Spaying Methods

I heard that there was a way for vets to go through a dogs vagina to remove there reproductive organs instead of making an incesion in the abdomen. This supposedly cuts down on healing time and is safer because it leaves less room for infection to occur. I have searched the internet and found nothing and have called my own vet who said they have never heard of that being done for dogs. I know they do this in humans but can it be done in dogs?

[Ghilly]

Not to my knowledge.  The only way they spay a female is the old-fashioned way, via abdominal surgery.  There ARE variations on the surgery, where sometimes they only take the uterus and leave the ovaries.  Partial spays are more common in Europe than they are in the USA.  

What HAS changed in the USA is the length of the incision.  A female used to be left with a huge incision, up to six inches long and sometimes even longer in large breeds, depending on the age of the female when the surgery was done.  Now they do something called "keyhole" surgery, where a small incision 1 to 3 inches (depending on the size of the dog) is made.  The much smaller incision makes it possible for the dog to heal more quickly.  Sometimes a large incision is still necessary.  There are cases in dogs from breeds that are prone to bloating (a potentially fatal twisting of the stomach) where they will tack the stomach to the abdominal wall when the dog is spayed.  They do this as a preventative measure if the dog comes from a breed or from a bloodline that is particularly prone to gastric torsion and volvulus (also called "bloat"), but unless this is being done while the dog is being spayed, the incisions today are very small compared to days past.  They have not yet advanced to the point of removing a dog's uterus through the vagina, at least not in general practice.  Whether or not this technique is in research in vet schools, I do not know, but I wasn't able to find any information on it in any case.

Ghilly