Neutering dilemma.
 

I posted a few weeks back about Logan's dew claw situation but I'll recap.
Our puppy has double dew claws on each foot in the back...
I normally wouldn't think much of it, just a cute little genetic glitch?
BUT, the one is really loose and dangley. Our vet suggests we have them removed when neutering him. And here's my dilemma:

Logan is currently 17 weeks old (a little over 4 months)
I know that neutering too young is usually a no-no, but with this dew claw situation the vet wants remove them sooner than later for obvious reasons. So he suggested we do the neutering a bit earlier, so that we can get the dew claw problem under control. (He's gotten his foot stuck already once and it was terrifying for him and us!)

So I'm really not sure what to do about this. Do I just go through with the early (about 5 1/2 mo. old) neutering so that his dews can be removed before fully formed (or before something terrible happens like one tearing!)
Do I skip the neuter all together and just have the dews removed? (This is something I considered because of how young he is)
Or do I wait until he's a few months older and get it all done at once?

My biggest concern is having him undergo anesthesia two times if I can avoid it.

Another consideration to complicate your choice is baby teeth. He may end up needing baby teeth removed later.

Anesthesia is my least favorite thing, but I think I would be inclined to take care of the dew claws now. Then closer to one year of age, assess teeth and neuter then.

There are many Yorkies who have annual dental cleanings under anesthesia and who do just fine, live to very old age.

Best wishes in your decision.

Thanks for the quick response! That's reassuring actually. That's what I am leaning toward doing I just worry so much about him having to go under =(

My almost 14 year old beautiful Barney was neutered very early and I've had no complications despite the hype. I would remove the dewclaws and neuter the dog sooner rather than later. As for teeth, not all retain their teeth. 3 of mine did not.

Also was just wondering, as you only mentioned one of the dew claws. I was informed by my vet when I asked about Gizmos, because they had bone attached, it was better not to do them, in fact he refused to because he said it would be like amputating one of my fingers at that age, as they had already attached. Is it just one that is loose? Or are they both completely hanging? If the other is attached, at that age I would not touch it as it would be extremely painful for your pup. If both are loose, it shouldn't be an issue.

I agree with the other posters regarding timing though, as my Gizmo ended up with 2 complete sets of teeth, due to him not losing any baby teeth, so he had to have a lot of teeth pulled along with his neuter.

He has two dew claws on each back foot. One of the two on each foot are dangling. The other seems more attached

I don't believe all the hype about early neutering but I would wai until six months so they can remove some of those baby teeth. I wouldn't want to have to put my dog under a second time to remove baby teeth

Well that's different :-) I have never heard of a yorkie having 2 dew claws on each foot. Did the vet say why he has 2 ? Just curious as I have never heard of that before :-)

He's a little mutant ;)
Jk it's just a genetic deformity. It's recessive so even though both of his parents had "normal" feet, he still got the short straw and has dangle toes haha.

This is what I would do. While others may have had good experiences neutering early, doesn't change my desire to allow a pup to develop before taking away his hormones. Pre-op blood work can tell you what's going on in your little man's body and if he's healthy enough to go under. You can still back out if his blood work doesn't look good.

what does anesthesia have to do with living to very old age. Now you have me scared. Reason I ask is several years ago my dog (now pasted) needed teeth cleaned. I had to sign a form, if the dogs heart stops beating do you want ....they listed several things ending with something like "do everything " I was so scared I started to cry and didn't want to leave the dog, I thought maybe a client of theirs (dog) heart stopped, vet did everything & bought it back, the dog owners did not want to pay the expense of that procedure, and did not pay. Things like this did happen at my vet, sending before loosing

not a dog dying, example::: someone hit a dog, took it in to my vet, broken hip, owner could not be reached, my vet went forward & operated, when owner was finally reached they refused to pay the cost, said they did not give permission to operate. So I thought this form I was signing was to give them your permission to do what ever it was that you checked off on this form, now you mention anesthesia and living a longer life, scaring me, my newly adopted Cody needs his teeth cleaned. how does anesthesia affect their life?

I think just the same as it effects humans, just on a tinier yorkie sized scale, lol. There's always risks involved when anyone big or small goes under anesthesia. Although the amount administered is scaled to the size of the patient, it makes me nervous to have to have a 5lb puppy anesthetized more than he needs to be

My first yorkie had a hernia and was cryptorchid, the opted to fix his hernia and neuter him pretty early he had no adverse reactions from this. A few studies showed perhaps they get a bit bigger if they are altered early but nothing was ever definitive.