Oophorectomy is the surgical removal of the ovaries of a female animal. In the case of non-human animals, this is also called spaying. It is a form of sterilization.
The removal of the ovaries together with the Fallopian tubes is called salpingo-oophorectomy. Oophorectomy and salpingo-oophorectomy are not common forms of birth control in humans; more usual is tubal ligation, in which the Fallopian tubes are blocked but the ovaries remain intact.
In humans, oophorectomy is most usually performed together with a hysterectomy - the removal of the uterus. Its use in a hysterectomy when there are no other health problems is somewhat controversial.
In animals, spaying involves an invasive removal of the ovaries, but rarely has major complications; the superstition that it causes weight gain is not based on fact. Spaying is especially important for certain animals that require the ovum to be released at a certain interval (called estrus or "heat"), such as cats and dogs. If the cell is not released during these animal's heat, it can cause severe medical problems that can be averted by spaying or partnering the animal with a male.
Oophorectomy is sometimes referred to as castration, but that term is most often used to mean the removal of a male animal's testicles.
See also
Events
- January 15 - University of Notre Dame receives its charter from Indiana.
- February 27 - The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti.
- February 28 - A gun on the USS Princeton explodes while the boat is on a Potomac River cruise, killing two United States Cabinet members and several others.
- May 23 - Persian Prophet The Báb announces His revelation, founding Bábism.
- May 24 - First electrical telegram sent by Samuel Morse from Baltimore, Maryland to Washington, D.C., saying "What hath God wrought?".
- June 6 - George Williams founds the Young Men's Christian Association in London, England.
- June 15 - Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber.
- June 27 - Joseph Smith, Jr. is murdered with his brother Hyrum in Carthage Jail, Carthage, Illinois.
- July 3 - The last pair of Great Auks is killed.
- August 8 - During a meeting held in Nauvoo, the Quorum of Twelve , headed by Brigham Young, is created as the leading body of the Mormon Church.
- October 22 - Date predicted by the Millerites for the Second Coming of Jesus; leads to the Great Disappointment.
- November - James K. Polk defeats Henry Clay in the U.S. presidential election
- November 6 - The Dominican Republic gains its independence from Spain.
Births
- February 17 - Aaron Montgomery Ward, department store founder (d. 1913)
- February 20 - Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist
- February 20 - Joshua Slocum, seaman and adventurer (d. 1909)
- February 21 - Charles-Marie Widor, organist and composer
- March 10 - Pablo de Sarasate, violinist (d. 1908)
- March 18 - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, composer (d. 1908)
- March 30 - Paul Verlaine, lyric poet (d. 1896)
- May 17 - Julius Wellhausen, German biblical scholar (d. 1918)
- May 19 - Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1818)
- May 21 - Henri Rousseau, artist (d. 1910)
- May 22 - Mary Cassatt, artist
- May 23 - `Abdu'l-Bahá, Persian religious leader
- July 11 - King Peter I of Serbia
- July 22 - William Archibald Spooner, British scholar and Anglican priest
- August 6 - Prince Alfred of the United Kingdom, later Duke of Edinburgh and Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, second son of Queen Victoria
- August 17 - Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia
- August 22 - George Washington DeLong, American naval officer/ill-fated explorer (d. 1881)
- October 15 - Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher
- October 22 - Louis Riel, Metis leader
- October 22 - Sarah Bernhardt, French actress
- November 2 - Mehmed V, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1918)
- November 23 - Karl Benz, German automotive pioneer
- December 1 - Alexandra of Denmark, later Queen Consort of King Edward VII
- December 8 - Émile Reynaud, French science teacher, responsible for the first animation films.
- Abd ar-Rahman Khan, emir of Afghanistan.
Deaths
Last updated: 02-02-2005 23:12:44