What is it?

Spaying your dog is surgery to remove the ovaries, or ovaries + uterus. Vets recommend spaying female dogs for several reasons including: prevention of pregnancy to stop a dog coming into season reduced risk of some tumours prevention of pyometra (a life-threatening infection in the womb).

In a keyhole (or laparoscopic) spay this surgery is done through very small holes or incisions, so your dog recovers faster and has less pain than following a traditional spay.

At Village Vets we are constantly looking to provide our patients with the best quality care and treat your pets just as we would our own animals, so we are really excited to offer keyhole surgery as part of our service.

Why keyhole surgery?

Traditionally spay surgery is done through a large incision. It can be difficult for the surgeon to access and see the ovaries and they are torn away from the inside of the abdomen. This causes bruising and pain, and dogs take around two weeks to recover. During this time your dog must be strictly rested and have pain relief medication. Many dogs want to lick or chew the large wound so there is a risk of it opening up or becoming infected.

Laparoscopic surgery uses tools which magnify and illuminate the ovary and surrounding tissue, allowing us to be very precise with our surgery. So there is less bleeding, less bruising, and less pain for your dog.

Rather than a large traditional surgical wound we can do keyhole surgery through just a few very small holes. Because of this your dog will recover much faster: she can go home earlier on the day of surgery and get back to her normal walks sooner. She should also be less likely to want to lick the smaller, less painful wounds, so there is less chance of the wounds becoming infected or opening up.

What are the risks?

Any surgery (keyhole or otherwise) has a small anaesthetic risk, as well as a risk of bleeding during or after surgery, or wound infection. Although these risks are still present for laparoscopic surgery, they are reduced compared to traditional spaying.

Occasionally during a keyhole spay we may decide that traditional surgery is required, for example if we identify changes in other organs.

Rarely the equipment used in keyhole surgery can cause damage to abdominal organs. In a keyhole spay the tissue and blood vessels around the ovaries are cauterised (burned) to seal them and stop bleeding. Rarely this can cause burn damage to other tissues in the body.

Summary

• Vets recommend spaying your dog to prevent disease and give her a long healthy life
  
• Keyhole surgery gives your dog a faster and more comfortable recovery
  
• Spaying with keyhole surgery has less risk of complications than traditional spaying
  
  

If you have any questions about keyhole surgery or spaying in general just speak to a member of your vet team, they’re always happy to help!