Spay or not Spay, same for micro chipping
 

Hello All,

My little Zadie is 7 1/2 mths old and 3lbs, I am confused on whether to spay and microchip her or not. I am scared that something will go wrong because she is so tiny. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Annie :aimeeyork

Hi - sorry no one has replied to your post yet! Somehow it was missed.

I totally understand your fears as my 2 youngest yorkies were both about 3 lbs when neutered/spayed - it's scary to think about. BUT, you will be amazed at how well they do with surgeries. The real key to doing it right is to always get blood work done before any surgery to make sure she is healthy AND make sure you come home w/ pain pills and a pain plan if/when those pain pills don't provide enough relief.

Def get the chip too! :)

Galen was neutered at 8 months and he was about 3 lbs. He also had 17 puppy teeth removed and microchipped. . It was a little scary but he did great. Make sure the vet removes her puppy teeth too. The toy breeds tend to hold on to them. Most only have a few left in their mouth, not like Galen. You want to avoid putting her under twice. When you don't have too. . . Good luck.

There is very little risk in anesthesia now as long as you get the pre surgery blood work. Not spaying is so much more dangerous there is an infection a female can get in her uterus that if not taken care of in 48 hours will kill her and then even if it is taken care of and you think they are in the clear they still can end up dying. If you spay them before there first heat them have almost no chance of mammary cancer but for every heat they have that goes up. We have had many 3 pounders on here get spayed with no issues.

Dinky was neutered at 7.5 months. I was worried about his size. I felt better knowing that the vet had done thousands during his career, and I also felt better because the vet discussed Dinky's size and explained the procedure.
Good luck!
And if she ever got lost, the chip just might be the way she gets back to you!

I agree with the others, don't forget, female dogs can get pregnant all of the lives, so that means that she will be very vulnerable to attack all of her life and believe me, pregnancy is much riskier than spaying. Since most Yorkies have to have a few teeth pulled, most of us do it while they are under, and getting a microchip at the same time will help her to always be able to find you.

Plus
 

The microchip is teeny tiny....bout the size of the point of a ball point pen...
I just had my Zoey done plus two baby fang teeth pulled....she seems to act like she feels so much better! Very active and sassier too! Vet said it might have relieved some pressure in her mouth and she has more room to grip.

And do get them spayed they won't have to gothru all that discomfort and it is good for them in the long run as said above...

Billi was spayed, chipped and teeth pulled at 7.5 months and around 2lbs. She's 3lbs fully grown now. I agree, get the pre-op bloodwork done and try to relax. It's really the best thing we can do for our littler ones. The thought of her getting pregnant at such a tiny size should be more frightening than a good vet putting her to sleep for a little while.

To Spay or not to Spay….My experience
 

I was like you, afraid to put my baby under Anastasia, not because they were tiny in weight, because they were babies and I didn’t want them “cut open”. So my first two girls were not spayed. My next two were. My oldest unsprayed girl (13 y/o) developed Pyometra, her uterus erupted, puss went through her veins, my vet performed an emergency hysterectomy and sent her home. For 8 days I watched my baby die before my eyes. No I did not have a good vet at that time. Day 8 I took her to an ER clinic where they keep her, but it was too late, she died before I got home that night. 6 months later my 10 y/o unsprayed girl, uterus erupted, Pyometra. I recognized the signs and rushed her to my NEW vet, ER 24/7 clinic. They preformed emergency hysterectomy, they saved her life. I would never want anyone to go through what I experienced with my first baby. I trusted my vet, I found out to late he could not hold dogs after surgery because he did not have anyone to watch over dogs. I learned the hard way to question my veterinarians, and it cost my dog her life. This was all back in the 80’s,veterinarian clinics have escalated since this era, and so has veterinarian techknowledgey, but that does not mean if your pup gets Pyometra she can or will be saved. For every heat cycle she has, there is more danger of Pyometra and mammary cancer even if you have her spayed. Spaying before first heat is advised.
If you are not going to breed, then Spay. This is a health safety issue, and the best thing you can do for your little girl. Your vet will tell you if it is safe or not, and when the best time to do this is. I recommend Micro-chipping, I will take all measures possible to ensure if my lil guy were ever to go missing, some honest person would have the means to return him to me. I wish they would invent a GPS to locate dogs that go missing.

My 1lb 11oz girl is now 1yr and 10 months old & has not gone into heat & may not ever due to her size. She was just checked Sat. at the vet & he doesn't want to put her under for anything just because of her size & she will not get shots - My 3lb 8oz girl was spayed, microchipped & had her baby teeth extracted at 2lbs 4oz & did just fine when she was 11 1/2 months old.

1 lb 11 oz. I just had to view your photos to see what a 1lb 11oz yorkie looked like, she is soooo sweet looking and sooooo tiny, all beautifull babies.

No shots seems very risky and no rabies is against the law.