TOA
PAYOH VETS
Today was such a day. The Miniature Schnauzer, born in Dec 3, 2005 was on heat 4 months ago. She was spayed today Nov 23, 2007 as the owner was advised to do so 3-4 months after heat and she made the appointment at the 4th month.
My assistant Mark talked to the dog as he put the face mask over her muzzle. She did not struggle and went to sleep under 8% gas anaesthesia within 10 minutes. No tranquilisation was needed. I inserted the endotracheal tube to connect her lungs to the anaesthetic machine, maintained the anaesthesia at 1.5%.
The
incision was 2.5 cm from the
umbilicus. A 1-cm cut into the
skin and the linea alba to access
the internal organs of the womb
and ovaries. I inserted the spay
hook into the abdomen by turning
it towards my right at 45 degrees
caudally. It hooked out the left
uterine horn. I pulled the left
ovarian ligament. The dog started
to breath much faster as she felt
the pain. My assistant increased
the gas to 8% for a minute so that
the dog had more gas to remove the
pain of surgery. The minimal
amount of gas given will lead to
no deaths and that was why I used
1.5%. No more rapid breathing observed. I cut the ovarian ligament with the scalpel. Clamp the ovarian stump. Ligated the stump.
Then I pulled the left uterine horn totally out of the body and saw the right uterine horn at the uterine body junction popping out. I used forceps to pull it out.
From
there, I accessed the right
ovarian ligament and repeated the
same procedure as with the left.
No bleeding. The blood was normal
red with oxygen. The dog was
breathing regularly. Finally, I
took out the uterine body, clamped
and ligated it. It was let go into
the abdomen. The skin and muscles were stitched up. The gas anaesthesia was switched off as I stitched the skin. No bleeding from the ovarian and uterine tissues at all as the dog was no longer on heat.
The dog woke up smoothly after 3 minutes. An Elizabeth collar was given to prevent licking of wound. Overall, this was a dream spay. It was the most satisfying spay I had ever done as everything proceeded smoothly, there was no bleeding and therefore the surgical time taken was less than 30 minutes. The dog woke up by the last stitch. She went home without complications post-operation as the owner did not phone me. I was also punctual for the first consultation at 10 a.m.
QUESTIONS THE OWNER ASKED:
1. Bathe the dog? Yes, but make sure the plaster is not wet.
2. Can the dog eat any food? Yes.
3. When to come back to remove the stitches. No need. The absorbable stitches will dissolve and fall off in 14-28 days.
4. When to remove plaster? 7 days later.
5. Can give antibiotic and pain-killer tablets crushed and mixed with water inside a syringe? Yes. 7 days.