La castration in dogs It is a delicate subject, and it is that many people avoid it. However, this process has great advantages for dogs. We must have information about what castration is and also about the process and what it entails, to decide if we want to apply it to our pet.
This time we will see what the care of newly neutered dogs, since the post-operative period is spent at home and these are delicate days for them. In addition, we have to know this process, since it changes the dog's lifestyle a lot. In any case, it is a process that more and more people carry out and that is much better known.
What is castration
Neutering is the process by which the dog or bitch is operated to remove your reproductive organs. This is mainly done to avoid heat and unwanted pregnancies and litters. Nowadays, with the high rate of abandonment of dogs, it is a more common process, to control the birth of dogs and prevent more animals from being abandoned each year. If we are responsible owners this is a process that we must do. In the case of dogs it is a small incision to empty the testicles and in bitches they have to make a larger cut to remove the ovaries. That is why in them the post-operative period is somewhat more complicated and annoying.
Benefits of castration
One of the main benefits of castration is the avoid heat and pregnancy. In this way we will not have to face the arrival of a litter that may not find a home and end up in kennels or animal shelters. But castration is much more. The dog and the bitch will be much calmer by not going through the process of heat. In addition, the possibility of suffering diseases such as uterine infection, ovarian or testicular cancer is reduced. Although it is said that dogs gain more weight, this does not always have to happen and in any case a control of diet and physical exercise will help you maintain weight.
The day of the castration
On the day of the castration, we must leave the dog at the clinic for it to be operated on. This does not take more than a few hours or even less, so we can pick it up the same day. It is usual to wait in the place for the operation but afterwards you will always have to wait for the dog to wake up. It is important that the dog is not nervous when going, so we can give it a walk earlier. It must be borne in mind that before any operation the dog must fast, so we will not feed him from the day before. When he wakes up, it is better for us to be close, because he is in a strange place and with people he does not know. When he is sufficiently recovered we can take him home to rest.
Home care
Must have an Elizabethan collar appropriate to its size for when we take it home. What these collars do is prevent the dog from walking into the wound and being able to pull out the stitches, something that is common in them. They find this collar annoying but must wear it while the wound is healing. The veterinarian will have given us a guideline of medicines to supply the dog, which we must give at the indicated dose and times to avoid problems and infections in the wound. On the other hand, you have to disinfect the outside area with betadine diluted in a little water. Finally we will have a visit to the veterinarian to check the status of the stitches and for their removal if necessary.