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Spaying or Neutering Dogs

Did you know that we have performed over 6,000 spays and neuters on countless male and female dogs of all breeds and ages?

That’s a pretty remarkable feat!  We are proud of the experience and expertise we bring to these procedures.

If you have owned an animal, or if you know anyone who has, chances are you have heard of the terms spay and neuter. Spaying is a term that describes the ovariohysterectomy, or the removal of portions of the reproductive system of a female dog. Neutering is a term that describes the castration, or the removal of the testicles of a male dog. Veterinarians perform these surgical procedures, which render dogs incapable of reproducing.

While we do not consider spay and neuter procedures to be "routine" and all general anesthesia procedures have a risk of complications, spay and neuter procedures are considered safe and are strongly recommended by all major veterinary organizations including the ASPCA and the Animal Humane Society.

We believe in compassionate dog care and therefore are adamant about educating people on why spay and neuter procedures are integral components of responsible dog ownership. We have compiled some of the most frequently asked questions here to help you learn more about this very important service.

A Responsible And Caring Spay And Neuter Clinic

For most people the thought of their puppy undergoing a surgical procedure under sedation can be frightening. We understand that this can be scary for caring dog owners and want to assure you that your puppy will be cared for by the most capable and caring medical professionals.

From the time your puppy or adult dog enters our doors, it will be treated with compassion and concern for its comfort. Our nurses will treat your puppy as their own. All puppies will receive pain medications before the procedure begins and after. Our anesthesia and patient care protocols will be tailored to your puppy's breed and size. While your puppy is under anesthesia, our veterinary staff will monitor a number of vital signs including body temperature, blood pressure, oxygenation and anesthesia depth. The surgery will be performed by our veterinarians who have many years of surgical experience.

Postoperative nursing care and pain management medications will be administered to your puppy to ensure that their recovery is painless and they remain closely monitored until we feel it is safe to send them home. Our veterinary staff will review postoperative instructions with you at that time so you can feel comfortable bringing your puppy home to complete its recovery.

The Pet Overpopulation Reason for Spaying And Neutering

There are many valid reasons to spay and neuter your dog, according to AmericanHumane.org, approximately 3.7 million animals are euthanized at shelters annually, due to the sheer fact that there are not enough willing adopters. Spay and neuter procedures ensure that you are not adding to this number.

For any purebred dog owners who believe that purebred equals profit or desirability, please understand that approximately 25% of all shelter animals are purebred. Unfortunately, there are just not enough good homes for needy dogs, purebred or not.

Do I Have To Spay Or Neuter My Dog?

At this time, there are no states with compulsory spay and neuter laws. However, spay and neuter procedures will ensure that no unwanted puppies are produced and will make it easier to train you puppy.

Over the years, many dog owners have come to us with misconceptions about the effects of spay and neuter procedures on dogs. While these misconceptions generally have no factual basis, a couple of them are prevalent enough that we would like to address them for you here:

Misconception #1: Spay and neuter procedures cause dogs to become overweight

Neutering a male dog will reduce the levels of testosterone in their body which have a positive impact on weight control. However, it is very possible to keep neutered and spayed dogs very fit simply with portion control and a regular exercise program. Lack of exercise and overfeeding will cause your dog to pack on the extra pounds, not spaying or neutering. Keeping your dog fit is very much in the control of its owner.

Misconception #2: Spay and neuter procedures will cause severe changes in demeanor

Although aggressive tendencies in male dogs will be reduced through neutering, the fear that you will be getting back a dog with a significantly different personality after surgery is just not true.

Neutering A Dog

The generally accepted age for neutering a dog is between 4-6 months. We recommend that you wait closer to 6 months.

Recently, clinical evidence has suggested that male dogs of certain large breeds may benefit from waiting to neuter until the dog has reached 10-11 months of age. There has been some evidence that this can reduce the risk of some types of cancer in certain large breeds, however there are a number of other factors such as aggressiveness, potty training and reproduction that must also be taken into consideration. While these updated guidelines have given us cause to extend the acceptable age for neutering some large breeds of dogs, the recommendation to eventually neuter the dog remain. 

How Our Dog Neuter is Different from Cheaper Options?

Other than our experience, there are numerous ways!  When you are calling to price compare, it is VERY important to know what pricing does and does not include. We have adjusted our pricing to make it affordable for you while providing the best care for your pet.

