Laparoscopic Spay/Gastropexy Surgery

[DiamondJubilee]

I tried doing a search to see if anything would come up in previous posts, but I couldn’t seem to find any.

I have booked a spay and pexy surgery do be done laparoscopically in the early summer for my girl. I’m not sure if anyone here has had this surgery on their dog and if they noticed a difference between this and a “regular” spay/pexi? Some of the quotes I got back from clinics were really high (like 4 x the amount of a regular spay) and I was wondering if there was a huge difference in recovery time?

(my regular clinic does not perform pexi surgeries which is why the referred me to a different clinic. But their quote was $4,000 - $4,500 for the surgery and I had a slight heart attack).

[Simkie]

I’m so curious to see your responses here. Every time I look around for the latest on spaying–traditional, ovarian sparing, laparoscopic–I get so overwhelmed at the conflicting recommendations and literature that I default to leaving the dog intact because dealing with heat cycles is just NBD for me.

Last I reviewed, I was surprised to see a study that showed worse post op pain using a laparoscopic approach (vs open), although once I thought about it and recalled the terrible shoulder pain I’ve experienced after laparoscopy, I kind of understood. A quick look is now showing study in use of a TAP block to reduce post op pain, which is pretty neat but probably adds to the $$$.

But I’m back to the point of having a young bitch who I should (I guess?) spay and am eager to hear the various viewpoints on the different approaches.

[Old_Mac_Donald]

I had my 2yo male Standard Poodle done with a neuter. My vet charged me $1050 AUD for both, including a pre-surgery blood panel. We have since bought a female SP and will be getting her done at 8-9 months (the recommendation for age of desexing is different male/female in SPs, girls before first heat, boys after 2yo).

I was very pleasantly surprised at the cost. The surgery was straightforward and minimal recovery time (trying to keep him quiet after 24hrs was a nightmare)

[Old_Mac_Donald]

I had my appendix out in ‘21. No one warned me about the post-op nerve pain from the gas! It was worse than breaking my collarbone. I now understand opioid addiction.

[jherold]

I had a lap spay on my GSD at 1.7 months due to cystic ovaries. I elected not to do the gastropexy since it couldn’t be done from the lap spay incision. My understanding is that it could be reached with a normal spay incision. Paid $700.

[DiamondJubilee]

@Simkie - I’m in the same boat as you! My girl is going through her first heat now (13 months) and its no big deal but its been going on for over 10 days now, which is surprising me! But she acts mostly normal (not a fan of eating at times) and diapers are easy and she surprisingly doesn’t take them off (she is a very mouthy and playful girl still). Though she’s like diapering a velociraptor! I spread peanut butter on the floor so I can get them on lol! If you don’t need to spay, I don’t think that would be a problem at all. In Europe, its almost unheard of to fix your pets. They live a long, healthy life so I don’t really think its a “needed” operation, it would just depend on your situation. I was talking to someone from Germany and they said it was very hard to find a vet that performed spay/neuters as its just that uncommon over there.

Unfortunately I live on a farm with a very active coyote population. I keep my eye on her of course when she’s out, but I worry when she is in heat and its coyote breeding time now. My in laws breed dogs as well and we do horse shows and camping trips together and my parents have a 14 month old un nurtured dog as well so for me, spaying is really the best option. We also travel to horse shows in Canada and the US and there are a lot of un fixed dogs so yet another worry. But the more I read, the better it is to wait or not even do it (for the health of your pet). I just weighed my pros and cons and decided this was the best choice for me and my girl, but I’m going to wait until she is about 18 months before its done.

I did book a smaller vet clinic in May for the lap spay/pexi that is about an hour from me for less than half the price of the emerg/referral clinic. They specialize in laparoscopic spays and pexis and have great reviews. I posted on a Greater Swiss FB page and most have come back saying laparoscopic is the way to go. They still need at least 2 weeks of quiet time as the pexi is hard on them and you don’t want the stomach to become untacked, so quiet leashed walks are a must. So healing time is not much different than a traditional spay/pexi then a lap spay/pexi. This will be very, very hard for my working dog as she is very active! So I may need some medical help with that. I almost never leash her and she is so used to being off leash around the farm. I did book 4 days off after her surgery so I can be home with her to keep her quiet and hopefully happy.

I was just curious if others have done the same. From my understanding they remove the ovaries and leave the uterus, but I forgot to confirm that with the new clinic I just booked with. I think they do need to make a third incision for the pexi but I’m calling them soon to ask them all of my questions I forgot to ask in the first place! They say its less bleeding and 65% less pain after surgery, though from posts here, maybe its not always the case! Though a lot of people who had just lap spays done say their pets are up the next day with 0 issues. No stiches or cones needed, just a suit (which the clinic I booked with provides).

The clinic quoted me $1900 for a mature lap spay/pexi on a 100lb dog, includes appt 2 weeks before for bloodwork, check up, surgery, pain meds, surgical suit and a follow up appt afterwards. I was very happy with the price. They do hold a deposit as they are a smaller clinic and when they book her surgery, its the only surgery they do for the day so they can watch her afterwards. I again was very happy to hear this and decided to go with them.