What Is a Spay?

Everyone knows they should have their females dogs and cats spayed, but what exactly does that mean? The word "spay" is thought to originate from the Old French espeer meaning to cut with a sword, which then may have been changed to the Middle English spayen. Today the word means to perform a surgery to remove the reproductive tract from the abdomen of a female animal.

A spay is not a simple little surgery. It is not a tubal ligation. A spay surgery is a major abdominal surgery that removes the ovaries and uterus. An incision is made on the mid-line of the abdomen, each ovary is isolated, ligated and removed, then the body of the uterus is ligated and removed.

This surgery is performed in order to prevent pregnancy of course, but there are two other reasons veterinarians recommend the procedure. The two reasons are: to try to prevent breast cancer and to prevent a pyometra. If a dog is spayed before her first estrus (heat cycle), veterinarians just don't see breast tumors. If a dog goes through one heat cycle, she has an 8% chance of developing breast cancer. If a dog has two or more estrus cycles, she has a one-in-four chance of getting breast cancer.

A pyometra is a bad infection of the uterus that requires immediate surgery to remove the swollen uterus along with the ovaries. This is considered an emergency, it is essentially an abscess in the uterus. These dogs are sick and require hospitalization with intravenous antibiotics and fluids until they are feeling better. This is fairly common problem in unspayed female dogs, with the odds increasing with age. It tends to occur a few weeks after an estrus cycle.

When women have a hysterectomy, the ovaries are often left in the abdomen. This is not done in dogs because they would still come in heat and they would still be at a high risk of breast cancer.

The traditional age to perform the spay surgery is six months of age. The first estrus cycle is usually between seven and nine months of age, and we want the surgery to be done before this.
Some rescue groups are doing spay surgeries at younger ages as their motivations are population control. They want to make sure all puppies and kittens that are adopted have no chance of having litters of their own.

In summary, while a spay surgery is a commonly performed procedure, it is not a simple surgery, or one to be taken lightly. Talk to your veterinarian if you have questions about getting your pet spayed.

Location


Office Hours

Open 7 days a week!

Monday:

7:00 am-6:00 PM

Tuesday:

7:00 am-6:00 PM

Wednesday:

7:00 am-6:00 PM

Thursday:

7:00 am-6:00 PM

Friday:

7:00 am-6:00 PM

Saturday:

7:00 am-6:00 pm

Sunday:

Closed

Testimonials

Feedback from our clients

  • "Great vet practice! Have experienced many other vet clinics in NE Ft Lauderdale area and Dr. Vaujin is the best. Knowledgeable, reasonable and the front desk staff is very friendly so not sure about some of the complaints. Everyone has a bad day now and again, don't take it personally and judge with such harshness. Caring, compassionate and excellent care-that's what matters. Won't go anywhere else."
    RubiR A.
  • "I am completely happy with Heroes. They take good care of my dog, Annie. Their pricing is fair and reasonable. Annie needed minor surgery to remove a growth from her neck and during the procedure the Doctor removed a second growth that was unknown to us at diagnosis at no additional charge. I find the staff to be accommodating and sensitive to Annie's high anxiousness during her visits. I highly recommend their services."
    Mark G.
  • "This place and these professionals are the epitome of true love for the care of all pets....They get 5 stars from me on there worst day. My best friend was looking at paralysis due to a chronic condition he has had for many years and they have found a way to limit his condition and to live a pain free full life.
    *****5 STARS *****"
    Michael L.
  • "I am truly amazed with the friendly staff and how they treated my dog
    They saved my dogs life and I'm very grateful that they found the time to do a emergency surgery without it my dog would have passed away.
    Other vets were charging 2500 to 3500
    Heroes did the surgery for 1/4 of the price
    Thanks again"
    Paul C.
  • "I took my cat in today without an appointment and everyone was so caring, helpful, and understanding of how emotional I was getting. They thoroughly explained exactly what she'd have to have done and were so nice. I really appreciate how sweet they were because I was so upset and worried before coming in. I'm glad to have found a new vet to take my pets to :-)"
    Kimmy W.