In this study, students, faculty, and staff at 5 veterinary teaching hospitals who were current or former dog owners were surveyed for their opinions of which spay technique they preferred for their own dogs. Survey options included open celiotomy, single-port or 2-port laparoscopy, or natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES). If a laparoscopic procedure was selected, the survey respondent was asked how much more he or she would be willing to pay as compared with an open spay technique.
The overall survey response rate was 33.2%. Although the majority of total respondents were women, veterinarian respondents were more likely to be male and older than 35 years of age. A majority of those surveyed (77.8%) chose a laparoscopic spay as their first choice, although most respondents were unwilling to pay more than $200 above the open spay cost. Veterinarians and respondents over 35 years of age were significantly more likely to choose open laparotomy as their first choice. Owners of giant-breed dogs, veterinarians, and male respondents were significantly more likely to pay more than $200 for a minimally invasive procedure. NOTES, an emerging technique in both human and veterinary medicine, was the least chosen option, possibly due to its designated experimental status on the survey.