What is Spaying?

Spaying your female dog is a normal surgical procedure carried out under general anaesthetic. It involves the removal of her ovaries and womb so she does not come into heat and cannot become pregnant. Spaying can be done from 4 to 5 months of age.
Spaying is the safest and best way to control your female dog’s reproduction. Female dogs come into heat twice a year. Her heat can last up to three weeks. She can be become pregnant during this time.

City Vet recommends spaying all female dogs not intended for breeding because of the many health benefits for your dog.

The Benefits of Spaying

Approximately 12 unwanted dogs are destroyed in Ireland on a daily basis. Spaying will reduce the number of unwanted pups and dogs. It is a myth that it is best to allow your dog have a litter of pups before neutering. There are simply not enough good homes for all the puppies born. Neutering your dog before her first heat also greatly reduces her risk of developing cancer at a later stage.

The incidence of mammary tumours or breast cancer is greatly reduced in spayed female dogs. Spaying her before her first heat reduces this risk by more than 50%.

Older unspayed female dogs who have not had pups may develop a life threatening womb infection called pyometritis.

False pregnancies commonly occur after a heat and are extremely distressing for your dog and can often require veterinary treatment.
Spaying significantly reduces the risk of your dog developing diabetes, a condition requiring ongoing medication and treatment.

During your female dogs season, she is more likely to want to escape and will become difficult to control and anxious.

Neutered pets live longer.