Neutering is a routine procedure that involves removing your dog’s sex organs to prevent unwanted pregnancies, pregnancy related illness, and conditions such as, ovarian, and mammary cancers. The most common way of neutering your female dog is an ovariohysterectomy (removal of the ovaries and uterus).

The benefits of neutering a female dog are:

• Prevents seasons (bleeding from your dog’s vulva)

• Prevents pregnancies

• Prevents womb infections, such as a pyometra

• Prevents false pregnancies

• Reduces the chance of mammary cancer, cysts and other problems

• Seasons in Female Dogs

Dogs usually have their first heat at around 6 months old this can be different depending on the breed, and then every 6-7 months afterwards. Each heat tends to last approximately 16-18 days, but this can be longer or shorter depending on the dog. Signs of a heat include a swollen vulva (private parts), bleeding, and changes in behaviour.

When a female dog is in season, they can be mated with an entire dog to have a litter. Unfortunately, most pregnancies are not planned. Entire dogs can smell intact female dogs in heat up to three miles away. This can be stressful for both owners, as entire dogs are unlikely to listen to their owners and can tie with female dogs. If this has happened, you can bring your female dog into the vets for an injection to abort the pregnancy, but there is a small time frame and the injections are an unexpected cost.

Pyometra

A pyometra is pus in the uterus. This can only happen in un neutered ‘intact’ female dogs. It is a very serious condition. Treatment for a pyometra USUALLY includes emergency surgery to remove the infected uterus, intravenous fluids and medication. The sooner a dog with a pyometra is treated, the better their chance of survival and recovery. A pyometra can cause death.

False Pregnancies

A phantom pregnancy is a condition that can develop after a season, which causes a dog to act and feel pregnant when she isn't. During a phantom pregnancy, most dogs start nesting, behaving differently, and lactating (producing milk).

The signs of a false pregnancy are lethargy, depressed or other behavioural changes, loss of appetite and they can have a swollen belly. This condition can last from a week to a month.

Mammary mass cancer

A mammary tumour is a tumour of the mammary tissue. They are common in un-spayed dogs and dogs speyed after their first heat cycle. Mammary tumours occur more frequently in breeds such as Toy and Miniature Poodles, Spaniels and German Shepherds. If left untreated, the tumour can spread to the lungs and organs in the abdomen.

Neutering Procedure

The night before surgery your dog must be starved from 10pm, this is to prevent regurgitation while your dog is under anaesthetic.

Your dog will be admitted in the morning, and she will be vet checked. She will be given an injection called a pre-med; this includes a sedation and pain relief medication. She will then be induced into a general anaesthetic and intubated.

She will be clipped over the surgical site to make sure the area is clean and sterile. She will then be taken into our sterile theatre where the Veterinary Surgeon will perform the ovariohysterectomy.

After the procedure, she is closely monitored in her warm comfy kennel. Once she is fully awake we will call the owner and arrange a discharge time for later that day. She will get extra pain relief to keep her comfortable overnight.

Our Veterinary Nurses will go through homecare, medication and answer any questions. We will also book in a free of charge post operative check 5-7 days after her surgery.

Our Veterinary Nurses offer free advice on neutering, so if you are a client of Coquet Vets and you have any questions or would like to book your pet in for the procedure, please call us on 01665 252 250.