SURGICAL ALTERATIONS: REPRODUCTIVE

OUR SPAYS ARE:

• Ovariohysterectomies – During our spays, the veterinarian will use a laser to open the abdomen by making a linear incision down the body, going through the skin and muscle layers until they come to the peritoneal lining.  The ovaries and uterus are then isolated.  They will then ligate above the ovaries and remove them and their attached horns from the abdomen.  Next, the body of the uterus is ligated just above the cervix.  This is a complete ovariohysterectomy-- surgical removal of the ovaries, uterine horns, and uterus from a female dog or cat, otherwise known as “spay”.  Not only does this procedure prevent pregnancy, but it eliminates a female's heat cycle as well due to the removal of the ovaries, which produce female hormones.  The patient is then closed, starting with the muscle wall then skin, by using two layers of stitches-- these are absorbable and completely buried so no stitches are visible and there is minimal dermal irritation.

OUR NEUTERS ARE:

• Orchiectomies – In the neuter of a dog, it is a very similar process but we do not open the abdomen.  Using the laser*, we make incisions just cranial to the scrotum and ligate and remove each testicle.  We then close the skin with subdermal sutures and apply skin adhesive.  This procedure prevents a cat or dog’s ability to father litters and prevents common male breeding behaviors by removing the major source of the male hormone called testosterone.

​*Exception:  Laser surgery is not used during feline neuters due to the minimally invasive nature of the procedure.

​We examine our patients and run diagnostic tests to ensure that they are healthy candidates for routine surgery.  Once they are cleared for surgery they are given pain medications and mild sedation, then an IV catheter is placed and general anesthesia is induced with propofol (the same induction used in human medicine).  An endotracheal tube is placed in their airway and they are placed on Oxygen and anesthetic gas.  An anesthesia monitor is now observing all of the patients vitals and once prepped and moved to surgery the patient is hooked up to the ECG, SPO2, BP, capnograph and temperature monitors.  Our surgery table is heated and our surgery suite is a positive pressure room (this helps keep it as sterile as possible).   The surgical assistant does one last scrub on the patient and the doctor takes over applying sterile fields and beginning surgery.

Patients typically go home the same day but must be confined indoors to a kennel or small room and (dogs) leashed walked for 14 days.  This especially true for female patients since they have just undergone routine, but major abdominal surgery!  Wearing a clear collar to prevent licking is also required to reduce the risk of infection or self-inflicted injury / wound re-opening.