Pregnant Spay
I wanted to
know what the medical pros and cons are to late term pregnancy spayings
in particular I was looking for journal articles or recommendations from
the AVMA. Thanks for your help.
A spay is
an ovariohysterectomy on a female dog. This is a major surgery,
removing a large and significant organ. Not only is there significant
blood loss and tissue removal during such a surgery, there is also
major changes in hormone balance when the ovaries are removed. This is
all greatly increased in pregnant dogs that are spayed. Pregnant dog
spays take four to five times longer to complete such a surgery, thus
increasing the anesthetic risk. The tremendous tissue and blood loss on
a pregnant dog spay also causes increased risk, and prolonged recovery.
When delivery is an option, it is best to let a pregnant bitch have and
wean her litter of pups, then spay her. If delivery is not possible,
then the first half of pregnancy is much better than the second half. A
canine pregnancy lasts 61 to 63 days. Most pregnancies are not clearly
visible in the female until the second month.
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