Have you chosen not to Spay?

[ParrotLady]

Originally Posted by Ashley V

Chip was 9 months and 6 lbs when he was neutered and he did fine. It's the teeny tiny ones that really make you worry sometimes! Like someone else said, just get the pre op bloodwork done to make sure that there is nothing wrong with her and she should be fine.

What is the "bloodwork" you guys are talking about and what can be wrong with her blood? Sorry to sound ignorant here, but I am on this subject.

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by ParrotLady

What is the "bloodwork" you guys are talking about and what can be wrong with her blood? Sorry to sound ignorant here, but I am on this subject.

A complete blood count can be done to check for infections, low platelets, low hemoglobin, etc. and a blood panel can be done to check liver and kidney values, electrolytes, etc. Your vet should do it if you request it and after a certain age, it should be mandatory. In fact, some vets insist on it for all patients which is best. Even better would be to add a bile acids test onto this to check liver function as long as the dog is at least 20 weeks old.

[newproudmom]

we decided not to neuter charlie. We don't plan to breed him or anything but husband just don't like the idea. We have no dogs around here and he is not around other dogs so he will be fine. The only dog he will be around is another male yorkie who is also not neuter. Hopefull he will be fine.

[Potter]

I have thought long before posting this. Some of the older members might know but I have chosen not to neuter my Yorkie, at least not for now. I have never been irresponsible with him for the past 2.5 going to 3 years and I will continue to be responsible with him and make sure he does not contribute to unwanted puppies and he never has and never will. I have a lot of questions, health benefits of neutering a male dog and until I am satisfied that he will be better off neutered, I am not going to. I also am not able to put him through it right now in spite of how successful other has been because with every surgery there will always be a risk and God forbid if anything happens to him, I am not sure how depressed I would be. He has a lot of small friends that he plays well with and even another unneutered Yorkie and they play well together and he doesn't mark in the house, doesn't hump.

[Ashley V]

Originally Posted by ParrotLady

What is the "bloodwork" you guys are talking about and what can be wrong with her blood? Sorry to sound ignorant here, but I am on this subject.

Originally Posted by Ellie May

A complete blood count can be done to check for infections, low platelets, low hemoglobin, etc. and a blood panel can be done to check liver and kidney values, electrolytes, etc. Your vet should do it if you request it and after a certain age, it should be mandatory. In fact, some vets insist on it for all patients which is best. Even better would be to add a bile acids test onto this to check liver function as long as the dog is at least 20 weeks old.

Exactly what Ellie May said. Everything should be fine, especially with a puppy, but it's always good to have it done just in case. If there were to be something wrong then they would cancel the spay and do whatever was needed to do to fix the problem. I know our vet does manadatory pre op bloodwork before every surgery and if everything checks out, he goes ahead.

[Mysweetbabies]

I too am very sceptical about spaying too. I have a female 1.2 oz. yorkie. We have 2 males also. Daisy went for her 12 wk. shots and the vet mentioned it to me about spaying. I don't think she will ever reach 3lb. The vet said it was more risky for her not to get spayed. I am torn what to do, but I have time to think about it. I would like to have the males fixed too. I really don't want them hiking their leg in house. I am training them to use potty pad. When fixed does it really help them not to hike their leg?

[phfgkl]

Originally Posted by Mysweetbabies

I too am very sceptical about spaying too. I have a female 1.2 oz. yorkie. We have 2 males also. Daisy went for her 12 wk. shots and the vet mentioned it to me about spaying. I don't think she will ever reach 3lb. The vet said it was more risky for her not to get spayed. I am torn what to do, but I have time to think about it. I would like to have the males fixed too. I really don't want them hiking their leg in house. I am training them to use potty pad. When fixed does it really help them not to hike their leg?

I feel for you, you're in (almost) the same boat as me. Other than I have one male, but, has been neutered. You have time to decide though, and your female may hit a growth spurt, mine never did.

[jamescandy]

I probably will spay because they are just such tiny and delicate litttle creatures. But I have to admit I would love the experience, I am just afraid of what could go wrong. I am not a expert just a mommy and I would hate to watch my baby suffer due to my lack of experience. It is a tough call, I would never do it for money, I would only do it for the experience.

