Bumping up

 

We just had a laparoscopic spay for our female, Kona.

I have been planning a HUGELY expensive ($4,000 in San Francisco Bay Area!) laparoscopic spay for my girlie Valentine at 18 months...

We were initially quoted a $4K bill. It turns out, the cost was not for the procedure, but because it was being performed by Board-Certified veterinary surgeons. We found a veterinary facility where the general practitioners were trained in the procedure, and the final bill was $1.7K. YMMV.

The recovery time is still two weeks before regular activities can resume.

Kona resumed "normal activities" (i.e., walks, running, stairs, etc.) 48-hours after the surgery (vice 10-days for traditional spay).
But...Kona had to wear the cone-of-shame for the full 10-days, to keep her from licking/biting at the incision sites.

The laparoscopic surgery takes an hour under anesthesia vs 15 minutes, so it isn't safer.

I can't speak to the 15 minutes, but "longer under anesthesia" is definitely "more risk". What I do not know is "how much more"? None of the veterinary specialists I talked to seemed overly concerned. The veterinarian who actually performed the laparoscopic procedure did inform me that, if they ran into unexpected complications then they would fall back to performing a traditional spay. My impression is that this is not a common occurrence.

The two small incisions hurt as much as the one larger one, and the pain meds are the same.

I can't speak to personal experience. Kona was a bit tired/subdued the first day, but seemed good-to-go by day two. We did not notice any signs of pain or discomfort (other than general annoyance at the cone-of-shame).

And—not that this matters—the area shaved is just as large in case the vet has to convert to a regular spay if something goes wrong.

Yep. Kona had quite the bikini-line trim going on. It looked kind of ludicrous in context of the two small incisions, but...

So why would anyone spend ten times as much for a laparoscopic spay? She couldn't give me a good reason.

I already addressed the cost of the laparoscopic spay (see above). A traditional spay was going to run $500-$700, based on size and age (47lbs, 14 months). So, the laparoscopic was 2x-to-3x the cost. Another way to look at it was an extra $1K-to-$1.2K, as the $500-$700 is already going to be spent. For us, the extra increment was well worth it. YMMV.

 

We had a traditional spay. Ran around $330 plus pain meds and bloodwork. Molly was zonked the first day but we had to keep her calm after that. She appeared to have no pain or complications. We took her out on a lease for 10 days and no zoomies. She has about a 4" incision.

 

Thanks both Dunmar and SoCalEngr. I have quizzed vets across the city, and the consensus is that a lap spay isn’t worth it. If you ever need a boost to your faith in humanity, quizzing strangers who have no investment in you but generously give of their expertise anyway is one way to go. In fact, one vet told me that if there are complications during surgery, a lap spay is more dangerous than a traditional spay. Of course, complications are rare. The vets also said there is so little pain with a regular spay that the difference between that and a lap spay is negligible. The main reason to do a lap spay is if you have a dog who is a “knucklehead” who will keep chewing her incision even while wearing a cone of shame. Thanks for your input!

 

We immediately switched the cone out for an inflatable collar. She was much happier and still could not reach the area. She didn't mind it and used it as a built in pillow. If removed she would go for her stitches at times so we only removed it for potty breaks.

 

I think primarily the benefit of the laparoscopic is the faster recovery time and being less invasive. The only reason traditional spays would be that much faster is that more veterinarians are familiar with them and have done them millions of times. A practiced vet with many laparoscopic spays under their belt should not take 4x longer.

 

Windy is at a week post traditional spay and doing great. She only took one or two pain pills. The second day she was showing no signs of pain or any fixation on the site. We also ditched the cone for a donut the first day. Her incision is about 2 inches long.

 

Hi @Clipper's mom --

Did you proceed with a laparoscopic spay or did you decide to do a "standard" spay (or... neither)? Did you see good results?
I'm also in the Bay Area so if you have a specific Vet experience or recommendation, I'd appreciate it!

Thanks!
-E

 

We just went with a standard spay with our regular vet. It was uneventful.

 

I have been planning a HUGELY expensive ($4,000 in San Francisco Bay Area!) laparoscopic spay for my girlie Valentine at 18 months, four weeks from now, because I thought that is better than a regular spay if you can afford it. But due to a scheduling snafu on the hospital end, I ended up in a long discussion with the head surgical tech, who told me all my reasons for going laparoscopic rather than regular were wrong: The recovery time is still two weeks before regular activities can resume. The laparoscopic surgery takes an hour under anesthesia vs 15 minutes, so it isn't safer. The two small incisions hurt as much as the one larger one, and the pain meds are the same. And—not that this matters—the area shaved is just as large in case the vet has to convert to a regular spay if something goes wrong.

So why would anyone spend ten times as much for a laparoscopic spay? She couldn't give me a good reason.

Can any of you?

I had my Sadie laparoscopically spayed at Arguello Pet Hospital. I think it was around $2000. Healing time fast, no pain meds, she was playful the next day. Only ovaries removed, not uterus, less invasive. So fewer surgical cuts, less bleeding & trauma. Glad I did it.