It is not uncommon in tough times for owners to delay seeking treatment for their pets because of their financial limitations. Postponing treatment, however, can create problems in and of itself. Easily treatable conditions can quickly develop into costly problems that could have a detrimental affect on your pets overall health. Having medical aid for your pet not only enables you to budget for your pets’ medical care, but also provides cover and peace of mind should a medical emergency arise.
Elective procedures such as vaccination and sterilisation can be budgeted for, however, many accidents and illnesses are sudden and unforeseen. Some conditions may even become chronic, requiring on going visits and treatment. Consider the pet that is accidentally run over in the driveway, or the puppy that swallows a foreign body or contracts severe gastroenteritis from raiding the dustbin? What about a dog that develops a chronic skin condition or a cat that develops lower urinary tract disease? Often people only consider pet medical aid once these conditions appear and, like human medical aids, pre-existing conditions are excluded from cover. Like any type of insurance, the time to consider pet medical aid is before these conditions have occurred. We therefore strongly recommend putting puppies and kittens on medical aid as soon as you acquire them.
Committed to providing the very best for you and your pets, we are keen to become your supplier of premium pet food and parasite control. Just phone in or email us about your preferred veterinary food (including bag sizes), as well as any tick and flea control you would like us to keep in stock for you and together we’ll keep you pet happy and healthy.
Should you be looking to order a specific item (e.g. food supplements, Protexin, chondroprotectants such as Nutradyl, Canosan , GCS Dog, etc.), please place your order before 09:00 and we will do our best to assure that it is available for your collection from the practice that afternoon.
Please note that purchases of pet food, tick and flea medications. and other over the counter preparations will need to be settled at the time of collection and will not be placed on any existing accounts.
Surgical sterilisation, commonly known as a spay in females and a neuter in males, are the most common surgeries performed in general small animal practice.
Why should I sterilise my pet?
The primary importance of sterilisation is to prevent unwanted litters through indiscriminate breeding. Many pet owners assume that their female pets will not fall pregnant if they are confined to a yard or garden. This myth has been disproven time and time again. Females in heat will readily try to escape in order to seek out a mate and male dogs will scale six foot walls to reach a female in heat. Many mismatings have occurred due to this common myth.
It is very difficult to confine an in-season female cat and they will continue to come into season in 3 week cycles until they are mated. Intact tom cats will roam in search of females, increasing their risk of developing abscesses and/or contracting Feline AIDS from fighting with others in the neighbourhood. They will also be more likely to spray urine around your house to mark their territory.
There are also serious medical reasonsto sterilise your pets. Unspayed female dogs that undergo numerous heat cycles are at risk of developing pyometra – a life-threatening infection of the uterus, necessitating emergency sterilisation. Unlike regular spays however, this involves the removal of a septic uterus – a far more risky, time-consuming, and expensive operation that is subsidised like regular spays are.
Unspayed females are also at a higher risk for developing mammary cancer (breast cancer) – this risk is dramatically reduced if females are spayed at 6 months of age, prior to the onset of the first heat cycle. Intact male dogs are far more prone to developing prostate problems such as prostatic enlargement, cysts and infection. Intact males are also more likely to be involved in dog fights and are a higher risk for being hit by motor vehicles in their wanderings to seek out a female.
Shall we just let her have one litter “for fun”/so that the kids can experience it?
Please do not do this! There are so many unwanted litters looking for homes, and to add to this population is irresponsible and unfair. One only needs to take a walk around your local SPCA to see the number of animals needing to be rescued and rehomed.
If you wish your children to experience the miracle of canine or feline birth, download a YouTube video, or contact a local breeder to see whether or not they will permit your children to watch a whelping. However, please be aware that the vast majority of pets give birth in the early hours of the morning, and the presence of people, especially excitable children, may lead them to delay labour, resulting in unnecessary complications. From personal experience, most children tend to lose interest in the whole process – a newborn puppy complete with amniotic sac, uterine fluid and blood is not as appealing to children as the six-week old cuddly puppy they are envisioning in their minds!
