Lakeside Veterinary Center, LLC
(301)498-8387

Canine Spays

Why should I fix my female dog if she is not broken?

• Unspayed female dogs go into heat about every 6 months.  They bleed and attract every intact male dog around.
• Unspayed female dogs can get pregnant despite the best efforts of owners to prevent this.
• Unspayed female dogs often get life threatening a uterine infection called pyometra.  Treatment for pyometra is an emergency spay (ovariohysterectomy).
• Unspayed female dogs are more prone to breast cancer than spayed females.

Frequently Asked Questions about Dog Spays

1. Why should spays be performed at 6 months of age before the first heat cycle?

Many dogs retain baby teeth in their mouth past the point where adult teeth should have pushed them out.  At 6 months of age, we can determine if the teeth are retained and extract the retained baby teeth to prevent crowding and dental disease. 

 

2. How long will my dog be in the hospital?

Surgeries are done on an outpatient basis.  Pets are dropped off between 7:30 and 9 am and discharged in the evening of the same day. Surgeries are admitted by appointment only.

 

3. What do I need to do to prepare my dog for surgery?

Do not feed your dog after 10 pm the night before. She can have water until she arrives at our facility.

 

4. Will she be in pain?

Before surgery, she will receive a pain medication and a mild tranquilizer.  After about 20 minutes, she will receive a general anesthetic and be kept asleep with oxygen and isoflurane anesthetic gas.  Prior to surgical incision, local anesthesia is injected and a different long acting local anesthetic is injected into the area once surgery is completed. Most dogs will receive an additional injection of pain medication once they are waking up from anesthesia.  All dogs are monitored closely for comfort once they are recovered.  In the rare instance a dog seems to be in pain, additional medications are given to make them comfortable.

 

5. What can I do to make it easier for her the day of surgery?

We have been using Laser surgery (instead of a scalpel blade) for over 12 years with great success.  The Laser reduces pain, swelling and bleeding as compared to a scalpel blade.  Use of Laser is an option provided to you. To learn more about Laser surgery click here.

We are also using low level laser therapy (like found in a physical therapist's office). Using this laser on the incision reduces pain, increases blood supply (decreases healing time), and decreases swelling.  Use of the therapy laser is a great addition to our 'pain free' initiative or all our patients, and it is offered to your as an option at the time of surgery.

We strongly recommend the use of some pain medications at home for about 7 days after surgery.  This is an option provided to you.

Some dogs will do even better if a pain patch (provides narcotic pain medication for 3-5 days) is applied after surgery.  This is an option provided to you.

 

6. What are the risks of surgery and anesthesia? How can I reduce that risk?

The risks of surgery include bleeding (worse with a dog in heat) and wound infection.  These risks are minimized for an experienced surgeon and our veterinary staff has over 30 years of experience with surgery.  The Laser reduces bleeding and sterilizes as it cuts; it is a great option to choose.

The risks of anesthesia include the development of abnormal heart rhythms,decreased blood pressure (may exacerbate kidney problems), and in very rare cases, death.  We are lucky to have had no anesthetic deaths in our canine or feline patients during elective spays.  We offer to you a preoperative EKG (checks heart rhythm) and preoperative blood tests to check for anemia and kidney or liver disease.  These tests tell us if your pet is as healthy as possible to undergo elective surgery. Both the EKG and the blood tests are offered as an option to you.