If your dog is due to be spayed, which option is best for their long-term health? Removing just the ovaries is becoming more common, but how does this compare against a traditional ovariohysterectomy?This episode is brought to you by the Our Pet's Health AcademyI don't believe there is any significant difference in risks or benefits of removing just the ovaries compared to a traditional ovariohysterectomy.In theory there will be a chance of uterine tumors but these are incredible uncommon (uterine cancer in dogs makes up only 0.4% of all cancers in dogs) so this is a theoretical rather than "real-life" risk.If I was spaying an older dog and there was some form of uterine problem present then I would always take the whole uterus along with the ovaries. For young dogs, this will not be an issue.Removing just the ovaries can make the surgery faster and the incision smaller - although this will depend on the surgeon performing the procedure. Also laparoscopic spays only ever remove the ovaries.Removing just the ovaries likely comes with a slight reduction in surgery risk (although this is already small) as exposure may be better and so the risk of bleeding is reduced.Head over to the full show notes for more details