Spaying Your Pet: Benefits, Procedures & Keyhole Surgery Options at Shepton & Wells Vets

Published on: Feb 2, 2022

Earlier this week was ‘World Spay Day’ so I thought I’d share a bit of information about what spaying is and why it’s important, as well as reflecting on one of the procedures I did recently. 

  

People are pretty familiar with the term ‘neutering’, which is the collective term for the very common process of removing an animals’ reproductive organs (or part thereof). Colloquially, it’s often referred to as ‘fixing’.  

  

But we are also then more precise depending on whether the animal is a male – in which case the term is ‘castration’ – whereas in females it’s called ‘spaying’. It’s usually done when the cat or dog is quite young but can be performed in older animals if it becomes necessary. 

  

So, why do we spay female pets? Well, there are a few reasons.  

  

If you know you don’t intend to breed from them, then spaying prevents your pet from coming into season. This obviously then avoids unwanted kittens or puppies but also avoids seasonal hormones. When she enters heat, the hormones in your pet change and this fluctuation can cause some to become irritable or stressed – an animal version of PMS! Having your pet spayed will reduce these hormones and can lead to more consistent and level behaviour. It will also stop her roaming to find a mate, or potential mates coming to find her! 

  

As well as these practical benefits, there are also some significant health benefits too – perhaps most importantly, spaying can help to reduce the risk of pyometra (a life-threatening uterine infection) and mammary (breast) cancer in later life. 

  

It’s important to remember that your pet will probably need less food in order to maintain their healthy body weight after being spayed. Producing hormones takes energy so, after being spayed, their energy demands reduce. This will mean that care will need to be taken to avoid overfeeding after spaying, to prevent weight gain, but as long as we make these changes early on and keep a close eye on their bodyweight, we can still keep them nice and trim. 

 

Of course, neutering may not be the right choice for every pet, although it is routinely recommended for pet cats. In dogs, we always discuss the procedure with owners for each individual and there may be circumstances when we opt not to neuter – if breeding is still being considered or for behavioural reasons for example. We also consider carefully when is the right age to neuter for each individual pet. So your vet or vet nurse will always be happy to help you make the right decision for your own pet. 

  

Traditionally, a spay procedure for a bitch would involve a fairly large surgical incision into the abdomen to remove the uterus and ovaries, with surrounding tissues being manipulated and clamped during the operation and stitched afterwards. It’s quite an extensive procedure. 

  

However, we also offer an alternative ‘keyhole surgery’ technique which is less intrusive and has quickly become a very popular choice with dog owners. Not all vets can offer this, as it’s quite a big investment and requires specialist surgical training but we’ve been doing it for a few years now. 

  

It’s a bit more expensive than the traditional method of spaying as there’s some very high-tech equipment involved, but we think it’s a better option, so we’ve always tried to minimise the additional costs to make sure it’s available to as many people – and their dogs – as possible. Probably more than 80% of the spaying procedures I do now in dogs are keyhole ones. 

  

Recently, I had Winne in – a lovely 8-month-old cavapoo – and her owners had opted for a keyhole procedure. 

  

We put her under a general anaesthetic, and I then made 3 small incisions in her abdomen, through which I fed a tiny camera and other surgical instruments.  

  

Images from the endoscope were transmitted onto a screen in the theatre so I could see her uterus and ovaries in large detail, and I then used an electrosurgical device to seal the blood vessels and remove the ovaries.  

  

A few small sutures to close the wounds, and she was soon tucked back up in bed. 

  

As all the instruments go directly to the ovaries, this keyhole method reduces the need for any unnecessary stretching and pulling of internal tissues which – along with the smaller wounds and subsequent sutures – means less blood loss and discomfort for the patient, with a smoother and quicker recovery. 

  

It wasn’t long before Winnie had come round from the anaesthetic and, after a couple of hours observation, a cuddle and a meal, she went off home! 

  

A couple of days afterwards, we saw her again for a post-op check, followed by a final check-up and removal of her stitches another 10 days later. As with other keyhole spay patients, Winnie’s recovery has been much quicker and more comfortable than it would have been with traditional surgery. 

  

Unless you want to breed from your animal, spaying is a very sensible and responsible choice and – with our keyhole technique – we can help to make it a much more comfortable one too!