Ovariohysterectomy

Whew! That's a big word for a post title! You can say spay if you'd rather- I use spay more than ovariohysterectomy myself. But I think it's a good idea to remember just what we are talking about. So let's break it down:

ovario- having to do with the ovaries (the organ that makes eggs and produces some hormones)
hyster- Greek for uterus (also the basis for words like hysteria and hysterical- think about that)
ectomy- to cut out

Therefore- an ovariohysterectomy is to cut out the ovaries and uterus. Spay. Sterilize. Alter. Fix.

Look, folks, this is major surgery. We veterinarians do it every day, in some cases dozens of times in a day. So we look at it as "routine" surgery. But it is in fact significant surgery. We open up the abdomen (belly) and take out organs. Organs that have a tendency to bleed. This takes education and skill.

I'm not here to whine, so I apologize for sounding whiny. Vets hear complaints about pricing so often that we develop some sensitivities about it. Add that to many people thinking that we are not "real" doctors and we can get a serious complex.

Here are the facts. We have a pet population problem in much of the country. One way to reduce pet population is to consistently spay and neuter our pets that are not going to be used for purposeful, conscientious breeding.

But as I have written before (and said many, many times) population control is not the only- or maybe even the best- reason to spay your pet. Health is.

Ovariohysterectomy. Removing the ovaries and uterus means we will never have ovarian cancer or uterine cancer in that dog or cat. If you spay young, preferably before the first heat, we almost eliminate the chances of mammary cancer. Yes, dogs and cats get breast cancer. It is hormone driven, and the risks increase with the first few heat cycles. If you wait to spay until they have had three or more heats, you increase the chances that they will develop breast (mammary) cancer later in life. And yes, breast cancer can kill dogs and cats.

If those reasons aren't enough, let me give you one more. Pyometra. Shall we break it down again?

pyo- pus, infected
metra- uterus

A pyometra is an infected uterus. Imagine a tube that is normally the size of a pencil swollen to the size of a summer sausage. Now imagine that sausage in your belly. Ouch and yuck, right?

Now imagine that there are two summer sausages side by side, connected at the bottom. The sausages are filled with pus, not meat. That's an infected uterus for a dog or cat. Some are closed pyometras, which means the pus stays inside the uterus until it bursts. That's awful, painful, and life-threatening. Deadly.

Or the pus can drain out. This might be a little less deadly in the short term, but imagine a constant stream of thick, smelly pus draining from your nether regions. Imagine feeling nauseous, urinating all the time, feverish, crampy, bloated....

Then imagine your doctor scheduling emergency surgery to remove this nasty, pus-filled, distended, tends-to-tear-and-leak-all-over organ. After normal hours. Or over lunch. The MDs bill would probably run in the tens of thousands range (my C-sections were each over $10,000). Your vet likely charges 1/10 of that for the emergency surgery. A "routine" spay at 4-6 months of age will cost significantly less than an emergency spay.

See why we push for ovariohysterectomies when pets are young? We want them to be well. We want to impact your budget less. Really.

Enjoy your pets!