we headed out on a roadtrip to Kelowna. She was so happy, hiking, exploring, and modelling the whole day before her spay.
she’s old enough to understand the vet is no fun place! |
Whiskey’s suspicious face |
a small pre-surgery checkup |
waiting for her surgery time |
Freaking out a bit once we got her on the surgery table |
Because Whiskey had such little fat, she was more difficult to put under and struggled more than usual. Outside of that her spay went normal and we were there when she went to sleep and woke up. It was so heart-breaking to watch her struggling against the anesthesia as well as flailing around when she woke up (apparently certain breeds flail more than others). We didn’t leave her side until we drove home that evening.
right after she finished with heating pads |
we made sure she could smell us before opening her eyes |
forcing her to lay down and not run out! |
stubbornly not laying down to recover at the office |
2 days after and healing |
3 Comments
[…] heat timing to try and predict future ones so I thought to list them here. Whiskey has an OSS Spay but still goes into heat. It’s harder to pinpoint the exact start and stop for Whiskey […]
[…] your dog goes to daycare. It’s not been a huge issue for me, and there are solutions like an OSS spay that can keep hormones while preventing […]
[…] chose to wait with Whiskey and paid for an OSS spay (more about that here) that keeps an ovary so she still has her heat without bleeding. Whiskey went through several heats […]