1. If you are not going to breed your dog, then sterilization will have four important advantages:
- Prevention of Accidental Pregnancy and Litter
- False pregnancy prevention
- Prevention of serious bacterial infections of the uterus, also known as pyometers
- You won’t have the hassle of rushing the dog (e.g. when you will be limited in walks with a dog in those places where many other dogs and where she will attract attention males)
It is also recognized that sterilization reduces the risk of breast tumors. However, some studies say that evidence of this is not convincing.
2. The medical term for removing the uterus and ovaries is ovariogisterectomy. It is more preferable than ovariectomy. (when only the ovaries are removed), since with the latter, the uterus remains intact, so the risk of developing pyometers is still stays.
3. Some veterinarians prefer to sterilize the dog before it first estrus, aged about 5-6 months. The main reason for this is that the dog in this case is less likely obesity will develop at an early age as well as younger and a healthy body tolerates such operations more easily. Nevertheless, early-sterilized bitch may be exposed the development of urinary incontinence at a later age, which due to low estrogen levels. Therefore, before passing surgery, she needs to be mature enough for hormone levels didn’t change too abruptly.
4. The dog should not be sterilized during false pregnancy, as there is a risk that she may remain in the psychological state of pregnancy for the rest of your life!
5. Dog run may be interrupted by progestogen (androgenic compounds). Side effects of medical estrus interruptions can be:
- increased appetite and subsequent weight gain
- lethargy
- breast enlargement
- changes in wool
- temperament change
- increased risk of developing pyometers
6. Some owners have objections to sterilization. Possible concerns are mainly related to hormonal changes, which may occur due to low production estrogen. Removal of the ovaries may also predispose some dogs to gain weight, but this can be avoided by regulating their calorie intake.
7. It is better not to sterilize the dog that is in the mating season (in rut), because during this period the blood vessels which supply the ovaries and the uterus with blood, become crowded. During surgery, tissues may be torn more easily, resulting in big blood loss. Even those fabrics that are not associated with reproductive organs such as skin, fat and muscle tissue, may be more loose and interfere strongly during surgical operations. Thus, sterilization during estrus becomes very risky. For this reason, surgeons tend to sterilize between estruses.
8. Laparoscopic sterilization of dogs is slightly more expensive than ordinary, but it has several advantages, namely:
- it is safer and less invasive
- the risk of surgical injury is significantly less
- less painful, discomfort after surgery also lower
- quick recovery after surgery
- the size of the surgical incision is smaller, which is less likely leads to complications.