At Metro Vet Every Dog Neuter:

  • Every dog neuter patient has a personalized anesthetic plan
  • Every dog neuter patient has a dedicated anesthetic technician to monitor them during the entire procedure.
  • Each patient has preanesthetic bloodwork, an IV catheter, IV fluids and a new sterile endotracheal tube that secures a patent airway. We never reuse our endotracheal tubes between patients.
  • We treat each dog neuter as a sterile procedure. This means, we use new sterile gloves, a new sterile gown and sterile instruments. We use a cutting edge pre-surgical sterile scrub/prep for our patients.  Every dog neuter is performed in our surgical suite and there is only one pet procedure at a time. Period.
  • After the surgery your pet will have a warming blanket, pain medication and an assistant to be with them as they recover from anesthesia.
  • We offer breed specific preventative plans for stenotic nares, prevention for bloat etc. These are things that should be discussed for some pets during a spay/neuter procedure and often aren’t discussed or offered at lower cost options.

We go above and beyond to make sure these procedures are as safe as possible. Please call us at 312-583-1921 for further information.

Benefits of Neutering Your Dog: 

Castrating your dog, a procedure called orchiectomy (removal of the testicles), will help in preventing many annoying behavioral problems. It will also reduce his risk of developing many medical complications later in life. Numerous studies have proven that castrating your dog is overwhelmingly advantageous for his long-term health. Here is a brief list of likely benefits:

  1. Eliminates annoying sexual habits such as mountingdog-neuter
  2. Eliminates roaming in search of intact females
  3. Reduces the chance of developing prostate disease
  4. Reduces the risk of developing testicular cancer
  5. Reduces aggression tendencies towards people and other dogs
  6. Increases your dog’s expected life span by over 4 years
  7. Two dogs and their offspring can produce 67,000 more dogs in six years that need homes and veterinary care.

Intact (UN-neutered) male dogs are:

  • times more likely to develop anal tumors
  • times more likely to develop perineal hernias
  • 35 times more likely to be hit by a car
  • 40 times more likely to bite a human
  • 100 times more likely to develop prostatic disease*

*A recent retrospective study found that 100% of older intact male dogs had some form of prostatic disease.

The Myths about Neutering Your Dog:

  • It will not make your dog fat – lack of exercise and too much food results in obesity.
  • It does not make your dog “less of a man” or sad because they will never have “children.” We tend to project our feelings about reproduction onto our pets – animals reproduce from instinct, not from emotion.
  • Getting your dog neutered will not alter your dog’s basic personality, except that sterilized pets tend to be more calm, more focused on you and less likely to roam.
  • Neuter your dog, although a major surgery, is the most common surgery performed and usually the recovery time is a couple days to a week.
  • No dog is too old to be neutered, and the benefits at ANY age outweigh the risks.

As you now know, neutering your dog is preventive medicine!

Neutering a dog consists of the following surgical steps:

  • Pre anesthetic exam
  • Pain medication is administered
  • Our veterinary team will induce your dog into a safe state of general anesthesia
  • The attending staff monitors vital signs including breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, state of anesthesia, oxygenation levels and body temperature
  • The surgeon makes a small incision in the front of the scrotum
  • Each testicle is removed and the blood supply and vas deferens (spermatic cord) are tied off
  • The veterinarian closes the incision with surgical glue or sutures
  • Postoperative medications are given and postoperative care continues until your dog completely recovers from the anesthesia
  • We will keep your dog hospitalized until he completely recovers and is safe to send home with after care instructions

Home Care Instructions For Recovering From Neutering Procedures

Our veterinary staff will also provide post-operative instructions for you to follow at home. This home care includes a continuation of pain management to minimize post op discomfort. Some of the steps you can take at home to help facilitate a safe and comfortable recovery include:

  • Providing your dog with a quiet place to recover indoors and away from other animals
  • Preventing your dog from running and jumping for five to seven days following surgery
  • Preventing your dog from licking the incision site, which may cause infection, by monitoring your dog, utilizing his crate, and utilizing an elizabethan collar if licking can not be prevented otherwise
  • Avoiding bathing your dog for at least seven days after surgery
  • Checking the incision site daily to confirm proper healing
  • Looking for any redness, swelling or discharge at the surgery site, or if the incision is open, contacting your veterinarian
  • Call us if your dog is lethargic, has a decreased appetite, is vomiting, and has diarrhea, or if you have any other concerns following surgery

Spaying A Dog

The generally accepted age for spaying a dog is between 4-6 months. Spaying a dog once she is an adult is acceptable as well, although there's a slightly higher risk of postoperative complications in older dogs, as well as in dogs that are overweight or that have existing health problems. Therefore, spaying a dog when she is still a puppy is recommended in most cases.

How Our Dog Spay is Different from Cheaper Options?

Other than our experience, there are numerous ways!  When you are calling to price compare, it is VERY important to know what pricing does and does not include. We have adjusted our pricing to make it affordable for you while providing the best care for your pet.

