Spaying tinies...
 

Okay, I need to make Chloe's appt to be spayed this month. I REALLY don't want to. She's just SO tiny.

She'll have to stay overnight, totally unsupervised. No one goes in at all. I hate that!!! :cry8: :cry8: :cry8:

She's barely over 2lbs and is just 5 months old, but the vet told me that this is the time to do it (before 1st heat) between 5 - 6 months.

Ugggh.

I've got the phone here, but I really don't want to make the call.

Have you ever had a tiny puppy spayed - 2lbs or so? How long was the recovery?

I havent but am sure someone on here will be able to answer that for you...good luck!

It will be ok. My anna hasnt gotten spayed but she did have surgery in which she had to stay over night. it was on her eye. she wasnt that old either i had just gotten her. she was arround 16 weeks and only weighed 1.8 lbs. she made it threw just fine. my vet took very good care of her. and i have heard that its is best to spay before first heat i guess so they dont know what they are missing i dont know. but im sure your vet will take good care of your baby.

I Understand Totally
 

Hello

I Just Want You To Know I Really Understand What You Are Going Through. I Too Am In A Similar Dilemma - My Harvey Is 13 Months Old And I Know Everyone Says It Is The Very Best Thing To Do For Him, But He Is Only Tiny Too 3.5 Lb And I Am Sooooo Scared For Him, I Have Put It Off Again And Again. My Vet Advised He Be "done" At About 1 Year Old.

Good Luck With This Difficult Decision - I Must Take Action Myself........

Morgan was spayed at six months and she weighed 2.5lbs at the time. I took here home the same night and she was running around like nothing happened

When she has her spay, please don't let her run around even if she feels good enough to. This is major surgery, just like a human going in for hysterectomy. It's takes long time to heal.

If your dog is not finished teething I would only suggest waiting until you know she is not going to retain any puppy teeth and have to go under again.
I have a tiny and when she was fixed she weighed 2.8 lbs. She did great with her spay and her dental. In fact I had a really hard time keeping her quiet and not jumping the next day:eek:

ask them if you can do this early in the am and pick her up the same day...I'm with you - I don't see any reason she'd need to be alone all night either

If noone is going to be there NO WAY would I leave a tiny that just had surgery. I did not even read that part. My vet let mine come home with me a few hrs after she had woken up.

i totally agree...good suggestion!

Have the Vet. do a pre-test on her to see if she is going to handle the anesthesia.

the vet i took morgan to lets pups go home the same day after a spay or neuter. The ones that don't may do it for a couple reasons. 1) they like to keep the pup on IV fluids after surgery for maintenance, and with the fluids they may or may not have IV drugs (antibiotics, pain meds, pepcid, etc). 2) they do surgerys later in the day because of their appt schedule. 3) a spay is an easy surgery but still the abdominal cavity is opened and organs are taken out. Since its abdominal surgery vets like to keep animals over night even if someone isn't going to be there 24 hrs so that the pup stays in a cage and doesn't move around or get picked up alot. This insures that the pup has nothing to do but sleep (drugs may be given to aid this)

Sometimes the vet or a tech will stop in during the night to check on patients (my vet does this because he owns the practice and lives down the street from it). Other times they will not. its honestly not that big of a deal if they stay overnight. I know it just worries moms and dads because they want their pups home with them.

My maltese is a smaller one too, and she was spayed at around 7 months...She weighed 2.9 lbs, and everything went okay. Make sure your vet does the pre-op bloodwork. Praying for your baby!!

I agree, ask if they can do it early in the morning so that you can bring your baby home at the end of their work day...

I have a question...what is a "pretest"?
I asked the vet if Annie needed bloodwork,
((I too am worried because she is so small.))
The vet said he only does bloodwork on dogs
over 8 years old ((or if they have a medical condition
which would call for it).
He said he will only use "gas" on her as it is safer..
is this accurate and what should I ask to have done.
She seems very healthy.

