[Music Plays] [No Dialogue] >>Kate Pleasant: Coming up next on the Paw Report, we're talking about spay and neuter trends.

Heidi Phillips from the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital is here to tell us all about what's the latest trends, research, and what you need to know about spaying and neutering your pet.

Stay tuned; that's next on the Paw Report.

[Music Plays] Production for the Paw Report is made possible by:Inyart Tire and Auto Centerin Charleston and Mattoon.Inyart offers complete auto repair.Inyart Tire and Auto Center cares about our community and thanks you for being a responsible pet owner.More information at Inyart.com.

Hello, and welcome to this episode of the Paw Report.

I'm your host, Kate Pleasant, and I'm joined to day by Heidi Phillips.

She is an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital and Small Animal Surgery, right?

>>Heidi Phillips: Yes.

>>Kate Pleasant: So, that's kind of a broad range of things.

But we're going to narrow it down today to talk about spay and neuter trends that are going on right now.

But first, let's get to know you a little bit.

So, do you want to tell us how you got into veterinary medicine?

>>Heidi Phillips: Yeah, I was one of the lucky people.

I had a lot of classmates who had had other careers before being a veterinarian; I always knew since I was a child that I wanted to be a veterinarian.

And so, it was pretty straightforward for me.

I went from high school to college, to veterinary school, and then onto an internship and residency in surgery.

So.

>>Kate Pleasant: Okay, so it was simple decision for you.

>>Heidi Phillips: It was an easy decision for me.

There was nothing else I wanted to do in life.

>>Kate Pleasant: Okay, well that's good to know.

So, we're talking about spaying and neutering trends.

Before we get to the actual trend part, do you want to tell us first what spaying and neutering is?

>>Heidi Phillips: Sure.

Well, most people, the colloquial term spay generally applies to female dogs, and what we call it is ovariohysterectomy, or ovariectomy, meaning either the ovaries or the ovary and the uterus are removed to make the animal basically infertile.

Neutering generally refers to castration, which means that we're removing the testicles of a male animal.

>>Kate Pleasant: Okay.

And so, what, you know, when is the appropriate time to do this, and why is it important to spay or neuter your pet?

>>Heidi Phillips: Yeah, it's very important to spay and neuter your pet.

As a responsible pet owner, we do encourage people to do that.

Generally, the best time to do it on average is about 6 to 9 months of age.

We like to catch the female dogs and cats generally before their first heat.

And that way, we are able to give them the greatest protection against certain cancers like mammary cancer.

If we catch them after that heat, there is still some protection conferred against things like mammary cancer, but the protection is less at that time.

So, we like to get them before their first heat, generally between 6 to 9 months of age.

>>Kate Pleasant: Okay.

And are there other thoughts on that?

Is there another camp?

I mean, are there people who don't think that way?

>>Heidi Phillips: There is.

Because of the overpopulation of animals in this country and all over the world, an association of shelter veterinarians got together and tried to decide upon the utility and the advisability of offering pediatric spay and neuter.

For some people, that is around 4 months.

For other camps, that's anywhere from 6 to 16 weeks of age, which can be quite young.

And so, there is still some controversy surrounding that particular topic.

>>Kate Pleasant: Okay.

So, is it generally, by most veterinarians, not recommended for pediatric spay and neuter?

>>Heidi Phillips: Generally, most veterinarians that aren't shelter veterinarians will recommend that an owned pet be spayed somewhere older than 4 months of age, again, generally around 6 to 9 months of age.

For animals that are in shelters, being neutered or spayed earlier in life might increase the chances that they would be adopted and decrease the chances that they would be euthanized.

And so, in that situation, we might be more apt to recommend that they be spayed earlier, or neutered earlier in life.

>>Kate Pleasant: Okay.

What about, you know, dogs that are bred, or show dogs, or things like that?

Is that a different situation?

>>Heidi Phillips: It is a different situation, and certainly we try to accommodate clients and breeders as much as possible.

Educating them on the advantages and disadvantages of spaying or not spaying, neutering or not neutering their pet.

Certainly, there are risks to not neutering a pet, and we can certainly talk about those.

