It can be risky but not spaying or neutering can be riskier for their health. I think it's better to prevent health issues on a healthy dog than to try to repair / heal sickness on a sick one. Here's an example: Years ago we had a yorkie girl. My father was under the impression that females became fat and lazy after spaying and since she would always be supervised outside he didn't want to do that.
She developed pyometra and had to have a hysterectomy. This meant going under anesthesia when very sick. She survived the operation but I don't think she ever really recovered and the last year of her life she was sick a lot and ended up having to be put to sleep at age 5.
That being said, I had Debbie done at 7 months when she weighed 2.7 pounds. Since then she's been put under 3 more times for tooth extraction and cleaning and she's been just fine. She still weighs 3 pounds. I feel fortunate to have found a vet that understands that little dogs are different. |