The Benefits of Spaying a Cat or Dog: The Ovariohysterectomy

An ovario-hysterectomy (OHE or spay) is a surgical procedure recommended for most female dogs or cats at 3-4 months of age. The benefits of spaying include:

1)     a dramatic decrease in the possibility of breast cancer occurring later in life, especially if done before the pet's first heat cycle

2)     preventing the risk for your pet of an unwanted pregnancy

3)     preventing the burden on you of caring for and finding homes for unwanted puppies or

kittens

4)     removing the likelihood of life-threatening uterine infections (pyometra) which can occur in un spayed

      pets in later years

5)     preventing your pet from becoming injured or diseased as a result of an encounter with an aggressive

            male who will attempt to forcefully breed with her.

6)     helping to decrease the pet overpopulation problem which results in million of unwanted dogs and

cats being put to sleep.

The spay or OHE is an operation in which both the ovaries and the uterus are removed. Removal of the ovaries means that the hormonal influence known as "being in heat" is gone. Your pet will no longer come into heat, or be able to produce puppies or kittens

At Woodside, prior to surgery, all patients receive a careful pre anesthetic evaluation. All potential physical problems detected result in a phone call to you and are thoroughly discussed at that time. Just as your own doctor would never take you to surgery without first running laboratory tests, the same precautions are strongly recommend and offered at Woodside Animal Clinic.

Since the OHE is a major abdominal surgical procedure, it is performed with your pet placed under general anesthesia. Your pet sleeps painlessly through the entire operation. At Woodside Animal Clinic your pet's safety is our primary concern. With over a dozen different anesthetic choices available in our hospital pharmacy, we can custom design an anesthetic regimen to your pet's specific health needs. Our newest addition in anesthestic safety is Aerane which is reported to be ten times safer in older patients than other agent commonly used in veterinary medicine today. The surgery is performed in our private operating room by Dr. Simon or one of his associate veterinarians who scrub, gown, and glove before beginning the surgery. A freshly sterilized surgical instrument pack is used for each individual patient to help prevent post surgical infections.

The operating room at Woodside is equipped with the latest in respiratory and cardiac monitoring equipment including a pulse oximeter, blood pressure monitors,  an ECG machine and a cardiac oscilloscope. The gas anesthetic machine is equipped with a pressure monitor that makes sure that your pet's lungs do not become overly inflated. An infra red ear thermometers is used to monitor your pet's body temperature while under anesthesia and our new surgery table is heated in order to prevent your pet's body temperature from dropping below acceptable levels. An electro-surgery unit is always available should excessive bleeding become a problem.   Of course all the above equipment would mean nothing if it were not placed in the hands of highly competent and caring health care professionals such as you find at Woodside.

 After surgery each patient is placed in a heated cage and carefully monitored by our highly trained staff and veterinary technicians until they are fully awake and stabilized.  No pet is dismissed from the hospital until we are satisfied that she is fully recovered from the anesthetic and stable from the surgery.

After hospital discharge there is very little work required at home. Skin sutures are removed by us at no additional charge in 10 days to 2 weeks. We do ask that your pet be restricted in activity for the first week after going home, and that her incision area be kept as cleans and dry as possible.(no bathing, swimming or licking until the sutures are removed).

 We at Woodside Animal Clinic strive to perform the spay and all surgical procedures with the highest medical standards set forth by the profession. If you have any other questions about the procedure or your pet, please, don't hesitate to ask our staff  or  Dr. Simon.   Whenever you are ready to schedule youR pet's spay operation, just call,.   Our receptionist will be happy to set up the appointment.

Click here to learn more about spaying dogs and cats.

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 Woodside Animal Clinic is  a unique, very personal,  one doctor practice where, for over 35 years, Dr. Simon has been healing dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, rodents, and reptiles with both conventional and alternative medicine.  Dr. Simon is certified in Acupuncture, Chiropractic and Stem cell therapy.  He is the author  of 4 pet care books, a past president of the Oakland County Veterinary Medical Association and a regular contributor to Natural Awakenings magazine

 Woodside Animal Clinic sees pets from all over Michigan but primarily from the greater Detroit  area  including Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties.   Cities in these counties including Royal Oak, Berkley, Huntington Woods, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Detroit, Redford, Livonia, Hazel Park, Madison Heights, Warren, Centerline, Clawson,  Troy, Sterling Heights, Southfield, Birmingham, Lathrup Village, Bingham Farms, Franklin, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Novi, Wixom, Brighton, Livonia, Plymouth, Commerce, Ann Arbor, Ortonville, Waterford, Union Lake,  Rochester,  Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Utica,  Grosse Pointe,  Romeo and Flint, Hartland,  Lansing, Okemos, Flint ,Howell,  Brighton, White Lake, Romeo, Saline, South Lyon, Windsor Canada, Toledo Ohio