Spaying The Older Female For Disease Prevention
If your dearly beloved older female dog is not spayed, consider for a moment the positive reasons for having your vet perform the operation. Not only will this quick fix prevent health problems, potential diseases, and may even increase the dog’s energy and well-being, it could also prove to be beneficial for the following reasons:
Prevention Of Cystic Ovaries
One physiological problem many older female dogs suffer from is cystic ovaries. This condition leads to what appears to be real pregnancy but is actually a false pregnancy. The dog goes into all of the traits she normally would have during pregnancy, including lactating, putting on weight, becoming very protective of some object such as a rug or a box – but the dog is not actually pregnant.
Treatment is required to correct this problem. While this condition is not limited to older dogs, it can be eliminated in them with a panhysterectomy.
Possible Elimination Of The Disease Known As Pyometra
Another illness of the older dog is pyometra, an infection of the two tubes in the reproductive tract. This is a serious problem and requires surgery to cure. If the condition is allowed to go untreated it can develop into peritonitis, and have fatal results. By removing the tubes during spaying, the possibility of this illness is eliminated.
Spaying Removes The Onset Of Many Uterine Infections
The older female dog is also subject to several types of uterine infections. While these are not fatal, all of them may take some time to clear up with medications. By spaying your older female dog, the operation removes this problem permanently.
The Connection Between Non-Spayed Female Dogs & Neoplasma
The older unspayed female can also develop mammary neoplasma. There is a high correlation between dogs having this condition and those that have not been spayed. While there is no hard-proof that your dog is guaranteed not to experience this disease if she is undergoing the operation, the odds are indeed in her favor.
Cancer Of The Reproductive System
A continuing problem with an older female dog is cancer of the reproductive tract. When the female reproductive organs are removed in spaying, this ailment can be eliminated. Again, such as that with the disease neoplasma, there is no guarantee that being spayed will eliminate the total possibility of getting cancer in the reproductive tract, but based on the research available and statistics of this kind, your dog’s chances of being cancer-free in this area are greater when spayed.
