Jaquie & Starbuck
Well-Known Member
My vet wanted to spay Starbuck in the next month. She's now 5 months old and I've decided to look for a new vet, someone who agrees it can be better for giant breeds to wait to spay until at least 18 months.
I've found a holistic vet in my area, and she performs a different kind of spay that I had never heard of before; I'd like your opinions.
My last vet only performs the traditional ovariohysterectomy, removing everything. My new vet offers different options. She will either remove the ovaries, leaving the uterus, which eliminates heats but is a less extreme surgical option than ovariohysterectomy. Or she will do the opposite; remove the uterus and leave the ovaries. Apparently, the dog will still experience heats with the latter option, but will have no bleeding, and no screwing up hormones.
Has anyone heard of this? Here's what the vet emailed to me:
"I will be offering a new kind of spay for those that think it is best for their pets, with my guidance of course. It apparently is only offered by 3 veterinarians in the U.S. right now. Basically, it involves leaving the ovaries in, but removing the whole uterus. Of course, this is called a hysterectomy and has been done for a long time in women. However, the problem for animals is that, if you leave the ovaries in, but leave any remnant of the uterus behind, the risk that the animal will get an infection in the little leftover uterus bit is high, called Pyometra. We don't want this, so the idea is to eliminate this risk by removing the entire uterus.
Right now and for years now I have been removing only the ovaries which eliminates the heat cycle and all risk of pyometra, the pus-filled uterus, plus we try to optimize the timing of the spay or neuter. Spaying also eliminates the risk of mammary tumours, depending on the age of spay. Because there is mounting evidence that suggests it is not always the best thing to spay and/or neuter your dog, especially large breeds, due to the increased risk of various cancers like bone cancer, obesity, torn ACL's, urinary incontinence, etc, this new type of spay may be just the answer for some people. Here is a link to a paper for those so inclined to research and here is a link to the site that has a video of the partial spay surgery. The dog will still experience heat cycles and she will still have the benefit of the hormone protection, but won't be able to get pregnant, no bleeding and no risk of pyometra. I now have personal experience with this latter issue as my 10 year old completely intact Kira has developed Pyo just this past weekend! So spayed she is now and, unfortunately, it also appears that at her surgery one ovary is abnormal and may be cancerous, which is highly unusual in dogs....results pending. Send her good thoughts...
Up to now, what I have been counseling my clients with puppies to do is thus:
a. Dogs under 50 lbs: Spay or neuter not sooner than 7.5 months and waiting until they reach 1 year is fine too.
b. Anything over 50 lbs: Wait until 14 months or older (means the females go through one full heat cycle)
c. Cats: Still best to do at about 5-6 months old
Now I will start offering the partial spay at a younger age for those that want the dog to keep the ovaries for all the benefits that entails and don't mind the heat cycles, but don't want to risk an accidental pregnancy on the first heat.
I don't wish to go into all the pros and cons in this newsletter as it is too much of a discussion. What I want you to go away with is that it is no longer considered best for all animals to be have a full ovariohysterectomy by 6 months and may in fact be detrimental to the long term health. If you want more information on this as well as the pros and cons of neutering your male dogs and best timing, please schedule an appointment and we can talk further. So many options!!"
Here are a couple of links that I found very useful for information about spay:
"Determining optimal age to spay or neuter your pet": http://www.imom.org/spay-neuter/pdf/kustritz.pdf
"The spay and neuter conundrum": http://www.pawsitivevetcare.com/the-spayneuter-conundrum-long-version/
I definitely welcome feedback!!
Jaquie.
I've found a holistic vet in my area, and she performs a different kind of spay that I had never heard of before; I'd like your opinions.
My last vet only performs the traditional ovariohysterectomy, removing everything. My new vet offers different options. She will either remove the ovaries, leaving the uterus, which eliminates heats but is a less extreme surgical option than ovariohysterectomy. Or she will do the opposite; remove the uterus and leave the ovaries. Apparently, the dog will still experience heats with the latter option, but will have no bleeding, and no screwing up hormones.
Has anyone heard of this? Here's what the vet emailed to me:
"I will be offering a new kind of spay for those that think it is best for their pets, with my guidance of course. It apparently is only offered by 3 veterinarians in the U.S. right now. Basically, it involves leaving the ovaries in, but removing the whole uterus. Of course, this is called a hysterectomy and has been done for a long time in women. However, the problem for animals is that, if you leave the ovaries in, but leave any remnant of the uterus behind, the risk that the animal will get an infection in the little leftover uterus bit is high, called Pyometra. We don't want this, so the idea is to eliminate this risk by removing the entire uterus.
Right now and for years now I have been removing only the ovaries which eliminates the heat cycle and all risk of pyometra, the pus-filled uterus, plus we try to optimize the timing of the spay or neuter. Spaying also eliminates the risk of mammary tumours, depending on the age of spay. Because there is mounting evidence that suggests it is not always the best thing to spay and/or neuter your dog, especially large breeds, due to the increased risk of various cancers like bone cancer, obesity, torn ACL's, urinary incontinence, etc, this new type of spay may be just the answer for some people. Here is a link to a paper for those so inclined to research and here is a link to the site that has a video of the partial spay surgery. The dog will still experience heat cycles and she will still have the benefit of the hormone protection, but won't be able to get pregnant, no bleeding and no risk of pyometra. I now have personal experience with this latter issue as my 10 year old completely intact Kira has developed Pyo just this past weekend! So spayed she is now and, unfortunately, it also appears that at her surgery one ovary is abnormal and may be cancerous, which is highly unusual in dogs....results pending. Send her good thoughts...
Up to now, what I have been counseling my clients with puppies to do is thus:
a. Dogs under 50 lbs: Spay or neuter not sooner than 7.5 months and waiting until they reach 1 year is fine too.
b. Anything over 50 lbs: Wait until 14 months or older (means the females go through one full heat cycle)
c. Cats: Still best to do at about 5-6 months old
Now I will start offering the partial spay at a younger age for those that want the dog to keep the ovaries for all the benefits that entails and don't mind the heat cycles, but don't want to risk an accidental pregnancy on the first heat.
I don't wish to go into all the pros and cons in this newsletter as it is too much of a discussion. What I want you to go away with is that it is no longer considered best for all animals to be have a full ovariohysterectomy by 6 months and may in fact be detrimental to the long term health. If you want more information on this as well as the pros and cons of neutering your male dogs and best timing, please schedule an appointment and we can talk further. So many options!!"
Here are a couple of links that I found very useful for information about spay:
"Determining optimal age to spay or neuter your pet": http://www.imom.org/spay-neuter/pdf/kustritz.pdf
"The spay and neuter conundrum": http://www.pawsitivevetcare.com/the-spayneuter-conundrum-long-version/
I definitely welcome feedback!!
Jaquie.