But within the breeding community, certainly it's necessary for the dogs and cats to retain their reproductive organs.

And so, we try to work with those breeders to bring about the best possible health of the animals, and the puppies and kittens that are born.

>>Kate Pleasant: Okay.

So, let's make a little list real quick about, you know, the pros and cons of spaying and neutering that you kind of go over with people when they come to you.

>>Heidi Phillips: Yeah, well the pros are definitely regarding the animal population, and in this country and around the world, animals that are homeless, that don't have homes, and that are considered abandoned or unowned.

And unfortunately, a survey was done back in the 90s to evaluate about how many animals, cats and dogs, are euthanized each year in this country, and it was thought to be over two million possibly each year that are euthanized as a result of overpopulation.

And so, certainly spaying and neutering our pets decreases the risk of overpopulation and decreases the risk that that particular animal would be surrendered to a shelter because of behavior abnormalities or other issues that they might have with being intact.

>>Kate Pleasant: Okay.

And so, what is the typical spay and neuter process like?

How does that go when someone comes to you, or any veterinarian; how's that go?

>>Heidi Phillips: Yeah.

It's uncommon for people to come to me because I'm a specialty surgeon, but we do certainly see animals that are high risk for anesthesia or have other complications, such as bleeding disorders, where it would be best to be seen by a specialty surgeon.

But certainly, most spay and neuters occur at the level of the general practitioner veterinarian.

And typically, an appointment would be made.

Certain blood work and physical examination would be done to ensure that the pet is a good candidate for surgery anesthesia.

And if that were the case, then typically that would occur usually that day or sometime that was reasonable for the owner to schedule.

And most of those dogs or cats would either stay overnight or go home the same day with care to be followed up at home.

>>Kate Pleasant: Okay.

And so, what kind of care do you follow up with at home?

Is that something that's manageable by the average pet owner?

>>Heidi Phillips: Yeah, typically at a speciality hospital, the animals that we get we're probably going to keep overnight.

The biggest concern we have is managing an animal's pain.

Animals show pain sometimes very differently than humans.

And so, it might be hard for an average owner to discern whether their pet is painful.

And so, we like to take that upon ourselves and make sure that they're comfortable on oral pain medications before they go home.

So, in the hospital setting, they would be on IV, pain medications, or injectable pain medications to ensure that they're comfortable by the time they come home.

Before an owner that's home, they would like to make sure that their pet is waking up appropriately.

It might take one to two days for them to return to being, you know, of normal activity.

>>Kate Pleasant: That's good to know; one to two days is a lot longer than you might think in your mind, so.

>>Heidi Phillips: Exactly.

You know, they're not just going to pop back up.

And you know, we do expect a lot from our animals because they are so good; they have such great dispositions.

But if you were to think about what our situation would be going in and having that kind of procedure done, we would probably be painful for a long time and laid up for weeks.

And so, the fact that our animals return to activity so soon is just a testament to their great disposition.

But we should assume that they are probably uncomfortable and painful.

Some owners should keep an eye on that, whether they're eating or drinking appropriately, whether they're urinating and defecating appropriately, and whether their activity level is returning to normal.

Certainly locally, looking at the incision is an important thing, especially keeping the animal from getting at the incision.

Owners tend to have compassion for their pets and not want to put those collars on because... >>Kate Pleasant: The cone of shame, as they're called sometimes.

>>Heidi Phillips: Exactly, the Elizabethan collar.

But it is recommended, because unfortunately, when an animal gets bored, or they're lonely, the first thing they might do when an owner is out of the house is go after that incision.

They can certainly cause themselves a lot of trauma, even eviscerate, you know, their intestines and have major problems.

So, we really advise making sure that the pet can't lick or chew at the incision, that the owner's evaluating the incision at least twice daily to look for swelling, heat, pain, signs of infection or inflammation.

>>Kate Pleasant: Okay.

And so, I assume it's a lot like people surgery; you kind of mentioned that, you know, how we're kind of slow to get everything.

It cuts through muscles and everything, so I assume the healing process is similar to people.

>>Heidi Phillips: It is.

I think, again, our animals' dispositions are so wonderful that they return to what appears to be a normal level of activity and happiness probably more quickly than we would, but it is very the same.

