Spaying & Neutering Your Dog

Male Dogs:

An intact dog will have a strong tendency to want to run away in order to reproduce. He will be easily distracted during your walks and will want to mark his territory by urinating mainly on the various vertical surfaces that he will encounter on his path. He will also be at much greater risk than a spayed/neutered dog of developing prostate problems (tumors or other). Neutering also helps prevent the possibility of testicular tumors or sexually transmitted venereal tumors. An unneutered dog can therefore reproduce several times a day and thus contribute to causing unwanted litters. Most of these unwanted puppies usually end up in shelters such as the SPCA and risk being euthanized. Neutering helps reduce aggression and stabilize your pet's behaviour. The suggested age for this procedure is different depending on the adult size of the animal. Ask your veterinarian for more information.

Female Dogs:

An unspayed female dog will go into heat once or twice a year. Heat means blood loss. During this period, female dogs will often have incessant pacing behaviour in addition to crying continuously. Spaying prevents these different behaviours in addition to eliminating the possibility of surprise pregnancies, the tendency to wander and the impromptu visit of male dogs from the neighborhood in your yard. If your female dog is not spayed before her first heat, she will be 1000 times more likely to develop a mammary tumor. She will also be at risk of developing uterine or ovarian cancer or developing a pyometra. A pyometra is a severe infection of the uterus (the uterus fills with pus) that can be fatal if not treated in time. It is important to know that any pregnancy and birth carry risks of complications that may require a cesarean section. The suggested age for spaying is different depending on the adult size of the animal. Check with your veterinarian.

Surgery… yes but…

A spay/neuter is an operation performed under general anesthesia. Like any operation, this procedure is not to be taken lightly. Anesthesia requires different precautions that minimize the anesthetic risks as much as possible. For the well-being of your animals, we require that a complete health examination be done before proceeding with the spaying/neutering of your companion. The veterinarian of our team will listen to your animal's heart, take its temperature, perform an abdominal palpation, check its lymph nodes, etc. All this is done with the aim of ensuring that your animal does not have any malformations or diseases that could affect the anesthesia. In addition, we strongly recommend that you have a pre-anesthetic blood test. This test checks the proper functioning of certain organs including the liver and kidneys, which will have to work harder than usual in order to eliminate the anesthetic drugs. An examination as well as a blood test help minimize the anesthetic risks to a minimum.

Questions? Concerns? Don’t hesitate to share them with an AnimaPlus member who will be happy to inform you!