Are there any complications to a spay or neuter surgery?

There can be, especially with neuter surgeries. Sometimes you'll get what's called a scrotal hematoma, where blood kind of builds up in the scrotum. With spays, there are certain vessels that should be ligated or tied off. And sometimes those can come off and there may be some bleeding that way. As a whole, though, complications are pretty minimal.

There certainly can be. Just as with people, every anesthetic carries a risk. We can reduce that risk to a tiny percentage with good surgical patient selection. Part of the procedure will involve a pre-anesthetic exam, blood work to check for underlying health issues, and we also recommend an ECG or an EKG to check for underlying heart disease. Occasionally, there will be a little bit of bruising or swelling in the scrotum on a male dog, particularly on a larger, intact male dog that is more mature. We can get a bit of clipper burn. Shaving the wrinkly skin on the male dog scrotum can be very challenging. The female dogs have nice, flat abdomens, so it's much easier to shave them, and we don't get issues with clipping them. Occasionally, you’ll see the infection of the incision if the pet is chewing. To minimize that, we put a cone on them, which we recommend you keep on them for two weeks until we do a final checkup.

There are more significant complications that are incredibly rare, and we have been lucky enough or, instead, we try to be skilled enough that you don't experience coming here. You could get damage to another structure in the abdomen if the surgeon is not experienced. Again, these things are pretty unlikely, but it is an excellent reason to go to a veterinary hospital versus a low-cost clinic. The significant advantage of a full veterinary hospital versus a low-cost clinic is the anesthesia. We have a dedicated, registered veterinary technician with each patient the whole way through the procedure. We don't line up seven pets side-by-side and walk down a conveyor belt. That's a big difference at a low-cost center that doesn't have one-on-one care. And we strongly recommend the blood work and all the pre-anesthetic screening.

There can be. The biggest complication that we look for in our pets is excessive bleeding. When we remove the tissue, we cut off the blood supply to that tissue so that they don't keep bleeding. The concern is always if that isn't done appropriately or the dog has an issue with clotting, there could be a complication, but we triple-check everything to make sure that we are minimizing any risk of complications.

As with any surgical procedure, there are potential complications. These include a small risk of infection at the incision site, occasional bruising around the incision, or suture reactions that may occur within a week or up to two to three months post-surgery. Additionally, there can be fluid pockets called seromas, which resolve over time. We take measures to minimize anesthesia complications by closely monitoring your pet during the procedure, but there is always a small inherent risk.

Complications with spaying and neutering are rare, but we do see them occasionally. The most common complication is a dog licking their surgical incision. We encourage pet owners to have a plan in place if your dog starts to lick their surgical incision. We recommend using an Elizabethan collar, a Kong collar, or a surgical garment to protect the incision. Other complications include infection, swelling of the abdominal area, draining fluid out of the incision, and in rare cases, the wound can open up. For male dogs, licking the surgical site and swelling or infection of the scrotum can occur.

Although there's always a possibility of complications during any surgical procedure, the chances are usually very low. The most common complication we see is during the recovery period. If the owners don't put the cone on their dogs when unattended, the dogs may lick their incisions, attempting to alleviate the itchiness of the healing process. This could potentially introduce infection or even open up the incision.