We have to cut through skin, and then the subcutaneous tissue, which is fat, and other layers, and then through the actual body wall, which is muscle, to open the abdomen and actually get to the ovaries in a female.

In a male, it's more simple.

It's actually just a skin incision that allows us to exteriorize the testicles, and go ahead and castrate the animal.

>>Kate Pleasant: Okay.

And so, what are the latest trends in research that we're finding with these procedures?

>>Heidi Phillips: Yeah.

A lot of what we're aiming towards now is a more minimally invasive approach to spay and neuter.

So, in recent years, laparoscopic spay has become increasingly popular, and that's where we can actually use a video camera inserting through a very small portal into the abdomen, as well as another instrument portal.

So, the incision size is greatly reduced in those situations.

We're able to get better visualization of the actual organs that we're removing, and to make sure that we diminish bleeding and other complications associated with the procedure.

So, it's all done with the assistance of laparoscopic instruments and a camera, and the ovaries are removed similarly.

In most cases, it's just the ovaries that are removed, but we can do a laparoscopic assisted procedure where both the ovaries and the uterus are removed, via a slightly longer incision.

>>Kate Pleasant: Really?

>>Heidi Phillips: Yeah.

>>Kate Pleasant: And is that becoming, is that beneficial?

I mean, is it more efficient, is it safer?

>>Heidi Phillips: Yeah, there have been studies to show that animals are less painful, they tend to recover activity more quickly, there tend to be fewer incisional infections associated with a laparoscopic spay.

Unfortunately, one of the major components of laparoscopy, in order to see once the camera and portal are placed into the abdomen, air has to be insufflated into the abdomen to actually distend everything and give us a wider field of view.

In people, they report that that distention of air can be painful.

And so, there might be a little bit of discomfort associated with that, but we do think it's offset with the size of the smaller incision and the increased return to that comfort and activity.

>>Kate Pleasant: Okay.

And so, is there anything other than the laparoscopy that's becoming popular, as well?

I mean, laparoscopic, of course, that's becoming popular in people medicine, too, but are there any other trends that are coming about?

>>Heidi Phillips: There are questions that I get.

I wouldn't say there's a trend; people are asking about, you know, being able to retain the testicles or retain the ovaries because there have been some studies that have possibly implicated spaying and neutering your pet increasing the risk for other diseases.

And so, that's become a hot trend amongst some folks that are discussing these things.

Unfortunately, there's not concrete evidence or concrete studies to say that spaying and neutering would predispose to certain diseases like cancer.

But we have seen some studies where cancers like osteosarcoma, which is a primary bone tumor, or hemangiosarcoma, which is a tumor of the lining of blood vessels, that we can see that those seem to be more common in animals that are spayed and neutered.

That being said, the animals that present to hospitals and that present for diagnosis, much more of our population are spayed and neutered animals.

And so, probably spayed and neutered animals are overrepresented in the hospital population in general, and it may just be an artifact of that that is showing that some of these animals might be predisposed to cancer.

So, at this point, veterinarians are still recommending that spaying and neutering your pet is best.

Again, to decrease overpopulation, but also to decrease diseases that can be associated with retaining one's hormones or those particular organs themselves.

>>Kate Pleasant: Yeah, I heard golden retrievers, there's kind of a controversy with that.

>>Heidi Phillips: Yeah, some of the dogs like golden retrievers and the large breed dogs that are more predisposed to certain tumors, like hemangiosarcoma of the spleen or liver or osteosarcoma of the bone, certainly breeders and owners of those animals, you know, do have a reason to be a little bit more concerned, and to talk with their veterinarian to make the best judgment possible.

But again, the consensus amongst veterinary surgeons and the veterinary community in general is that spaying and neutering pets is still the best thing to do.

>>Kate Pleasant: Okay, so no concrete evidence, like you said before.

And I imagine, like you said, that would be hard, because so many animals are just automatically spayed and neutered, so you're studying animals that are automatically having that done.

There's a very small population of animals that do not have that done, and that would be a small population to study.

So, probably a lot more research that needs to be done there, do you think?

>>Heidi Phillips: Definitely, definitely.

