Spaying Questions
 

I called the vet today to ask about Mia's spay, thinking we would schedule it in a couple of months and they told me that they can spay her next week :eek: :eek: Mia is 17 weeks, and 5 lbs. Should we get her spayed right away? Any pros and cons of waiting until she is 6 months? Any issues I should be aware of? Any special conditions regarding Yorkies that I should be concerned about?
I would appreciate any experiences, or wisdom that you guys would choose to share.
Thank you!

most vets dont want dogs to experience their first heat anymore.

As long as your vet is comfortable performing a spay at that age, then it should be perfectly fine! Just make sure they use isoflourine gas anesthetic and not some other kind. The isoflourine is the safest for our little babies.

I would wait untill shes 6 months but thats just me. My Vet wouldnt do it before 6 months. I worry abut young ones like her going under anesthia

If you decide to wait you could tell the you want to wait to see if she needs baby teeth pulled and have it done at the same time.

That is a great point! I'm going to try to wait as long as possible to get Hootie spayed. The last thing I want to do is have her go under twice! I want those baby teeth gone at the same time as her spay!

There are benefits...younger dogs recover from both the anesthisia and the surgery itself quicker, for one. Also, the risk of mammary cancer at a later stage in life is reduced greatly if females are spayed before their 1st heat. Also, the surgery is less "invasive" because there is less fat tissue to work around during the surgery.

I also however understand that it is scary to think about an adult Yorkie having to have surgery, much less a baby!:eek: :( I think most importantly, you just need to make sure that your vet is completely comfortable and experienced with performing an early spay and that YOU are comfortable with your vet.:)

i was comfortable with 6 months to spay lexi....

My girl was just spayed 2 weeks ago, ( she just had her stitches removed on Sunday) she was 6 and a half months old. My vet does not spay or neuter under 6 months. however when i first got her i took her to this different vet for a check up (didn't like them so i switched) and they said they can do it as early as 5 months.

If you wait till 6 months more of her baby teeth can fall out so then the vet bill will be alittle less also cuz less teeth will have to be pulled. (Rylie only had 1 baby tooth pulled.

I guess it all depends on the vets prefference.:)

Spay
 

I intend to wait until Little Bit is at least 6 months to have her spayed. She is just a little over 2# at 4 months and I would really prefer her to be larger for the surgery. Also I read an article that a vet had written about it being better for the dog to finish growing before she was spayed. I surely hope no one asks me for details but it was something about the hormones signaling the growth plates when to stop growing and if they were spayed too early they would be taller. I don't know if that makes sense but I did read it somewhere. Take it for what it is worth - which may be nothing.

There has been a lot of changes in the area of when to spay and neuter your pets lately. It has now been proven that if you spay your dog or cat before their first heat they have zero chances of ever developing breast cancer. The surgery is also a lot less invasive and pups and kittens recover faster than adult dogs do. I help run the program Spay Today at Briggs Animal Adoption Center and some of our vets will spay/neuter any animal as long as it is atleast 8wks and weighs 2lbs. But the choice is always ultimately up to you. I would follow your gut and go with what you're most comfortable. Do some more indepth research into the topic and once you've got all your bases covered you can determine which direction you want to go.

My opinion- I personally go for the early spay/neuter. Especially at 4 months she's definately good to go. At Briggs all animals that enter our facility are spayed and neutered as early as the 8wks/2lbs point and we have had no fatalitys or issues. The only reason I waited until 6months to neuter Harley was because I had to wait for his testicles to completely drop before they could do the surgery. But like I said, go with your gut instinct.