I've always kind of wondered how you would tell if a female dog is fixed? (please continue to read haha)?

Question

This is out of curiosity. We don't have a dog that is possibly pregnant or anything like that.

For instance, if you just got a dog (off the street, from someone else, etc) and you take her to the vet, and he/she asks you if she's spayed, and you aren't sure, is there a way to tell other than just waiting to see if she goes into heat? I mean, I can't imagine someone saying that she isn't fixed and then the vet goes to do it only to find out that all the plumbing is already gone. That seems like it is unnecessary pain to put the dog through.

Answer 1

First I would look for a scar.

Secondly sooner or later she would go into a heat.

Or the vet could do x-rays or an ultrasound.

Answer 2

You think that is funny...... I went to the shelter looking for a boy cat and this one was a boy, but his name was Hailey. I asked why he had a girl name and they said that his dang-lings did not drop so they thought he was a girl. So they did the spaying process to find out he was a boy. So, they closed him up and did the neutering.  He has a long cut down his belly. I saw that same mark with my girl dog. So, I think that is the only indicator.

Answer 3

feel their stomach. Sometimes, you can feel stiches. Some places put tattoos on their stomach... just a small circle with an x through it. I think it depends on where you live though..

Answer 4

I have always wondered about this. If a male dog is neutered it is obvious, however if a female is spayed it is not. There must be thousands of dogs which are re homed without a medical history. I agree with you that females should not undergo surgery only to find that they have been spayed. Their  bodies could be tattooed when they have the op. Obviously this cannot be near the operation site, however there should be a part of the body which can be tattooed to ensure that another op is not attempted. If the site of the tattoo was standardised, this would save females a lot of pain and trauma.

Answer 5

Yes, you're right.  And it's often very difficult.  A lot of vets, especially on smaller breeds, will tattoo along the incision.  The scar is often very slight, or not visible at all on smaller breeds.  I suppose an x-ray would work in an extreme situation.

Answer 6

Sometimes you can feel a series of small bumps that are the residual scarring from the stitches and some organizations tattoo a mark to denote spayed b*****s. If uncertain, a vet can ultrasound their abdomen for evidence of a uterus.

Many years ago, while working as a vet tech, one of our fresh out of college vets attempted to spay a male cat. Fortunately, one of the techs on duty saw the testicles on the cat before they cut him open. Was not really funny and yes, the vet was released shortly there after.

Point is, that even vets can occasionally make mistakes.  

Answer 7

Look for a scar.