And in the interim, you know, if I had a large breed dog, I wouldn't hesitate to have him spayed or neutered.

I think that is, the cost/benefit ratio is definitely in favor of spaying and neutering at this point.

>>Kate Pleasant: Mmhmm.

What is the, you know, the average cost of a procedure like that?

>>Heidi Phillips: It certainly depends on where you have it done.

Generally, with general practitioners or your local veterinarian, you know, you're going to be along the border of somewhere between 200 to 400 dollars or so, depending on whether it's a castration or a spay, a dog or a cat, and how long the procedure might take.

For some of the at-risk breeds, or breeds that are predisposed to bleeding disorders like hemophilia or von Willebrand's disease, for instance, in dobermans, or for animals that have breathing disorders where, what we call them is brachycephalic, so the pushed in face breeds, like shih tzus, and bull dogs, and pugs, etc., they can have much more difficulty with anesthesia.

And so, they're often referred to us at a speciality hospital so they can have an anesthesiologist monitor them more closely.

So, in those situations, there might be a little bit more expense associated with the added risk, but still the spay and neuter procedure itself is roughly about 200 to 400 dollars.

>>Kate Pleasant: And it seems like a lot of local veterinarians, you know, area veterinarians run clinics and things, too, you know, where they have the half prices and things like that.

So, maybe that's something you have to look for.

>>Heidi Phillips: Definitely.

There are volunteer organizations and other things that are spurred, fundraisers and such that are spurred, or just volunteer operations that are spurred to try to offer low cost spay and neuter so as many as possible of our pets in the region can have the benefit of being spayed and neutered, and helping to decrease overpopulation.

>>Kate Pleasant: It's also a good thing to note, when your'e buying a pet or planning to get a pet, because that is an added cost, just like grooming and things like that.

So, spay and neuter procedures would also be something to consider.

>>Heidi Phillips: Yeah, which is one reason, too, to consider getting your pet from an animal shelter.

Most animal shelters try to make sure that all of the pets are vaccinated, up to date on that, have been dewormed and checked for worms, and also have been spayed or neutered prior to adoption.

So, part of the adoption fee encompasses all of that, and so that's certainly one good reason to try to, if you're thinking about getting a pet, to visit your local animal shelter and try to give a home to an abandoned pet.

>>Kate Pleasant: Right.

And many times, those fees can be considerably lower than buying from a breeder or pet store, or something like that.

>>Heidi Phillips: Absolutely.

Pet store fees can be astronomical.

Although, those animals do need homes, as well.

You know, there would be added cost potentially associated with getting them spayed, neutered, vaccinated, etc.

>>Kate Pleasant: Mmhmm.

So, is there a difference with cats?

Because, you know, we've talked about dogs a lot, but when your'e talking spay and neuter with cats, is that different?

>>Heidi Phillips: Yeah.

Certainly, cats, there is still a benefit to preventing mammary masses, which is basically breast cancer if we catch them, you know, before their first heat, or before their second heat even.

So, we definitely want to consider spaying and neutering them earlier in life.

For the males, the males can develop some kind of sexually dominated type behaviors once they go into a pubertal stage.

And so, it's important to try to not let them learn those behaviors and become used to them.

So, if you start to notice all sorts of behaviors in your male cats, such as spraying and other sorts of things, it's a good idea to get them neutered sooner rather than later.

But again, you know, between that age of 6 to 9 months is still considered one of the best times to do that.

It is important to note that following spay or neuter, there can be some problems that come up, one of which being a greater tendency to gain weight.

And I think we've all seen that in our spayed and neutered animals, so it is important to make sure they're getting appropriate exercise, that their diet is monitored accurately, so they're not predisposed to obesity in the long term.

>>Kate Pleasant: That's a good thing to note; not something we necessarily think about, but it could be a problem.

So... >>Heidi Phillips: Yeah, especially with cats, that are more sedentary than dogs.

>>Kate Pleasant: Right.

And I'm sure you can work with your veterinarian to pick an appropriate program for that animal, so.

>>Heidi Phillips: Definitely.

>>Kate Pleasant: And so, you're in small animal surgery up at the University of Illinois, and what other kinds of surgeries do you do?

