How are dog neuter surgeries performed?

When dogs come in for neuter surgery, they're prepared in a very aseptic way. We clip and clean everything to prepare them for surgery. They're under anesthesia. So it is a pretty serious event in that way. But at the end of the day, neuters are nice because you don't go into the abdomen as you do for a spay for a female.

Neuters are a little bit less invasive. We move the testicles out of the scrotum so we can get to them a little more easily, remove the testicle and some of the spermatic cord and then close up the incision. That's in a nutshell.

The process for dog neuters is similar. You'll review consent forms with the technician in the exam room, and we'll place an IV catheter in one of the front legs. We'll then prepare the pre-scrotal and scrotal area by shaving and sanitizing. Afterward, we surgically remove both testicles and close the skin to the scrotum. Occasionally, there may be some post-surgery swelling in the scrotum, which can give the appearance that the testicles are still present, but they have been removed. All dog neuters are discharged on the same day after recovering from anesthesia. We keep dog spays overnight for close monitoring and recheck the incision the next day.

A dog neuter is a dog castration. We carry out the lead up to a neuter the same way as a spay - pre-medications, sedation, IV catheters, getting the dog under general anesthesia. We hook monitors up, put them on their backs, and then we surgically prep the penile testicular area. Most veterinarians make an incision just in front of the scrotum, push both of the testicles forward through that incision, and then remove them. We then close that incision up. That's a neuter.

Dog neuters, unless the dog has a retained testicle (known as prepped orchid), are not performed inside the abdomen. Instead, a small pre-scrotal incision is made, from which both testicles are removed, double-ligated, and then the incision is closed.