Surgery

 

At WHVC we offer routine surgeries and dental care for cats and dogs. All animals need to be examined by Dr. Plavin or Dr. Duerr prior to anesthesia and pre-surgical blood work may be necessary. We refer some non-routine surgeries to Dr. Thomson at Riverbend Animal Hospital in Hadley, MA.
If you have questions about a particular surgery or would like to schedule an appointment please call us at (413) 367-0062.

 

Dr. Duerr in surgery

Important Reasons To Spay or Neuter your pet!

Sterilization or castration of your dog or cat can be done as early as 5 months of age, and preferably before one year of age. Spaying a female is abdominal surgery and requires general anesthesia, your pet would generally stay overnight. Castration of a male also requires a day in our hospital and general anesthesia. For both procedures lay up time is about one week, and then its back to their old routine.
Female dogs will come into "heat" or "season" sometime after they are six months of age. Signs of this are a swollen vulva and bloody discharge. Her "heat" will normally occur twice a year and last for about 21 days.
Female cats may reach sexual maturity, come into heat, and become pregnant as early as five months of age. The heat cycle lasts 3-7 days and occurs approximately each 3 weeks from spring through fall.

Advantages to Spaying

• If Spayed before the first heat cycle, your pet has a less than 1 percent chance of developing breast cancer.

• If Spayed after one heat cycle, your pet has an 8 percent chance of developing breast cancer.

• If Spayed after two heat cycles, the risk increases to 26 percent.

• After two years, no protective benefit exists.

• Eliminates the risk of ovarian and uterine cancer.

• Eliminates unwanted pregnancies.

• Absence of infections of the uterus known as pyometras.

• No messy heat cycles

• Generally a calmer pet.

Advantages to Castration

• Eliminates the risk of testicular cancer, the second most common tumor in male dogs.

• Greatly reduces the risk of prostate cancer and prostatitis.

• Reduces roaming and fighting.

• Absence of tumors in the anal region.

• Eliminates or reduces spraying or marking in males neutered before 6 months of age or onset of these behaviors.

• Eliminates the risk and spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

• A calmer pet

Unfortunate Reality

More than 4 million pets are euthanized in U.S. animal shelters each year simply because they have no home. Many are puppies and kittens less than 6 months old. Help stop this needless loss of life. Spay or neuter your pet.