Veterinary Cryosurgery: Can My Dog Benefit?

Surgery doesn’t always have to involve a scalpel. Cryosurgery is one of such techniques.

During traditional surgery, the surgeon cuts out abnormal or diseased tissue. Cryosurgery achieves this by the use of extreme cold.

The extreme cold causes the death of the target cells while at the same time of numbs surrounding nerves, which reduces pain.

Further information: Cryosurgery in Dogs

Veterinary Cryosurgery: Can My Dog Benefit?

Old technique, new uses

OK, cryosurgery in veterinary medicine isn’t exactly new. In humans, it’s been in use for more than two hundred years.

In veterinary medicine, Dr. Goldstein talks about using cryosurgery on cancerous growths in The Nature of Animal Healing, which he wrote in 1999.

The idea might be old, but the technology is evolving.

Cryosurgery is a relatively painless, and bloodless procedure. There is, however, pain during the freezing which is why your dog is likely going to be sedated or receive a local anesthetic. General anesthesia is usually not needed.

The modern cryosurgery technology uses high-pressure liquid nitrous oxide, delivered from a handheld device. This allows precision, which was not possible with the older methods.

Uses of cryosurgery for dogs

In dogs, cryosurgery can treat tumors in places where traditional surgery would not be possible.

With high precision, a wart, skin tag, or even a cancerous growth can be targeted and killed quickly, while sparing the surrounding healthy tissue.

There are, of course, limitations to what can be treated with cryosurgery.

The most common uses of cryosurgery for dogs are:

  • small growths
  • oral tumors
  • nasal tumors
  • ophthalmology (distichiasis)

Skin cancers that can be treated with cryosurgery:

  • hemangiomas
  • hemangiosarcomas
  • superficial mast cell tumors

Minimal side effects

Side effects with cryosurgery are minimal, and they may include scabbing and hair loss at the treatment site. Since there is no surgical incision and stitches, it eliminates associated complications.

Further information: Pet Cryotherapy

Does it work?

Cryosurgery has a good track record. Often it is the only procedure needed. Even with oral tumors, for example, cancer often goes into remission after just one treatment.

Related articles:
Do Dogs Get Nosebleeds: Bella’s Nasal Cancer

Further reading:
Cryosurgery in Dogs

Categories: Cryosurgery

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Jana Rade

I am a graphic designer, dog health advocate, writer, and author. Jasmine, the Rottweiler of my life, was the largest female from her litter. We thought we were getting a healthy dog. Getting a puppy from a backyard breeder was our first mistake. Countless veterinary visits without a diagnosis or useful treatment later, I realized that I had to take Jasmine's health care in my own hands. I learned the hard way that merely seeing a vet is not always enough. There is more to finding a good vet than finding the closest clinic down the street. And, sadly, there is more to advocating for your dog's health than visiting a veterinarian. It should be enough, but it often is not. With Jasmine, it took five years to get a diagnosis. Unfortunately, other problems had snowballed for that in the meantime. Jasmine's health challenges became a crash course in understanding dog health issues and how to go about getting a proper diagnosis and treatment. I had to learn, and I had to learn fast. Helping others through my challenges and experience has become my mission and Jasmine's legacy. I now try to help people how to recognize and understand signs of illness in their dogs, how to work with their veterinarian, and when to seek a second opinion. My goal is to save others the steep curve of having to learn things the hard way as I did. That is the mission behind my blog and behind my writing. That is why I wrote Symptoms to Watch for in Your Dog, which has turned out being an award-winning guide to dog owners. What I'm trying to share encompasses 20 years of experience.

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