Tooth extraction with Spay?
 

I thought I'd ask you guys about this because I'm curous as to how often this occurs. When I had my first yorkie spayed, the vet had tried to reach me while she was still under anestesia because she had some baby teeth still in. I wasnt; able to call her back until about an hour later to give her an ok to extract them but by that point she was out of anestesa already and it was too late. About 6 months later the vet told me that she had one baby tooth remaining and recommend that we have it extracted which we did.
Now we have our two puppies which will be getting spayed in a month. She is already asking us ahead of time if she should check for baby teeth and extract if they are there.
Is this the norm? Do yorkies tend to keep their baby teeth longer than they should? I hate having to put them through anything extra if i don;t need to...but then again I also don't want to put them under anesthesia in the future a 2nd time if those darn baby teeth stay in like the one did for my little Belle.
Thoughts? What have your experiences been?

Jasmine had 5 that needed to be pulled when she was spayed.

I think a lot of Yorkies retain baby teeth so if they're going to be under for the spay/neuter anyway might as well have it all done at once. Doesn't add much to the anesthesia time and it's a whole lot better (and cheaper) to do just one surgery than two separate ones.

I wanted to add that it could also depend on how old the pups are when they get spayed. Chuy, my former foster yorkie, was neutered at 4 months, too early IMO. He still had lots of baby teeth at that point. If he were neutered a bit later, say about 8 months, the vet would have had a better idea of what wouldn't come out at that point. he's basically got double teeth now and bad breath. :(

Hot Rod had 14 teeth removed at the time of his neuter. Maggie had about 5 teeth removed at her spay. I think it is better to have it done if it is possible so they don't have to have 2 procedures. Good luck with your little ones spay. :)

They are both going to be around 6 months when they get their spay. I wonder if I should hold off another month to see if any remaining baby teeth stragglers fall out? or is 6 months a good age for both the spay and the baby teeth?

I noticed the bulk of Uni's baby teeth falling out was right around 6-7 months. I would wait a few more months, but that's just me. Your vet would know best. :)

Yeap, Zhoie had 13 teeth with spay and umbilical hernia repair at that time too.

Bailey just got spayed on wednesday and I told them to extract any baby teeth she still had as she is now 1 year old.. they had to pull out 2 of them...he said it is good to do it before it is to late as the adult tooth was growint in an angle and could hurt her in the futur. :)

Sophie was spayed around a year and she still had some baby teeth right up to that, but luckily they came out before the spay.

Regarding spay sx, the older, the bigger, the better. Is your vet experienced with small dogs and/or Yorkies?

and general Yorkie surgery info:

Yorkshire terriers (as a breed) are sensitive to Anesthesia (especially those weighing 4.5 pounds or less). Only use gas inhalants isoflurane or sevoflurane. They recover from it faster. You may have to request and/or insist this be done, and the vet may want to charge you more because it's more expensive. They may have an allergic reaction to anesthesia. Discuss this with your vet, so that they can be prepared. There are many breeds of dogs and vets sometimes forget which ones have which problems.

Spaying a female dog is a major abdominal surgery as opposed to a neuter, where the incision goes only skin deep. Gas inhalants iso or sevo only. Spaying and neutering dogs will prevent cancers later in life, ie prostrate, mammary tumors, and pyometra (infection of the uterus). It helps with behavioral issues also.

Spaying and neutering used to be done when the pet was a year old. They changed this because many dogs were becoming pregnant in their first heat, and owners would forget to schedule the surgery. So to avoid many unwanted puppies, they started to do these surgeries earlier. It is okay and safer to wait until your pup is older.

Have pre-op bloodwork done. This checks the overall health of your dog, esp check the liver enzymes. If they are high, your vet may cancel the surgery. The liver is what removes the anesthesia from the dog. If these enzymes are high, this could indicate a liver problem, and make recovery difficult or impossible. This problem will need to be resolved before surgery or dental treatments. If you can not afford to have the bloodwork done, don't have the surgery done. Save your money until you can do the bloodwork. It is that important.

Do not combine surgeries. You don't want to keep a dog under anesthesia for too long of a time. Multiple short surgeries are safer than one long one. Pulling a few retaining baby teeth is fine, and it depends how the dog handles the anesthesia as to whether your vet feels confident and comfortable with adding on another procedure.

