If you feel like you can no longer control your dog’s barking, then devocalization (or debark) might be the answer to your problem. Before going into the procedure, it’s important to know some of the risks, as well as ethical concerns, it poses for your pet.
Why Devocalization Services?
Puppies can sometimes make unnecessary and excessive noise in the neighborhood. In such cases, we can provide uncontrollable canines with devocalization services. In the right circumstances, having your pet undergo our devocalization surgery is a good option for responsible dog owners.
It is important to remember that your pet will not stop barking, instead, the total volume, sharpness, and pitch of the dog’s voice will decrease. In fact, for many dogs this surgery allows them to embrace their true bark fully, but without creating the disturbance that it causes.
Why Choose Care Animal Hospital’s Devocalization Services?
Experienced vets on our staff can assist you and your puppy through its devocalization process. We’ll work together to ensure your pet gets the best care and medical attention possible. While employing our techniques, we also ensure your puppy is as protected as possible.
During the procedure, we’ll ensure your pet isn’t injured due to stress. This is possible because our vets are specially trained to support and safeguard their well-being. Lastly, we only use current technology. This makes it possible for us to devocalize your puppy efficiently.
What to Expect From Our Devocalization Services
Our devocalization process is accomplished in dogs by removing the vocal cords via an oral technique. This is performed in our clinic, under general anesthesia while using surgical instruments. We use the oral method, which, unlike other alternatives, is conducted through the dog’s mouth, and is a non-invasive procedure of devocalizing.
After applying a short-acting injectable anesthetic, we will use a biopsy tool to get 1 or 2 small pieces of tissue from your pet’s vocal folds. The whole surgical procedure takes only 1 or 2 minutes, with minimal to no bleeding.
As the anesthesia wears off, some dogs might try to bark, although you would only notice a reduced, raspy sound. Despite popular belief, this surgical removal does not completely take away the dog’s vocal box or ability to produce sound.
How Much Does Our Devocalization Cost?
Our devocalization services cost from $700 to $1800. The final price depends on your location, and other health-related elements that can influence the process. If you have been thinking ‘’Where is a debarking surgery near me?’’ you can bring your canine to our vet in order to plan the costs of its surgical procedure.
Does Your Dog Need Devocalization?
This depends on both your needs and your dog’s needs. Your first choice should be to research the reason before deciding to modify your body with surgery. For instance, a common reason for excessive noise is territoriality, which happens when you don’t neuter or spay your dog.
A patient that has been spayed has reduced territorial problems, which leads them to make less noise. This can also happen when your pet hasn’t received any type of training. Trained dogs are less likely to make noise as they have been conditioned with positive reinforcements.
Therefore, if your dog is being too loud, training is often the answer. This also applies for canines who don’t like cats. If you have cats in your house, you can train your canine to get along with them. Just remember, before contacting us for our services, remember that there are many options.
Benefits of Devocalization
After surgery, you and your pet will benefit from the following benefits.
- Removes the risk of your dog being taken away by the county.
- Able to bark freely, releasing stress
- Able to communicate without being scolded for being too noisy
- Less intimidating to your guests
- Diminishes need to train a dog to bark less
- Freedom from noise complaints
- Eases you of pain trying to silence your dog
- Maintenance of peace and order in the neighborhood
- Reduced noise and disturbances
Risks of Devocalization
Below are the risks your dog can go through after the surgery. If your puppy is experiencing too many of them, make sure to bring them to our vet as soon as possible
- Since their vocal tissues contain muscle and nerve endings, your pet can experience pain and bleeding.
- They can develop an infection after the surgery.
- Their bodies can develop other problems, such as chronic coughing, and breathing difficulties.
- The possible infection and severe breathing problems it might bring can contribute to cancer.
- They can experience a bark with blood.
- If performed by inexperienced veterinarians, there is an increased risk of pain, and infections after the surgery.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Debarking Cruel to Dogs?
At its core, devocalizing your canine is not cruel. Pets who have undergone the surgery are reported to communicate the same way and are treated no differently from other humans and animals. There is never such a rare behavioral side effect of devocalizing.
However, if the canine is barking because of an underlying need or problem, such as anxiety, boredom, loneliness, or hunger, then a devocalizing procedure won’t help solve the underlying problem.
Is Debarking a Dog Painful?
No, debarking a dog isn’t completely painful because of the anesthesia. However, as the anesthesia wears off, it’s possible for a canine to feel some form of discomfort and pain. A vet will provide painkillers or sedatives in such cases.
After the surgery, your pet will go through some minor pain and discomfort in the vocal region. All devocalizing patients are provided pain treatment to help with the healing process.
What Happens to My Pet After Devocalization?
You can predict your canine to be back in good shape after the recovery period of two weeks.
While your dog’s sound may be greatly reduced, it will still be able to howl, whimper, bark, or create any sound, as they please.
Can You Reverse Debarking?
You can’t reverse debarking because the surgery involves removing tissues from them. While these services are often successful, there’s a small possibility of vocal cord tissue regrowth.
Can You Debark a Cat?
No, this surgery is often not performed on a cat. However, there are different services that can be performed on feline patients. Though, these are only done for medical reasons, as it can affect the cat and its physical and emotional well-being.
A cat can experience pain and, since they often communicate with meows, chirpings, and chatterings, they can even feel depressed. Therefore, if you have a noisy cat, it is not recommended for you to devocalize them.
