Spaying Female Dogs
There are many reasons for spaying female dogs at a specialized spay clinic. In Squamish, our Garibaldi Veterinary Hospital can care for your pet and spay needs. Spay surgery can be done at our clinic. The cost to have everything done varies depending on the age and vaccine status of your pet. Please contact our Veterinarian to discuss a treatment plan and the spay procedure in detail. We are also available by phone at 604-898-9089 to schedule this appointment.
The rationale for spaying dogs is not just to help control the population of pets. There are medical and behavioral reasons for the procedure as well.
Female dogs will regularly come into heat (estrus) after they reach sexual maturity (before one year of age for most breeds). The heat period will last on average 5-15 days, during which time the bitch will have a vaginal discharge, will attract male dogs to your house or when out on walks, and will often display unpleasant behavioral changes.
Unspayed female dogs are also much more prone to very serious medical disorders. They often develop severe uterine infections (pyometra) and are prone to other diseases of the uterus and ovaries including cancers. They are also much more prone to mammary gland tumors which are often extremely malignant.
Licensing of spayed females is made less costly to encourage the performance of the spay procedure.
Despite common myths, spaying female dogs does not detrimentally affect a dog’s behavior (it does however eliminate the undesirable heat behavior). Letting them have “one litter of pups” before the spay procedure does not improve the animal’s temperament as a pet. It does contribute to the population of unwanted pets (in most cases) and places the animal at greater risk for diseases such as mammary gland tumors later in life. Smilarly, spaying does not result in weight gain. Maintenance of proper body condition is accomplished by providing a proper diet and exercise for all dogs.
For the above reasons, spaying of female dogs at 6-7 months of age should be considered routine except in those rare cases where the pet is intended for breeding purposes.