And don’t forget about the costs involved. Just like in humans, expectant canine and feline mothers should be placed on specialised diets to help ensure a healthy litter. Puppies will also need specialised feeding after birth, as well as vaccinations, deworming and microchipping prior to rehoming. And that’s if everything goes according to plan.
Unforeseen costs include those of veterinary intervention should your pet battle to give birth or require a caesarean, as well as post-partum complications such as metritis (life-threatening uterine infection) and mastitis. Not to mention the possibility that the bitch will refuse to nurse her puppies, leaving you and the kids to bottle-feeding up to sixteen (yes, a litter of sixteen can happen) puppies every two hours! We list these possibilities as they have ALL been seen in small animal practice on more than one occasion.
At what age should my pet be sterilised?
Females should be spayed at 6 months of age, prior to the onset of the first season. Males can be neutered from 6 months onwards.
What happens when my pet is spayed/neutered?
Spaying a female in surgical terms is an ovariohysterectomy. Both ovaries and uterus are removed so that not only will she not come on heat in future, she also be unable to bear a litter.
Male pets undergo an orchiectomy during which both testicles are completely removed. Unless removed due to pathology such as a tumour, the scrotal sac remains intact. Please note that this is very different from a vasectomy in humans, which involves tying off the spermatic duct while the testicles remain. Your male dog will not undergo a vasectomy and when he arrives home from his neuter, his testicles will no longer be present. This is a permanent surgery!
What should I expect on the day my pet is sterilised?
Your pet will be admitted to the clinic for the day. In rare cases, some pets may be kept overnight to reduce the possibility of excessive oozing from the spay wound. Your pet will be given a premed which includes a tranquiliser as well as pain medication. It has been shown that pain control is much improved if animals are given pain medication prior to as well as after surgery.
Animals are anaesthetised with an intravenous anaesthetic, intubated and placed on anaesthetic gas and oxygen throughout the surgical procedure. Smaller pets are placed on heating pads to reduce heat loss during surgery. The surgical site is clipped and prepared aseptically prior to the animal going to theatre.
After the surgery, your pet will be monitored as he/she wakes up from the anaesthetic and the breathing tube is removed as soon as he/she is able to swallow. They are then kept warm and comfortable while they sleep and recover prior to going home. All pets are discharged with post-operative pain medication to keep them as comfortable as possible. Your pet may be a bit sleepy the evening of the surgery, however, they are usually bright and back to their normal selves within 24 – 48 hrs.
What are the potential complications of sterilisation?
While every effort is made to ensure a safe anaesthetic and surgery, complications can occur even in healthy animals. Post-operative complications of sterilisation can include:
Bleeding from the ovarian blood vessels post-spay. Slipping of the blood vessel ligature/s can occur if your pet jumps on/off furniture or is excessively active post-operatively. This can lead to life-threatening blood loss. If you notice an excessive amount of bleeding through the skin incision, please contact us immediately.
Opening of the abdominal wound (herniation) – this is due to sutures tearing through the muscle layer and is usually caused by your pet jumping post-operatively (particularly in cats). You may notice a swelling under the skin, or in severe cases, tissue may protrude from the skin incision. Cover the area with a moist, clean towel and seek veterinary help immediately
An Australian Kelpie wearing a Buster Collar. (CC 2.0: Louise Docker)
Scrotal haematomas (bleeding into the scrotal sac) can form in over-active boisterous male dogs or in dogs that lick their surgical wounds after neutering. This is more common when older dogs are neutered as the scrotum is more developed. While a certain amount of scrotal swelling is normal post-neuter, a very inflamed, enlarged scrotal sac needs to be evaluated.
Infection of the skin wound and premature suture removal due to your pet licking the incision. This is by far the most common complication – especially in male dogs post-neuter. If your pet is showing excessive interest in his/her incision, please apply a buster collar to prevent this. We recommend a buster collar for ALL dogs post-neuter as licking their incisions is the rule, rather than the exception.
