‘Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day.’
– Country Living, American lifestyle and home magazine.
I had an impromptu lesson on the reproduction of dogs when I took my young female dog, Bailey, to a veterinary clinic for spaying.
The first question the veterinarian asked me was, “Do you know your dog is in heat? And that we charge extra RM150 when we do the operation on a canine in heat?”
I had called the clinic a few days before and the girl who answered the phone estimated the cost of spaying my small 12-kg dog to be RM290.
When I adopted Bailey last May, it was just 47 days old. Even then, I had every intention of spaying it when the time was right. The primary benefit of spaying a female dog is to prevent it from giving birth to any puppies and contributing to pet overpopulation.
But alas, how time flies! While I have been busy working, Bailey has grown bigger and longer.
Recently, I noticed that it was in heat and making a mess in the house. It kept wanting to bolt through the front gate. I also noticed an unwelcome male at the gate.
Cookie, my old male dog which had been spayed, was also paying Bailey a lot of attention.
Anyway, back to my face-to-face talk with the veterinarian. He told me that male dogs could smell a female dog in heat from miles away .
He also said unspayed female dogs would go into heat about twice a year and that it lasted for as long as three weeks each time.
The veterinarian gave me two choices; I could either take Bailey home and bring it for spaying after it finished its first heat cycle or I could have it spayed immediately.
I opted to leave Bailey with the veterinarian and let it be operated as soon as possible.
Hours later, at home, I took the time to find out more about the benefits of spaying dogs and the reproduction of dogs from the Internet.
According to Dogtime.com, it’s generally recommended to spay puppies between the ages of 4 and 6 months. By that age, a female puppy’s sex organs are fully developed but it hasn’t yet experienced its first heat cycle, during which it could become pregnant.
“Think you can just keep away unwanted suitors? Even experienced breeders get “oops” litters. Dogs will jump gates, bolt through doors, dig under fences, and jump out of cars to mate,” says the website.
I know one of my neighbours separates her female dogs from her male dogs by keeping the females at the back of her house and males in front. I don’t think this technique is effective because I have seen her with puppies.
I’m glad to report that Bailey is home already after its operation. It stayed at the clinic for two nights. It fasted on the first night and was operated on the second day. I took it home the day after the surgery.
The veterinarian gave me some pain medication but since the dog was fine, I did not use it.
Bailey will return to the clinic to have its stitches removed 13 days after the operation.
“It’s not cheap to keep pets,” commented my best friend in her WhatsApp message when I told her how much I was paying to spay my younger dog and have it vaccinated against rabies.
I totally agree with her. I keep two local dogs — Bailey and Cookie.
Every month, I spend quite a substantial amount of my salary on their food which comprises rice, canned food, chicken meat and bones as well as fish.
Cookie is choosy; it does not like to eat the same food continuously for two or three days. It loves canned lamb meat, chicken liver and fish.
Bailey is not so choosy and will eat most of the food I serve. Both dogs love fresh milk which I sometimes share with them.
After dinner, both dogs love to nimble on plain Osbourne biscuits. They also love to be cuddled.
I buy shampoo for my dogs regularly and try to bathe them at least once a week.
I don’t mind the steep charges of looking after Bailey and Cookie. I think it is the least I can do in return for their unconditional love, emotional support, and constant cuddles.
After all, they are there to welcome me every night when I go home after work.
I believe I will be very lonely without Bailey and Cookie to keep me company.
