BITCH SPEY
Unspayed female dogs (bitches) may cycle ("come into season") from six months of age onwards. The cycle occurs about every six months and lasts about three weeks. During these three weeks vulval bleeding will occur and she will attract male dogs from many kilometres away. Bitches keep cycling throughout their life- they do not have menopause.
What is a spey?
Ovariohysterectomy is the proper medical term for "speying" or "desexing" of the female animal.
The surgical procedure involves the complete removal of the uterus and both ovaries. Although it is a commonly performed procedure, speying a dog is major surgery, involving a general anaesthetic and sterile operating technique.
There may be some discomfort for one or two days after surgery. Recovery is rapid in most cases.
Under normal circumstances, most dogs can be speyed any time after the age of 5 months. There is no evidence of any benefit in allowing dogs to have a season or a litter of pups.
Once a bitch is speyed:
-
Pregnancy is impossible.
-
She will not come on heat and attract male dogs.
-
She will not bleed every six months.
-
She will not suffer from the uterine infections that are common in older bitches.
-
Her risk of breast cancer is lowered. If she is speyed before coming into season her risk of breast cancer is nearly zero. About one in four unspeyed female dogs will get breast cancer.
Speying will not cause obesity or laziness, although food intake should be reduced to prevent weight gain. Nor will it change her personality (a dog's personality does not fully develop until she is two to three years old). It makes no difference to your dog whether she has a litter or not.
What to do Before Surgery
Your dog should not be offered any food after 8:00pm the night before. Any food after this time will increase the danger of vomiting during anaesthesia. Water bowls should be removed on the morning of surgery.
Bring your dog to the clinic between 7:30am and 9:00am on the day of the surgery. If this doesn't suit, with prior arrangement she may be brought in the night before.
After-Care
We will give you a call when your girl is awake, and she can be collected between 2.30pm and 6.30pm that afternoon. She will be a bit drowsy after her anaesthetic and may not want to eat much that night. Offer her about half her normal dinner in case her stomach is a bit queasy. Like humans, individual animals react differently to anaesthetics.
While the anaesthetic medications include pain relief, this wears off after a few hours. We prefer to give an additional injection of anti-inflammatory pain relief after surgery. This lasts 24 hours and will get most bitches through the discomfort of the surgery.
We will phone you the next day to see how your pet is doing. If you are at all concerned, a post-surgical check-up is complimentary. For those few animals who experience pain after the anti-inflammatory has worn off we are happy to provide tablets to make them comfortable. (There is a fee for additional medications.)
We will need to see your dog ten to 14 days after surgery to remove her stitches (at no further charge).