As you can see, post-operative confinement and monitoring is very important and we rely on you, the pet owner, to do your part in minimising complications, not only after sterilisation, but after all surgeries or procedures. Animals tend to recover and become active far quicker than we would after a surgery and as a result, it is easy to forget that they too, need time and rest to heal. If you are concerned about your pet post-operatively, please contact us as soon as possible.
Isn’t there a hormone or contraception to give pets instead of surgery?
Hormone injections to suppress or delay oestrus (heat) are fraught with danger. They predispose bitches to developing pyometra (see above) and if used in breeding bitches, can interfere with future fertility. These injections are not recommended and most veterinarians will not use them for ethical reasons. Non-breeding females need to be sterilised, and breeding females should be kennelled to prevent mismating.
Won’t sterilisation make my pet fat?
Sterilisation does cause metabolism to slow down, however, not all sterilised pets gain weight. Weight gain is not a reason not to sterilise, and sterilisation is not an excuse to have an overweight pet – this can be managed with diet and exercise.
If you would like to book your pet in for a sterilisation, please contact us on 031 769 1072.
Responsible for an increase in oesophageal cancer in dogs, Spirocerca lupi (from here on out referred to as “S. lupi“) is a parasitic worm that causes a disease known as Spirocercosis in dogs. Not given much thought until relatively recently, this worm has become of prime concern to veterinarians and pet owners around South Africa. Over the last decade we have seen a dramatic increase in prevalence of S. lupi related cases in South Africa, particularly in summer rainfall areas. We therefore recommend that if you don’t know about the worm already, you take the time to learn about it now.
Spirocercosis
Infection occurs when a dog ingests the infectious larval stage of the worm by eating certain species of dung beetle. These worm larvae then migrate up the stomach arteries, through the aortic wall, and into the oesophagus where they form nodules. These nodules are responsible for the main clinical signs of S. lupi which include regurgitation and coughing. Other clinical signs include weight loss, salivation, difficulty swallowing, pain during eating, anaemia and fever.
Sudden death can occur due to a ruptured aortic aneurysm – the result of damage caused by the worms during their migration through the arteries. The oesophageal nodules are also known to undergo malignant changes, leading to cancer of the oesophagus.
Large breed dogs between the ages of one and four years seem to be the highest risk group for contracting this parasite.
Diagnosis
Diagnosis of Spirocercosis requires chest x-rays and endoscopy of the oesophagus. Worm eggs can sometimes be seen on faecal flotation, however, they are very small and require a specialised flotation fluid.
Treatment
Treatment involves the use of drugs belonging to the class of macrocyclic lactones and the most commonly used active ingredient is Doramectin. Many of these products are not registered for use in dogs and are therefore used “off-label”. They include weekly treatment with injections, tablets or “top spot” preparations. These treatments will kill the adult Spirocerca worms inside the nodules, however, they will not reverse damage to the aorta or any cancerous changes to the oesophageal wall. Prevention of the parasite is therefore much safer and more effective than treatment once disease has occurred.
A product called Advocate ® has recently been launched to aid in the prevention of S. lupi. It is a spot-on formulation that is applied monthly to the dog’s skin that contains active ingredients to prevent fleas, as well as spirocerca and other roundworm infections. It is recommended that all puppies from the age of 7 weeks are started on monthly Spirocerca preventative to avoid this devastating disease.
Please note than in KwaZulu-Natal, we have a low number of dogs that carry a non-pathogenic (non-disease causing) worm called Dirofilaria repens in their blood streams. This worm is harmless in itself, however, if large numbers of these worms die after the treatment of infected dogs with a macrocyclic lactone product, they release proteins into the dog’s bloodstream which can result in a life-threatening allergic reaction. Infection with D. repens can be confirmed or ruled-out with a blood test called a Knotts test. Although the risk of reaction is very low, the reaction is very serious and we do occasionally get dogs that test positive on a Knotts test. It is recommended (but not compulsory) that a Knotts test be performed on all adult dogs prior to starting S. lupi preventative or treatment.
For more information on S. lupi, feel free to contact Equis Veterinary Hospital on 031 769 1072.