>>Heidi Phillips: We really do, it's surprising; often, owners are surprised to find out that we do a lot of the surgeries that are offered in the human side of medicine.

And certainly, veterinary medicine tends to follow human medicine as much as we can.

Sometimes closer, but often, you know, within the last 20 years, we're following what they're doing many times.

And so, we have all sorts of specialties: dermatology, soft tissue and orthopedic surgery, neurology, oncology.

So, there are many different specialties in the veterinary field, through which people get Board certified.

So, you can look for a Board certified surgeon, like I am, or a Board certified neurologist, dermatologist, whatever you may need to help your pet.

But as far as the other surgeries we do, we do orthopedic surgeries involving joints, fractures, any kind of neurological surgery if an animal becomes paralyzed from a ruptured intervertebral disc or something like that, we can do surgery to help those dogs walk again.

All sorts of soft tissue surgeries, including oncologic or cancer surgery to remove tumors.

You know, any kind of infection, wound that develops.

Really, if there's a problem with an animal, there's probably a surgical way that could address it, if need be.

>>Kate Pleasant: And that's interesting to note.

I never really thought about brain surgery on a pet, but I guess just like people, they have problems, too.

>>Heidi Phillips: Yeah, we have neurosurgeons that can remove brain tumors, we can certainly deal with cranial fractures in animals that have experienced head trauma.

And so, absolutely.

Most kinds of surgeries on most areas of the body can be operated in dogs and cats.

>>Kate Pleasant: Okay.

And do you see a lot of one kind of surgery or another?

I mean, are there anything you do a lot of in a typical day, week, year?

>>Heidi Phillips: Well, certainly the most common surgery, you know, done in veterinary medicine in general would be the spaying and neutering procedures, for sure.

But we do often see a lot of wounds, bite wounds especially.

In the summertime, we see a lot of animals that get hit by a car or involved in some sort of trauma, might have a broken leg, or a broken pelvis, or some such thing.

And so, we do see a lot of those procedures in orthopedics.

One of the more common orthopedic injuries is to actually rupture the cruciate ligament.

In humans, they call it the ACL.

>>Kate Pleasant: I was going to say, is that the ACL?

>>Heidi Phillips: Exactly.

You hear all the time in football players about tearing the ACL; it's a very common disorder for dogs, too, to get.

We do think that there's some sort of degenerative process involved, but it could be just related to trauma in a healthy dog.

And we have all sorts of surgeries, you know, to potentially treat that, and options to suit each particular dog and each particular client.

>>Kate Pleasant: And so, dogs can fully recover from that ligament tear.

>>Heidi Phillips: Absolutely, absolutely.

They are likely to get arthritis, but dogs generally do very well with arthritis.

And there are medications that we can use and physical therapies, and even adjunctive treatments like acupuncture and cold laser therapy, and other things that can be done for animals that have arthritis and are uncomfortable.

>>Kate Pleasant: Okay.

And so, for those, you know, cruciate ligament tears, is there a certain breed that's more susceptible to that?

I seem to hear a lot about boxers.

And I don't know if that's really a trend, or... >>Heidi Phillips: Yeah, boxers, pit bulls, akitas, mastiffs, rottweilers: those are some of the more common breeds that we see.

But any large breed dog does seem to be more predisposed, and usually the large breed dogs will develop the rupture earlier in life.

The smaller breeds tend to get them as they get older, and we can actually see them in cats, also.

But usually, it's more commonly associated with a trauma, like they fell out of bed and got their limb caught in the sheets, or something like that.

But cats can certainly develop cruciate disease, as well.

>>Kate Pleasant: Really?

Well, that's interesting.

Are there any other things that cats are more known for, that you treat cats for, or surgically at least that...?

>>Heidi Phillips: We have seen a lot of urinary tract abnormalities in cats, and that is one of the things that I tend to focus on.

In recent years, and we're not sure if it's because of diet or, you know, what is happening, you know, with how we manage our cats as pets, but we've seen a lot more development of urinary tract stones within the kidneys, or within the ureter, which is the tube that conducts urine from the kidney to the bladder, or even within the urethra, which is the tube that cats pee through.

