Monday, May 26, 2008

3. Spaying big dogs - bilateral alopecia

EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE FOR VET STUDENTS

"My vet does not spay big dogs," the young couple said. "So I was asked to see you."
Big dogs take longer to spay. Big dogs with some fat as in this case may be much more difficult to spay if the vet uses hook and a small incision.

Personally, I do not look forward to spaying big fat dogs too. The spay hook gets obstructed and one gets omental fat coming out of the spay incision so many times.

In this case, the dog has a skin disease, with hair loss from back to past the chest. Now, if the vet has not informed the owner of this finding, the worsening of the skin condition some weeks after spay, leading to a "botak" (bald) dog might be attributed to the vet having spayed the dog or not informing the owner.

I advised treatment first. The dog was already 4th month after the ending of heat. There would need to be a waiting of another 4 months for the next spay and for the treatment of the skin disease.



"I will not be able to manage when she comes on heat in 2 months' time," the lady said she would be in later stages of pregnancy herself. Cleaning up the blood stains dripping over the floor for at least 2 weeks during the dog's estrus can be quite exhausting.

The dog was spayed and the gentle couple will need to follow up and monitor the skin disease. Vets need to let the owners know about pre-existing skin conditions before spaying the dog so as to build positive relationships and avoid misunderstandings.

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