Ovary-Sparing Spay Thoughts?
Dab12
U.S.A
Good Day All,
First of all, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Jose and I live in Virginia. I have been a bull terrier lover for many years. My first bull terrier "Jake" passed away last month. It was one of the worst things, if not the worst thing, that has happened to our family. He was shy of seven years old when we found out he had a serious intestinal disease that could not be cured. Although he was really well taken cared off, I wonder if we could have done something to prevent it.
That being said, we got a new female bull terrier puppy (Lizzy). She will be here next month. I want her to have a healthy life. Therefore, I have been researching alternatives to traditional spay. I came across the Ovary-Sparing Spay, in which they leave the ovaries and completely remove the uterus. I already found a local vet that does this procedure. However, I was wondering if I should keep her intact for at least 3-4 years and then do the surgery or do it as early as possible? With the OSS surgery, she will be able to keep her ovaries and will go into heat (with minimal or no discharge depending on how well the surgery is performed). I don't see any point of waiting 3 or 4 years due to the fact that she will have all her hormones. Has any of you had this surgery done on their bitches? Thanks! I will appreciate any insight!
P.S:
Attached is a picture of my boy Jake and my girl Lizzy.
First of all, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Jose and I live in Virginia. I have been a bull terrier lover for many years. My first bull terrier "Jake" passed away last month. It was one of the worst things, if not the worst thing, that has happened to our family. He was shy of seven years old when we found out he had a serious intestinal disease that could not be cured. Although he was really well taken cared off, I wonder if we could have done something to prevent it.
That being said, we got a new female bull terrier puppy (Lizzy). She will be here next month. I want her to have a healthy life. Therefore, I have been researching alternatives to traditional spay. I came across the Ovary-Sparing Spay, in which they leave the ovaries and completely remove the uterus. I already found a local vet that does this procedure. However, I was wondering if I should keep her intact for at least 3-4 years and then do the surgery or do it as early as possible? With the OSS surgery, she will be able to keep her ovaries and will go into heat (with minimal or no discharge depending on how well the surgery is performed). I don't see any point of waiting 3 or 4 years due to the fact that she will have all her hormones. Has any of you had this surgery done on their bitches? Thanks! I will appreciate any insight!
P.S:
Attached is a picture of my boy Jake and my girl Lizzy.
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640 x 640 - 116K
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1950 x 1463 - 211K
Comments
For starters one question: Why spay at all? Do you have other unfixed male dogs in your household?
We have a girl and she is intact - now 5 yrs. old - and we just manage her heat phases to prevent pregnancy.
We follow the philosophy not to mess with nature unless necessary. We know that every household is in a different situation and that there can be circumstances ... we don't judge, it's just the way WE handle OUR situation.
I am just asking anyway because you are making such a huge point about the health aspect, which I can absolutely understand. I feel the same about these things especially because these little furry creatures sometimes come across like bulldozers, yet they're so fragile.
Keeping a female dog intact, of course, is no guarantee that there will never be any issues. Our last EBT, for example, almost died at about 3 yrs. of complications caused by pyometra. Usually, spayed females do not develop that. But, you know, sometimes it's just bad luck. It can even happen to spayed females.
If you have an intact male in the house and think about fixing one of the dogs to prevent pregnancy I would think about the male first because for males the procedure is said to be much less intrusive - talking about risk of surgery and anaesthesia, which is also a thing to consider.
When it comes to health and a strong digestive system, a healthy and high quality nutrition from day one will help your girl better than any spaying could do.
But I am sure you know that.
Don't beat yourself up about things you maybe or not could have done for your late dog. I am sure it had a great live with your family and it felt loved. THAT'S what counts! I've had the same thoughts after our first EBT died - and she reached 14yrs.
I had made a lot of mistakes back then. But I honor her heritage by taking everything I have learned with and from her and to my best knowledge doing things better today.
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
It’s a pain in the neck when the female is in heat but we deal
If you do not have n intact male like mentioned why spay at all ?
But, first of all, spaying is no guarantee that your dog will not develop other cancers or other unrelated serious health problems. And secondly, you should still keep in mind that in order to have this procedure done your dog will have to be fully sedated and undergo surgery.
As Bull Terriers have pretty tiny organs, anaesthesia is always a risk for them (it's a risk in general, but even higher for them, that's as far as I know).
Also, not to scare you but it's just true, surgery can go wrong or not be performed properly, tissue be left and pyometra still develop.
These are a lot of risks in the first place just to avoid ONE possible complication which is not not necessarily going to happen.
Pyometra is quite common in unspayed females - I've heard that too.
But that still does not mean that EVERY unspayed female catches it.
Also, there are different types of pyometra - open and closed.
In general, after a heat cycle the dogs reproductive system is more susceptible to infection.
An open pyometra causes discharge you will notice and you will be able to react in time. Also other symptoms such as lack of appetite, lethargy, sometimes fever will likely occur.
The really dangerous version - which we experienced with our former dog - is the closed pyometra. Because there is no discharge in this case and as Bull Terriers are very pain tolerant it is likely that this type of pyometra only gets noticed at a progressed - possibly life-threatening - state.
In both cases the treatment is surgery and removal of the uterus. So, when that happens there is no other option anyway. And in that case the threat through the infection simply outweighs the risks of anaethesia and surgery.
Like I said, we've been through this - the closed pyometra. And unlike with many other things that lead me to make drastic changes (e.g. nutrition), this could still not convince us that spaying was the better option for our next female.
This is not advice I am giving you here. I am just telling you what I know, how we handle things, what we have experienced and our conclusions for us. I know this is a very hard decision to make and I know this fear that anything could come across our furry little buggers and make them sick beyond the point we can help. I also know the fear of regrets.
I hope that you will come to a decision you feel "right" with and that gives you the comfort of having done everything in your power for the best of your dog. Because that is all we can do. Sadly, just as with children, we can not shield them from every evil that could happen. We can only do our best.
What that will be, can only be your decision based on your own conclusions.
I don't think there is ONE "right" or "wrong" way here, which only makes these decisions harder.
The good thing is, you are not in a hurry because she seems to be healthy and as far as I know spaying can be done at practically any age. So you have the time to gather more information and you don't need to rush into anything.