Questions about spay.

Dr. Marie replied:

You've asked some great questions! Let's see if I can help!

1. Is it ok to give vaccines on the same day as surgery?

Usually I try to avoid doing this. It is almost always safe. However, if the dog were to have an allergic reaction we wouldn't know whether it was the vaccines or an anesthetic agent that was the cause. Also, I prefer to have the immune system dealing with one thing at a time. I have made exceptions though. For example, if someone brings in a wild feral cat that is hard to trap then I will do both at the same time.

2. Is laser surgery better than conventional surgery?

In my opinion, there is not much difference. But, I have to be honest and tell you that I do not have a laser at my practice. The laser takes the place of a scalpel blade. A laser cut causes less bleeding than a scalpel cut. However, in many cases the surgical wound takes longer to heal. For some surgeries, vets do feel that it is better such as declaws and surgeries that normally have a lot of bleeding such as a leg amputation. But for a spay, there is not much difference.

3. Why does my vet want to charge 45 dollars more because she is mature?

This is quite normal. After a dog has gone through one or two heat cycles the spay is much more difficult. There are larger blood vessels which means more suturing and the surgery takes longer than in a puppy. There is usually also lots of fat (even on a lean dog) that is covering the ovarian pedicles and this makes surgery more time consuming.

4. Does she need blood work before surgery?

This is tough to answer. I recommend that every dog has bloodwork before surgery. However, the odds are definitely in her favor that everything will be normal. But, every now and then we see a dog that has a hidden condition that could cause problems during surgery. For example, I once did a spay on a dog and she bled immensely during the surgery and almost died. It turned out that she had gotten into rat poison two weeks before which caused her to have clotting issues. Blood tests would likely have shown me that there was an area for concern. Other things that might come up are hidden infections or kidney issues.

I hope everything goes well for her surgery!

Dr. Marie.


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