Beau's keyhole spay operation
Everyone gets a little nervous at the thought of having their female dog spayed and with the vets recommended age for spaying at 6 months you cannot help feeling that they are still so young and little to be having an operation. I was no exception and I was very nervous about having Beau spayed when my vet recommended having her spayed at six months before her first season. Most vets agree with some vets even recommend younger but I made the personal choice of waiting until she was nine months, of course she could have had a season before this time as most dogs will have their first season between 6-12 months. I was not too concerned whether she had her first season before she was spayed and this was the general rule years ago that you did wait for a season first, my personal view was that I felt Beau was a little too young at six months and I wanted her to do some more growing first.
At nine months old she still had no sign of her first season so I thought it was now time to go ahead with the plan to get her spayed at this age. I wanted to do a bit of homework on the spaying operation and whilst viewing the health pages on The Cockapoo Owners club I came across the alternative spay method which was becoming increasingly popular called laparoscopic neutering (key hole spay). This method of spaying is widely used in the US and Europe and has been the preferred method for some years now. It is just the Ovaries that are removed and the womb remains intact so it is minimally invasive, wound size is tiny (two incisions) and recovery from operation is much faster due to being less invasive than traditional spaying. The medical problems that can arise from a female being unsprayed i.e. pyometra and mammary cancers are still avoided. After also reading another owners story who also went for this method which was very successful too my mind was made up.
I booked Beau in for a pre-operation consultation with the vet, I had to use a different vet from my usual one as they did not offer the key hole surgery but the vet I used was very local to me and was also an accredited animal hospital. The vet performed all the usual checks to make sure Beau was healthy to go through with the operation and then she was booked in for a week later. All I had to hope now was that she would not have a season in the week I had to wait.
Well the day came for Beau to have the op and I have to say I was very nervous even though I felt happy with the whole procedure and knew she was in the best possible care but you still cannot help but worry. I took Beau in at 8:30 am and was told I could telephone at 1pm for an update. I have to say it was the longest four and a half hours I have ever had! I telephoned at 1pm and was told that the operation had all gone very well and Beau was just starting to wake up I was now able to relax a little. I was told I could collect her at 5 pm and I could not wait for this time to come. I was called into a side room and Beau was bought out to me on her lead and walking which I was very pleased to see. She was a little tired still but still very pleased to see me with her tail wagging. I was shown the little wounds and I must say I couldn’t believe how tiny they were just one dissolvable stitch in each, I was told that she had been given a painkiller and a long acting anti biotic so there was no further medications that I had to give at home which was good. Walks do have to be limited to 10 minutes per day advisable for the first ten days which Beau was not too happy about. I decided to purchase a baby romper suit for Beau to wear after the op to stop her licking etc. so I did not require the collar that is normally used. Some vets give you a post op suit after that’s included in the operation price my vet didn’t offer this and I felt that the baby suit was as good as the suit they offered for a fraction of the price. I had to take her back for a check-up after two days.
When we got Beau home she was extremely excited to see everyone and after her initial greeting she did take to her bed for a few naps but in between these naps she was surprisingly quite lively. She ate all her dinner of chicken and rice which I would recommend for the first day or so and also limit treats or anything which may upset the tummy. Her stools were a little softer than usual but this is common after anaesthetic and returned to normal and by the next day her wee’s were normal aswell. She had a few little whines that evening but nothing to worry about and she slept very peacefully all night and I was pleased she did not appear restless at all. The next morning I have to say she was nearly back to the lively little Beau I’m so used too with normal Beau antics of chasing the cat etc. She probably had a few more sleeps during the day but no whining at all so I knew she was not experiencing any discomfort. The little romper suit stopped any licking but to be honest she did not even try I really do not think she had any irritation at all. By the following day Beau was back to being her normal energetic self with no extra sleeps during the day. The only problem I had was trying to keep her from being too boisterous. We had the check-up with the vet and everything was healing. There was a very small amount of bruising noted by the vet but must admit I couldn’t see it.
A week later Beau was healed completely and starting to go on slightly longer walks. I have to say this was so straight forward and with minimal pain for Beau, I would 100% recommend this method of spaying not only for your dog’s benefit but it really did take away a lot of concerns for myself too. I have to say the benefits far outweigh the only negatives that I have which are:
1) Price it is around £100-150.00 dearer than the conventional spay. I paid £440.00 for Beaus Operation but this did include getting her micro chipped at the same time, if you have not already got your dog micro chipped it’s a great time to get it done while they are still under anaesthetic.
2: They have to clip a slightly wider area of fur than the conventional spay for the camera viewing. But as we know there fur does grow back very quickly.
Hope this is of help to anyone considering Key whole spaying.
Love Jo & Beau xx
© Cockapoo Owners Club 2015 All rights reserved