Please do not assume your vet knows everything. Nothing against vets, but sometimes they get busy. If your chart has a big sticker on it that says 'anesthesia sensitivity' or allergies, it will get noticed, and special procedures for Yorkies should be followed. Ask your vet if they have experience with small dogs, Yorkies in particular and what special procedures they have in place for small dog surgery? What precautions do they take to insure a successful outcome? If they think you are being overprotective or weird, I would find another vet.

Missy had 5 removed during her spay. I voiced my concerns to my vet about not wanting to pull the teeth if they may come out on their own eventually. She assured me that they can tell if the teeth will come out on their own or not.

How old was Missy and how much did she weigh when she was spayed?

I have their next appointment this Monday afternoon so I'll be asking some more questions.

I take my pups to a doctor that specializes in small animals and is part of a veterinary medical center. I can't find the paperwork right now for Belle's spay but I do recall having to do pre-op bloodwork and paying extra for using a gas inhalent. I remember them telling me about the table that the dogs are on which is warmed to help keep their body temp up.
I recall being very impressed with their procedures and he precautions they took when Belle went in for her spay.

I think I just feel more nervous about my pups this time because they are so much smaller than my first one and the loss during a spay that someone on YT recently had is also weighing on my mind. Its amazing how quickly and strongly we get attached to our fur-babies.

I just weighed Belle and found she is closer to 7 1/2 lbs. My pups are currently charting to be around 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 lbs as adults. At their last appt a couple weeks ago, one was just shy of 3lbs and the other was 3 1/2. I assume they will be around 4lbs if I go ahead and have them spayed around their 6 month mark.

I think I'll go ahead and have her do the extractions, if necessary, but I'm also going to ask her if it might better to wait a month and do the spay at 7 months to give the pups more time to lose those baby teeth.

Thanks so much for the info!!!

Same here.... I agree.

Armani also had teeth extracted during her spay to minimize the number of times she would be exposed to anesthesia.

Zoey had lost most of her baby teeth by the time she went in for the spay. She had the spay 2 weeks ago at 6 mos and 1 day and they removed her 4 baby eye teeth (cuspids or canine teeth) and the adult ones were already there. We did do ALOT of teeth brushing (which she loves) the two weeks prior since she was beginning to lose the baby teeth and this helped her alot.

Hmm. I never thought about tooth brushing. I think I'll start to do that often and see if its helps. Thats a good idea. thanks!

She was about 6.5 months old and had *just* hit 3 lbs.

Hey there .....you asked a good question. Yorkies are known for sometimes not losing their baby teeth - My oldest Chanel had a perfect bite - never needed extractions but Cheri had the 'double' row of teeth as a puppy and had 6 pulled during her spay

It's good to have them pulled because they can throw off the bite and also cause tooth decay.

baby teeth
 

my yorkie needs a baby tooth remove i don't to put him to sleep .he is three years old

Great info....
I had two of Bra'Tac's removed with neuter. It went well, but we also had blood work done before hand.

All of mine had to have teeth extractions when they got spayed & neutered. Play tug of war w/them...it pulls out teeth. Also give them hard chews like bully sticks, antlers, Himalayan Chews. Couple came out for us...saved $12 per teeth for extractions Lol! I've also used a wash cloth to remove two of Mimi's baby teeth. Don't wiggle, just pull down & out.

aaaaahhhhhh! I remember that feeling when I was a kid! *shivers*

OK so it sounds like we better start working on some more tug of war and buy some of those bully sticks, himalayan chews, etc.
Where is the best place to buy those for the best price? quality?
I was going to put in an order with PetEdge soon for some supplies so I might see if they carry them.

Hopefully, they are doing well at yanking out their own teeth because since I have three and two are puppies it seems like tug o war is the norm around here these days. No toy is better then the toy someone else has. :) LOL.
Not sure why I thought Santa should bring triples of a couple of their toys since its usually just one that all three want to play with at the same time.

Tug of war is great...one of their baby teeth fell out while I was playing w/them.:D You can get Himalayan chews from Ryan (RBD911): http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...dog-chews.html
Mine love these & they don't have that funky stink like bully sticks & it doesn't get as messy.

I just sent Ryan a PM. These looks like a great idea. I like the not as messy part :)
Thanks!!!

i just had macy at the vet last night for a pre-spay check up,
she is 9months old and still has two baby teeth that they advised me to have taken out while she is been spayed,they told me its really common in the breed and if they are still therew at 9months they are unlikely to fall out at this stage,im worried she will be in pain after words but i suppose if she was ok with all her other teeth falling out this should be no different :p