Laporoscopic spay

[Tillylils]

My border collie is due to have a laporoscopic spay the next few weeks. The vet really pushed this but it's going to cost an extra £200. He said that it would be less painful for her and she will recover quicker.

Has anyone had this done for their dog? Is it really that much better? Obviously if it is then I'm more than happy to pay the extra.

I don't know anyone who's had this done - I know of people who've had laparoscopic surgery, and some have had complications, some haven't.

My springer has just been spayed (old-fashioned way) and she was back to her customary bonkers self in about 24 hours. She did get an infection in her would though, but I think this is because she was flying round like a mad thing (as usual) , even though we were trying to keep her calm.

One thing I would wonder about is the risk of pyometra later in life. Protecting your bitch from pro is one of the great "pros" for neutering, but apparently in a laparoscopic spay only the ovaries are removed - the uterus stays in.

Seems to me that you might get a short term benefit (less uncomfortable for your dog) at the risk of a longer term possibility a potentially fatal condition.

If you ask your vet about this, I'd love to know what they answer is. I have another bitch who will be getting spayed in the next couple of months and am interested to know.

Even though the uterus is left in place it still removes the risk of pyometra as it results from hormonal changes in the uterus (hence why pyo tends to develop not long after a season) which obviously don't happen if the ovaries aren't there.

Apparently it's much more standard practice in some other European countries to do the laparoscopic spay rather than the traditional one so it's a fairly well proven alternative now.

My girl had a laparoscopic spay, no problems, recovered well. Lead walks for about seven days. She also wore a pet medical t shirt rather than a cone which was great, I assume she didn't bother about her stitches because there were so few.

Thanks Cornflake - interesting to know.