Why You Should Spay your Dog?

Why You Should Spay your Dog?

Dog spaying or ovariohysterectomy is the surgical removal of the female reproductive organs. The operation removes the two ovaries, the uterine horns and the body of the uterus. In most cases, spaying operation takes about 45 minutes to an hour to perform including the required time for preparation and anesthesia. However, for older or large-breed dogs, the procedure may last longer and may require two surgeons to do the process.

Like in humans, spaying operation in dogs requires general anesthesia to induce complete unconsciousness and relaxation. In the typical case, the dog will receive a pre-anesthetic sedative-analgesic drug to help her relax, a brief intravenous anesthetic to allow placement of a breathing tube in the windpipe, and subsequently inhalation (gas) anesthesia in oxygen during the actual surgery. After the operation, a dog is usually recommended to stay in the hospital from one to two days.

Spaying is done to female dogs to avoid heat (estrus) cycles, prevent pregnancy, remove diseased or cancerous female reproductive organs and markedly decrease the risk of acquired diseases of the female reproductive system. The spay operation essentially removes the possibility of a severe infection of the uterus (pyometra). There is also evidence that spaying a dog at an early age markedly reduces the future risk of developing mammary (breast) cancer.

The following are the advantages of spaying your female dog:

Avoid heat (estrus) cycles. Spaying a female dog eliminates her periods or menstruation by lowering the hormone levels that trigger menstruation. Thus, you will be freed from the inconvenient and messy dog care during menstruation periods.

Lessen pet wandering. Since a spayed dog will not go into heat, your female pet will no longer wander around looking for a mate and then return home pregnant.

Prevention of unwanted dog pregnancies. This contributes to the control of dog population and any unintended cross breeding with other dogs.

Complete prevention of pyometra or the infection of the uterus. Pyometra is a common condition in unsprayed dogs and is a serious infection inside the uterus which results to blood poisoning and even death of the dog if left untreated.

Reduction in breast cancer. Percentage of acquiring breast cancer is decreased significantly to 0% if done before the dog’s first “heat”.

Reduction of the spread of inferior genetic traits, genetic diseases and congenital deformities. Since your dog is no longer capable of breeding, transfer of defective or inferior genes and genetic traits from one generation to the next in a breed is reduced. Female dogs with heritable genetic diseases and congenital defects/deformities should be desexed to lessen the spread of these genetic diseases to their offspring.

Prevention or reduction of hormone-induced diseases. It is common knowledge that female dogs suffer from a wide range of diseases and medical conditions that are directly associated with high blood estrogen and/or progesterone levels, the hormones produced by the ovaries. These conditions include: vaginal hyperplasia, mammary neoplasia, mammary enlargement, cystic endometrial hyperplasia, pyometron and pseudopregnancy (false pregnancy or phantom pregnancy with accompanied signs of 'expecting' including: nesting behaviors, abdominal enlargement, breast enlargement and even lactation) among others.

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