Hello, my name is Courtney and I have recently joined the team at North Shore Veterinary Clinic. Several months ago, I left the human medical field to seek a more fulfilling profession. I decided to stay in the medical sector as I love to help heal those who are sick. I chose to work with animals as I have always had a deep love and respect for the all the wonderful critters around the world. This is the ongoing story of my journey and some of the knowledge that I have picked up along the way…
To ensure that I was sturdy enough for the clinic, I watched a couple surgeries with the hope that I wouldn’t faint. The days leading up to the surgeries were filled with worry as I wasn’t sure of how I would physically react to invasive surgery and the sight of blood. I have always been okay with injuries and open wounds when it is happening to me, as I was a rather injury- prone child. However, the thought of seeing an unconscious animal going through surgery brought on a queasy feeling. Yes, I know that surgery is necessary and it’s for the animal’s own well-being to have various procedures done, but telling that to my stomach didn’t make it feel any better. The day of surgery, the technicians offered me a chair to sit on and they repeated several times to let them know if I felt off in any way. I nodded in agreement and watched the waltz of surgery unfold. At first I felt light-headed, but then I realized that I was holding my breath. Then, as I convinced myself to keep breathing (for some reason I thought if I breathed too loudly it would throw the surgeon off, I know it doesn’t make sense) I realized how interesting the procedure was.
The first surgery that I watched was a canine spay. The seemingly effortless technique that Dr. Plischke has is astonishing; I couldn’t take my eyes off of her hands. She is a seasoned surgeon, I could tell by her calm demeanor, without even asking. As she was finishing up with the last couple of sutures I asked her how she had gotten so fast at tying them. She looked at me with a smile and said “years of practice”. It was comforting to know that this puppy, that I had felt so close with after going through, what felt like the longest surgery in the history of the world (which actually took no more than 30 minutes), had such a wonderful doctor taking such wonderful care of her.
Oddly enough, I got through it without falling to the floor. Which is great, as surgery is done on a daily basis and it wouldn’t be ideal if I were a fainter. Actually, it turns out that surgery is one of my favorite things that is done in our clinic. There are a variety of procedures that the doctors perform here, from spay and neuters to lumpectomies.
When I first started here, I thought that both male and female patients would respond about the same to their spay/neuter surgeries. I was wrong. There is a vast difference between these procedures which is quite interesting. Spays are more invasive than neuters. A spay requires an incision into the abdomen followed by an ovariohysterectomy. Female patients therefore have a larger incision and always go home with sutures postoperatively, which need to be monitored for discharge and swelling. They also require a longer recovery time than their male counterparts due to the nature and the length of the surgery. Males after surgery tend to be less tender than females as their surgeries only require a small incision and the surgery itself is only half the time of a spay. That being said, our furry friends are very resilient and bounce back pretty quickly.
There are many more reasons to spay an animal other than unexpected/ unwanted bundles of joy. Not only do female animals attract males when they go into heat, and it’s not unheard of for a male dog to break through fences to get to a female dog that is in heat. Which nobody can deny, is pretty startling. Also, if surgery is not performed, it could lead to infections such as pyometra which can be fatal if not treated right away. Ovarian cancer can be a concern for un-spayed animals as well. It is also important that the female patient is spayed at a young age- our clinic recommends it to be done at 6 months of age. Doing so before her first heat dramatically reduces the risk of mammary tumors (breast cancer). I now understand why it is paramount that we protect our female companions from as many complications as possible by having them spayed. We love them, so let’s keep them healthy.
So after-all, it’s safe to say that I survived that first surgery and I am continuing to learn about the techniques of surgery and the effects on each animal. Learning on the job is not only necessary but it’s also very fun. I will continue to pass along my experiences and knowledge on a monthly basis to those who are also intrigued in learning what it takes to be a part of this field.
