WHAT CONTRACEPTIVE SHOULD I GIVE MY DOG?

Birth control in dogs is as essential as in humans in our generation. To maintain the number of family dogs you have and avoid unwanted pregnancies in fluffy, contraceptives and other birth control plans are available for your pet dog.

WHAT ARE CONTRACEPTIVES?

Contraceptives refer to methods, drugs, or devices used to control or prevent pregnancies. Various methods of contraception are useful in humans with different levels of effectiveness. There are also birth control methods for dogs

DO DOGS NEED CONTRACEPTIVES?

YES! Dogs need contraceptives and in clinical practice, cases come up almost every week with clients seeking to avoid unwanted pregnancies in their pet dogs. There are practical situations where a valuable breed of dog is crossed by an unwanted breed, or if the bitch is crossed at the wrong time( sometimes too early at first heat). Some families simply do not want any more puppies from the dogs. Contraceptives are necessary for all these situations.

TYPES OF CONTRACEPTIVES FOR DOGS

In dogs, the methods used to control birth or whelping are surgical, physical, and the use of drugs or chemicals.  All these methods have their benefits and side effects:

• Surgical: this involves the process of neutering or castrating the dogs. Male dogs are commonly castrated by the removal of the testicles or through vasectomy.  Female dogs are widely neutered through the removal of the ovaries and uterus (ovariohysterectomy).

The advantage of this method is that it is 100% effective at preventing pregnancies. The challenge is that once it is done, the dogs can never have puppies even if the owner decides to let them have puppies.

• Physical method:  this method involves the use of physical barriers to restrict intact males from crossing intact females. This method requires knowledge of the cycle of the female. it involved either keeping the female securely separated from any male that can cross her.

The advantage of this method is that the owner can decide to let the female conceive at any point n the reproductive ages of the dog. The disadvantage however is that male dogs are excellent detectors of heat in female dogs and so there are instances where male dogs would cross the female dogs even before their human caretakers would realize the female is on heat.

• chemical sterilization: this method makes use of hormones and other chemicals administered to the dogs, especially through the developmental stages to inhibit the development of the reproductive organs or to limit the proper functioning of these organs. Chemicals like zinc tannate and antifertility vaccines example immunization against luteinizing hormone are used among others. These chemicals have different degrees of success as well as side effects.

The cost, potential side effects which can be life-threatening and the unreliable success rates make pet owners reconsider this option.

Medical control of the estrus cycle in bitches just as mentioned above has severe side effects which may include pyometra, cancers, and endometritis.

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WHAT IS THE CHEAPEST CONTRACEPTIVE FOR DOGS?

For many years surgical castrations under anesthesia have proven to be safer, relatively cheap, and provide reliable contraception. castration in male dogs and spaying in female dogs are effective at preventing pregnancies.

The physical method is actually the cheapest, however, it is laborious and has a wide margin for error. In most cases, owners find their dogs pregnant without knowing how that happened

CAN I GIVE LYDIA  AND POSTINOR 2 TO MY DOG?

NO, you cannot give Lydia to your dogs. There is a growing concern that people who have identified the usefulness of the Lydia and or postinor 2 contraceptives give Lydia or postinor 2 to their bitches in attempts to control birth and pregnancies in their dog.

This practice is not acceptable and this is why;

Postinor-2 and Lydia are emergency contraceptives with the active ingredient being Levonorgestrel which is a hormonal drug developed for humans. drug dosage and safety analysis were done to suit the physiology of the woman but the same can not be said about the bitch. You risk your bitch getting reproductive disorders, cancers, behavioral changes, or even death if you give Lydia or postinor 2 meant for the woman.

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF MY DOG PICKED UP MY CONTRACEPTIVE PILL?

Call your veterinarian as soon as possible when you realize your dog picked up your contraceptive pill. Your vet is even closer to you than ever through telemedicine.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD DOGS GIVE BIRTH?

The gestation period for dogs is 2 months, it takes another 2 months to nurture the puppies. Most dogs would come on heat 4 months after weaning when they can get pregnant again. With proper management, your bitch can have 2 sets of puppies in a year.

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