Ovariohysterectomy Spaying

The Surgery: The surgical procedures are performed under general anesthesia and employ sterile instruments and a sterile surgical field. Medical emergencies can arise if a pet becomes infected during these procedures. No surgeon approaches any surgery as if it were "routine" because every animal is unique, each surgery is different from every other, and while neutering might be deemed a minor surgery a spay certainly qualifies as a major procedure.

Essentially, the structures and techniques are the same for each dog spay. As you can imagine, though, there are some real differences between working on a 80-kilo Saint Bernard or a 2-kilo Yorkie! And an overweight patient makes the surgery more difficult and time consuming. There are no medical, emotional or sociological reasons for a female dog to "have just 1 litter".

Final Comments On Spaying: Spay before the first heat cycle and mammary cancer is drastically reduced; spay after the first cycle and before the second and the risk is greatly reduced; spay after the second heat cycle and before the third and the risk is slightly reduced; spay after the third heat cycle and there is no affect on the chances of developing mammary tumors later in life.