[MaddiesMommie]

Originally Posted by phfgkl

I have never had pain meds for any of my dogs after spaying. My vet has always kept them overnight the night that they've had the surgery. Sometimes pain meds are bad, as they may pull at stitches and it not hurt them because they don't feel it when they're on pain meds. I've had surgeries too, and although I've had the pain meds, most of the time I don't even take them myself.
To the OP, I have always been 100% on having dogs spayed/neutered. There is also pyometra they can get(not sure if I spelled that right) that can end up killing them if they're not spayed. The only reason I wouldn't spay is if I was going to breed. I have a little one right now, I have always had my dogs spayed by 6 mos at the latest, but, this one is 9 mos today and still not spayed, but, it's only because of her size. I was hoping she would get to 3 lbs. but, that doesn't look like that's going to happen, so, have decided to wait until she's a year old, then take her in and pray for the best

My previous vet wanted me to bring Maddie in the day prior to surgery. Also, I may not mind her staying overnight if someone was there with the animals. Instead, they are left alone...I just don't feel comfortable with that.
I prefer to have meds for her in case. I have had pets spayed without them before. Some do okay, some did not. I have a hard time seeing any critter of mine suffering with pain

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by MaddiesMommie

My previous vet wanted me to bring Maddie in the day prior to surgery. Also, I may not mind her staying overnight if someone was there with the animals. Instead, they are left alone...I just don't feel comfortable with that.
I prefer to have meds for her in case. I have had pets spayed without them before. Some do okay, some did not. I have a hard time seeing any critter of mine suffering with pain

I agree.
Keeping a dog overnight after surgery unsupervised is asking for disaster.
There are many 24 hour vets that an owner can use if they aren't comfortable bringing home their pup that night. I think it's a very unsafe practice.





If a vet did not give me pain medications fror my dog after cutting her abdomen open, I would NOT go to that vet. It is not fair to the dog. They cannot tell you when they are in pain.

[MaddiesMommie]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

I agree.
Keeping a dog overnight after surgery unsupervised is asking for disaster.
There are many 24 hour vets that an owner can use if they aren't comfortable bringing home their pup that night. I think it's a very unsafe practice.





If a vet did not give me pain medications fror my dog after cutting her abdomen open, I would NOT go to that vet. It is not fair to the dog. They cannot tell you when they are in pain.

Yep!

[Sweet Apple]

I don't plan to breed Apple, however, she's 2 lbs. 14 oz. at just under 4 months old, and I wonder if she will ever weigh enough to be safely spayed...What weight do ya'll think is a reasonably safe weight to have a yorkie spayed?...I did lose a miniature dachshund to mammary cancer (that was not spayed) @ 13...My previous dachshund lived to be 17 (and not spayed), but died of tooth pulling complications...Neither dog was ever bred...Penny just never healed after a tooth extraction, even w/antiobiotics, etc...I'm really looking for really good information about spaying Apple...My hope is that she gets to a weight of 4 lbs., before I even consider it...Have many of you had 4 lb. yorkies spayed? Also, at what age do yorkies seem to reach their top weight? Thanks.....
Maggie & Apple
xoxox

[phfgkl]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

I agree.
Keeping a dog overnight after surgery unsupervised is asking for disaster.
There are many 24 hour vets that an owner can use if they aren't comfortable bringing home their pup that night. I think it's a very unsafe practice.





If a vet did not give me pain medications fror my dog after cutting her abdomen open, I would NOT go to that vet. It is not fair to the dog. They cannot tell you when they are in pain.

I have had 3 different vets(I have been very comfortable with all 3 of them), none of them have ever given pain meds. Out of all my surgeries, I have taken pain meds twice, One was after a tummy tuck years ago(and then I only took them a couple days), and the other time after I cut a finger off. I have had all my girls(except the one) spayed, and by the time they've come home the next day, they've been pretty much back to normal. None of mine also have ever messed with stitches to where they've had to have onesies put on or anything else. They say dogs feel pain differently than humans, and after seeing our golden retriever getting run over by our truck, I do believe this. She was in pain right after, we took her to the vet thinking we would probalby lose her, by that afternoon she was back home, playing, running, etc.

[bjh]

I have had a number of females spayed over the years and only one vet gave pain medicine after surgery but none ever sent me home with pain medicine. I think the side effects of the pain medicine often cause more problems like loss of appetite and vomiting.

[Ellie May]

And that is everyone's right to choose a vet that does not give them...

What I am saying is that I would not allow anyone to cut my dog open without pain management unless that pain medication was likely to cause a severe problem (which isn't normally the case). Dogs may feel pain differently but they definitely still feel it. There have been studies done showing that dogs heal faster when they aren't in pain. In a human hospital if a woman had a hysterectomy, pain medications would certainly be offered.

While there are a lot of vets that do not give them, there are a lot of vets that do. Even with Ellie's liver issues, her vet still wanted her on something after her spay and liver biopsy, so we went with something different instead of an NSAID and she was still in pain. I can't imagine not giving it at all even if the dog acts normal. Some dogs hide pain and nobody really knows what they're feeling.