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Is she spayed?

1785 Views 17 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  pupresq
Is there a way to tell if a bitch has been spayed? I can't tell if my new foster girl is or not. Should I have the vet look at her?
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most times you can roll them over on their backs and if you dont see a scar from the incision, then press down / rub the area and it'll usually feel bumpy.

where'd she come from?
my lab has a scar on her belly
You should be able to tell by looking for a scar on her abdomen. If necessary, use electric clippers to shave a long strip of her fur off down the middle of her belly posterior to the point where her ribs join together. Just don't confuse her "belly button" for a spay scar
. The belly button will be less than an inch long, and a spay scar may be 2-3 inches long, depending on the vet. Sometimes you can actually feel the sutures under the skin without shaving.

However, there is always a small chance of abdominal surgery for something other than a spay. In that case, an ultrasound would be definitive, although a vet may be able to palpate her uterus if present, depending on where she is in her heat cycle.
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Has anybody heard of this/seen it used? The humane society that India came from (Indianapolis Humane Society) puts green tattoo ink along the spay incision to make it obvious.

~Kristin
Someone else on the board has mentioned that. Since a spay in all internal it is tough to tell if a female is spayed or not, not like on the males, LOL.
Originally Posted By: balakaiHas anybody heard of this/seen it used? The humane society that India came from (Indianapolis Humane Society) puts green tattoo ink along the spay incision to make it obvious.

~Kristin
i believe my friends cats came from that same humane society and her cats have tattoos.
I think it should be universal, tattoos on the abdomen, would save alot of animals from being put under anesthesia unnecessarily...
Originally Posted By: onyx'girlI think it should be universal, tattoos on the abdomen, would save alot of animals from being put under anesthesia unnecessarily...
I agree, I don't know if the age of spaying has anything to do with it or not, but I have had females spayed young (6 to7 months) and by the time they had a few years on them, you couldn't see a scar.
i dont know how many methods of surturing are common, but i've always been able to "feel" if a dog is spayed or not. never even bothered to look for a scar. all of my female dogs and even my cat feel identical
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Yeah, I really wish tatooing would become the norm. I don't know any clinics that do it but it sure would be helpful.

We can usually feel the scar though. It'll be a bumpy ridge often with a bigger bump at one end. Of course you can't tell that scar from a c-section scar so if it's a dog from a puppy mill or something I tend to assume it's a c-section not a spay. Granted, that's usually something you see more in small dogs.

The other thing I look for is evidence that the dog has never had puppies. If the dog has what feels like a scar, is fully adult, but has little tiny nipples
I usually conclude they're spayed. Especially if it's an older female. When female dogs stay intact they tend to get larger nipples even if they don't have puppies and if they do have puppies then they're quite a bit larger and sometimes darker.

This doesn't help you if the dog had puppies and then got spayed but is useful for some situations.
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I was trying to find out if Keeta was spayed when I got her. Vet shaved her, and looked for a scar, but did not see anything. He said that sometimes, there won't be a scar, and nowadays they can do spays with much smaller incisions than in the past, so even if a scar, it would be hard to know if it was a spay scar or something else.

He also said that the reproductive organs would not show up on an X-ray, so that won't help. Ultra sound might show if she still had her uterus, but not guaranteed. He said that the only 100% way to know for sure is to put her under and open her up.

I sure hated the idea of putting her under and opening her up if it wasn't neccessary, but I hated the idea of having an accidental pregnancy in a mixed-breed rescue dog even more, so we went ahead. Turned out she wasn't spayed, so the procedure wasn't for nothing.

I'm with everyone else, sure would be nice to know somehow.
Originally Posted By: Camerafoddermost times you can roll them over on their backs and if you dont see a scar from the incision, then press down / rub the area and it'll usually feel bumpy.

where'd she come from?
Left in the backyard when her owner moved away. She's young-- less than a year old.
Originally Posted By: Emoore
Originally Posted By: Camerafodder
where'd she come from?
Left in the backyard when her owner moved away. She's young-- less than a year old.
so at no point did she go to a pound, rescue organization or vet?

if she's young you should still be able to find her stomach shaved or a scar. chances are, someone who left their dog in a backyard - didnt get around to spaying her in the first year.
Originally Posted By: Camerafodder

so at no point did she go to a pound, rescue organization or vet?
I'm a volunteer with the rescue organization. She underwent HW treatment and got her shots, but the lady who transported her to the vet forgot to ask them to check and see if she was spayed or not.

I agree, at her age if there's no sign she's probably not.
mmmm...never thought about how hard it may be to tell

How did you guys know Allie wasnt spayed when she came in? She is pretty young and all..

just curious!
Originally Posted By: kelsommmm...never thought about how hard it may be to tell

How did you guys know Allie wasnt spayed when she came in? She is pretty young and all..

just curious!
Good question, I didn't get her until after she was spayed. I believe they usually ask the vet to check when they're getting their shots/microchip/checkup. With Meika, one person took her through her quarantine, shots, and checkup and another perrson took her through her HW treatment and then she was transported to me. . . I think everybody just kind of assumed someone else had her checked for that. I got to asking around and nobody had.
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I don't roll them over, and I think that looking for a scar can be misleading - at least for me, I see too many lines down there!

I stand over them and reach around to feel their belly. If you sort of (gently) dig your fingers along their midline you should feel a bumpy or ridgy area an inch and a half or two inches long just south of their belly button. Unless I can definitely feel a spay incision and see other indicators (like they're clearly an adult but show no signs of ever having been in heat or had pups) I assume they aren't spayed. If they're from the south and there aren't obvious signs, you can usually safely assume they aren't because most dogs down here aren't. Unfortunately.
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