Last week, the Palmer’s 6-month-old Chihuahua, Delilah, had an ovariohysterectomy (surgical removal of the ovaries and uterus). This will prevent her from going into heat, ever having puppies and will protect her from mammary cancer and infections of the uterus in the future. Since she only weighs in at a little over 5 ½ lbs, she was too small for a ‘lap-spay’ (Laparoscopic Ovariectomy or removal of just the ovaries) and she had a traditional surgery performed with a surgical laser.
To help make Delilah calm and relaxed, she was given a combination of a mild sedative and pain killer prior to the surgery so that she would be comfortable both before and afterwards. ‘Premedication’ also allows for a smoother and safer transition to general anesthesia.
Before giving Delilah an anesthetic, she had a blood test done (Pre-Anesthetic Blood Screen). This was to make sure everything was okay with her internal organs and it would be unlikely for there to be problems with either her ability to handle the anesthetic or for her body to handle the demands of surgery.
To give Delilah a general anesthetic, we gave her an injection of a short acting drug that made her unconscious so that we could put a tube in her trachea (windpipe) and give her a combination of gas anesthetic and oxygen. She was monitored closely through out the procedure by our Registered Veterinary Technician, Tara, and instruments that measured her heart rate, breathing rate, oxygen and carbon dioxide levels.
The surgery went very well and second year vet student, Rebecca, got to ‘scrub in’ and assist. Using a surgical laser helps reduce blood loss during surgery and helps to reduce pain and swelling of the incision afterwards.
Like many small breed dogs, some of Delilah’s baby teeth didn’t fall out when they should have, resulting in retained deciduous teeth. These should be removed at the time of spaying or neutering – other wise they can cause dental issues down the road.
Before Delilah was awake and conscious we implanted her microchip – a great way to provide her with permanent identification!
Delilah spent the rest of the day resting quietly and comfortably in her kennel. We made sure she stayed comfortable by giving her pain killers for a few days and by keeping her very quiet for a couple of weeks.
To learn more about spaying and neutering of cats and dogs at Sault Ste. Marie Animal Clinic, go to the following links!