And so, we can often see that they get obstructions because of those stones, and that we have to operate on that area to remove the stones, you know, many of the times.

>>Kate Pleasant: That's interesting, as well.

So, do you, you know, when you talk to patients, or I guess clients, people that are bringing in their pets in, is there ways to work with plans?

You know, if they come in and say, you know, I'm pretty sure my animal needs surgery, is there any way I can work with you to decide the best case of treatment?

>>Heidi Phillips: Definitely.

And that's always the case.

We try to work with our referring and our primary care veterinarians who are sending us the patients to a specialty hospital, and work with the clients, as well.

We want to make sure that we offer the clients all possibilities.

Our job is to tell them what would be ideal, and then if the ideal can't be accomplished because of finances, or they're worried about the impact on the pet, we can offer them alternatives or compromises that might bring about a more moderate result, but would still be good for the pet.

And so, definitely, with every pet, with every financial situation, with every family, we do our very best to communicate with the primary care veterinarian and the client to come up with a plan that is most suitable for both the pet and the family.

So, it doesn't have to be a very expensive option; it can certainly be a middle of the road, in terms of expense, option that can still bring about a good result for the pet.

>>Kate Pleasant: See, and that's good to know.

I mean, we've mentioned it before on this program, but I always like to remind people that there is something for every budget, for every animal, for anything; you can do comfort, you can do repairs, anything like that, so.

>>Heidi Phillips: Absolutely.

And if there's a way to avoid surgery, you know, a good surgeon is someone that will let the client know that.

And there have been many situations where someone's been coming to me for surgery and have actually discerned that at that point their pet didn't need surgery, and that there were alternatives that we could use that hopefully would prevent them from requiring surgery in the future.

So, as a surgeon, part of our job is to decide whether or not surgery is even necessary.

>>Kate Pleasant: Okay.

Well, Heidi Phillips from the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital, we appreciate you coming down and talking to us about all this.

>>Heidi Phillips: Absolutely.

>>Kate Pleasant: I'm sure we've learned something today, so thanks again.

>>Heidi Phillips: Thank you; thank you for having me.

It's good to be here.

>>Kate Pleasant: Did you know full episodes of the Paw Report are on YouTube?

They can be accessed at www.youtube.com/weiutv.

Then, just go to the Paw Report playlist and select the episode you want to see.

More information about the show is also available 24/7 on our website, at weiu.net under the Television tab.

[Music Plays]>>Jacob Pschirrer: I got Clark when I was a sophomore in college in 1993.

I bought two for eight dollars.

One passed away six days later.

And Clark, Clark here now is 20.

[music] >>Jacob: He does not climb anymore.

He used to climb every morning to the top of his logs and just sun himself and now the last three years he just can t get up to the logs anymore so he just kinda hangs loose on the ground and we ve got a heater down there for him so he stays toasty.

He s got the good life!

[music] >>Jacob: It was actually my dad s idea to build a solarium out there.

I thought, Well that d be good.

Because he lived in a 10-gallon aquarium, then moved to a dog cage, and then two dog cages.

And then dental school he had a whole room to himself and now here he is.

Most people like it.

We have people that come by here in the evenings and they ll take their evening walk and they ll walk by here and see what Clark s doing.

Or they ll bring the grandkids by to check him out.

Yeah, it s kinda neat.

[music] >>Jacob: It d be awfully hard to replace him.

He s been so good.

Cause they re so small when they start out.

They start out about three or four inches uh long.

I think a three or four inch iguana would probably get lost in there.

[music]Kelly Runyon: Have a video or photo of your pet doing something funny or absolutely adorable?

We'd love to share it with our viewers here at the Paw Report.

Email it to weiu@weiu.net, and you could see it on our show.

Just make sure it's a video taken by you or that you have permission to share it.

For more information about how to get that video or photo to us, email or call at 217-581-5956.

Production for the Paw Report is made possible by:Inyart Tire and Auto Centerin Charleston and Mattoon.Inyart offers complete auto repair.Inyart Tire and Auto Center cares about our community and thanks you for being a responsible pet owner.More information at Inyart.com.Music