At Metro Vet Every Dog Spay:

  • Every dog spay patient has a personalized anesthetic plan
  • Every dog spay patient has a dedicated anesthetic technician to monitor them during the entire procedure.
  • Each patient has preanesthetic blood work, an IV catheter, IV fluids and a new sterile endotracheal tube that secures a patent airway. We never reuse our endotracheal tubes between patients.
  • We treat each dog spay as a sterile procedure. This means, we use new sterile gloves, a new sterile gown and sterile instruments. We use a cutting edge pre-surgical sterile scrub/prep for our patients.  Every dog spay is performed in our surgical suite and there is only one pet procedure at a time. Period.
  • After her spay surgery your pet will have a warming blanket, pain medication and an assistant to be with them as they recover from anesthesia.
  • We offer breed specific preventative plans for stenotic nares, prevention for bloat etc. These are things that should be discussed for some pets during a spay/neuter procedure and often aren’t discussed or offered at lower cost options.

We go above and beyond to make sure these procedures are as safe as possible. Please call us at 312-583-1921 for further information.

Benefits of Spaying Your Dog:

Female dogs should be spayed before they go into their first heat (6-7 months of age).  Numerous studies have proven that spaying a dog before she goes into heat is overwhelmingly advantageous for long-term health. For example, if you spay a dog before her first heat, you decrease her chances of developing mammary tumors by over 90%!  Mammary tumors are the number one tumor in female dogs and most are malignant. We can prevent these devastating tumors by spaying early.

Other benefits of having your dog spayed include:dog-spay

  1. Reduces the risk of ovarian and uterine cancer
  2. Eliminates the risk of developing a uterine infection called pyometra
  3. Eliminates unwanted heats and the messy discharge and odor and unwanted behavior associated with heat
  4. Controls the pet population crisis by avoiding unwanted pregnancies ~ Two dogs and their offspring can produce 67,000 more dogs in six years that need homes and veterinary care.
  5. Spayed pets live an average of 4-6 years longer!

The Myths about Spaying Your Dog

  • It will not make your dog fat – lack of exercise and too much food results in obesity.
  • It does not make your dog “less of a woman” or sad because they never had “children.” We tend to project our feelings about reproduction onto our pets – animals reproduce from instinct, not from emotion.
  • Spaying your dog will not alter your dog’s basic personality, except that sterilized pets tend to be more calm, more focused on you and less likely to roam.
  • Getting your dog spayed, although a major surgery, is the most common surgery performed and usually the recovery time is a couple days to a week.
  • No dog is too old and the benefits at ANY age outweigh the risks.

Spaying a dog consists of the following surgical steps:

  • Pre anesthetic exam and pain medication are administered
  • Our veterinary team will induce your dog into a safe state of general anesthesia
  • The attending staff monitors breathing and heart rate blood pressure, anesthetic plane of anesthesia, oxygenation levels, and body temperature
  • The surgeon makes a small incision near the umbilicus on the abdomen
  • The ovaries and uterus are removed
  • The veterinarian closes the incision with surgical glue or sutures
  • Postoperative medications are given and postoperative care continues until your dog completely recovers from the anesthesia
  • We will keep your dog hospitalized until she completely recovers and is safe to send home with after care instructions

Home Care Instructions For Recovering From Spaying Procedures

Our veterinary staff will also provide post-operative instructions for you to follow at home. This home care includes a continuation of pain management to minimize post op discomfort. Some of the steps you can take at home to help facilitate a safe and comfortable recovery include:

  • Providing your dog with a quiet place to recover indoors and away from other animals
  • Preventing your dog from running and jumping for seven to ten days following surgery
  • Preventing your dog from licking the incision site, which may cause infection, by monitoring your dog, utilizing his crate, and utilizing an elizabethan collar if licking can not be prevented otherwise
  • Avoiding bathing your dog for at least ten days after surgery
  • Checking the incision site daily to confirm proper healing
  • Looking for any redness, swelling or discharge at the surgery site, or if the incision is open, contacting your veterinarian
  • Call us if your dog is lethargic, has a decreased appetite, is vomiting, and has diarrhea, or if you have any other concerns following surgery

As you now know, spaying your dog is preventive medicine! To help your dog have a long and healthy life, schedule to have her spayed.

Metropolitan Veterinary Center provides the safest anesthetic protocols individualized for each pets specific needs, careful monitoring during the procedure and sterile surgical technique to insure the safety of your pet! You can read about more about the extensive experience of our vets and unique protocols that we employ in all of our spay and neuter services.

We are happy to answer any questions you may have about the procedure and to schedule your appointment.  Call us at 312-583-1921. 

Make Your Appointment To Spay Or Neuter Your Dog Today

Scheduling an appointment with our veterinary team for spay and neuter procedures is as easy as picking up the phone, or sending us an email. Our experienced veterinary staff is here to help answer any questions or quell any concerns you might have, as well as to help schedule a surgical appointment for your canine companion at our spay and neuter clinic.

Contact Us Today To Schedule Your Spay And Neuter Appointment!

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