Do you remember little Callie who belongs to Wellesbourne vet Becky? She has grown so much since this picture was taken!
She came in recently to be spayed at 6 months old before she had her first season.
We usually recommend bitches are spayed before their first season except for certain larger breeds, in which case we recommend spaying before their second season. As well as preventing unwanted pregnancies, early spaying has been proven to result in a huge reduction in the occurrence of mammary tumours in later life and prevents life threatening uterine infections.
Here is a picture gallery of Callie's day at the vets.
Becky made sure Callie hadn't had any breakfast prior to her anaesthetic, as having food in her stomach would have made the procedure more risky.
In the picture Sarah and Steph are gently holding Callie to take a blood sample from her neck for a preanesthetic blood test, and to place an IV cannula in her leg to allow us to give her anaesthetic drugs.
Once she was asleep, Sarah monitored her breathing and heart rate to make sure she was asleep and stable. While Sarah did this, Steph clipped the fur on her tummy and cleaned the surgical site to prevent the wound becoming infected.
Callie was then moved to theatre and given a final clean before her operation started.
Sarah continued to monitor her anaesthetic whilst Russell operated. During a spay we remove the ovaries and uterus through a small incision into the abdomen. We then close the incision with hidden absorbable sutures. We sent Callie home with a buster collar to make sure she didn't lick her wound and make it sore or infected.
Callie made a brilliant recovery; here she is snoozing happily after her anaesthetic.
For more information on neutering please call one of our surgeries, or see our leaflet at:
www.avonvets.co.uk/images/leaflets-2015/dog_neautering_explained.pdf