Kasey

In all honesty, you do not need the 'pre-tes' or pre-op blood work done for a simple procedure. Your vet is right, and most vets only do pre-op blood on older dogs or if there is a known condition(reguardless of age). Now some people here will tell you to get it reguardless because it may find something, but that's not gonna happen 95% of the time. I didn't get it done for morgan when she was spayed at 6 months, weighing 2.5lbs. Most of the vet hospitals i've worked at have been regular clinics and none of them did pre-op bloods on spays and neuters unless there was reason to believe it was needed from past illnesses or other signs, OR if the owner insisted on having it done. The hospital i work at now is an emergency hospital and we do serious surgeries everyday. These surgeries get blood work done because 7 times out of 10, there is something else going on with them internally.

I understand and totally respect your views on this kalina82, many times they will find nothing, thank goodness :) But I would rather be safe than sorry. That's the only reason I suggested it in the first place. Everyone has different views on this.

I can't even tell you how many people have found out that their dogs have liver shunt, or low this, high that during the pre-op bloodwork (even though they had never shown a symptom). I know a few people on YT alone that have found their dogs have issues right before their spay/neuter simply because of the bloodwork. For under $100, you can have peace of mind.

If your vet feels that your baby shouldn't have bloodwork, and you agree with him, then don't get the bloodwork :)

Where I live, all the vets I called include the pre-op bloodwork in the price of the spay/neuter.

Thank you all so much for responding, I am just so worried about her. I'll be a total mess from the time I drop her off until the time she's safe & sound at home.

Heck, I'm already a tearful mess. Chloe's Daddy thinks I've lost my mind :(

How do I know when she's finished? Right now she's still chewing everything like a madwoman...

I'm hoping I can convince them to, but he didn't seem to keen on that idea. :( I'm a university nursing student, so I know what type of care humans need after a hysterectomy...I can't imagine it would be TOO different for a dog.

The only way she can come home that day is if I get the laser spay, but it's a lot more expensive and I just can't afford that...also I don't like the idea of a laser beam touching my baby. Too out there for me. I'd rather go with the tried and true scalpel.

I'll ask about it, thank you :)

i'm in the same boat as you...my maggie is 5 lbs tho. but she is being dropped off in the morning and will have to stay all night. but they do have someone there at night. otherwise, i would have refused to let her stay.

i am opting for the bloodwork. it is only an addition 30 or 35 dollars and to me, it is worth the peace of mind. better safe than sorry. when my 6 year old daughter had surgery at 4 years old, i opted for every pre-test available. you only get one chance with a baby's life...human or not. i personally would rather spend the 30-sum dollars and just have the extra assurance and it is worth it for the safety of my sweetie.

She'll be okay!! Praying that your baby has a safe surgery and a speedy recover!!

Oh sweetie :( I don't even know what to tell you! :( I am just as SCARED as you are - so you are not alone :( My Tatum is 5 months also (well, a few days shy) and is still under 2 lbs and her breeder really wanted me to try and have her spayed by 6 months of age. BUT - I did talk to her and she said that because of her size, if I want to wait a little while longer, that it is fine with her. My best friend came over today and saw her for the first time and just FLIPPED at how small she was. Really, she was very, very surprised. I have sent her pictures...but to see her size in person really freaked her out! She couldn't get over it - and when she picked her up she said she felt like she was holding a newborn kitten :( I told her DON'T SAY THOSE THINGS! She WILL grow! I just know it! She has to :( Because her size just totally freaks me out. I really want her to get to 3 and 1/2 - 3 being the SMALLEST. I really, really hope she does :( Not to mention my best friend just got her second Yorkie (a male) and it is only 4 months old (a month YOUNGER than my Tatum) and he is my Stedman's size - and Stedman is 14 months old and weighs 4 lbs! So that's probably another reason why she freaked out so much lol.

Anyway so enough rambling but I am just as scared as you are girl. I know that I am probably going to have to pop a nerve pill when Tatum goes in because I am going to be so nervous that I'll be shaking! :(

There was just another thread about spaying a tiny one, and it seems everyone is spaying right now, myself included.

My Candee is 2.11 ounces and I just spayed her 3 weeks ago I was also a nervous wreak, but she came out happy as ever and only had a 1/2 inch cut that healed in about a week, and got her stitches out at 14 days later. You can't even tell she had a surgery the scare has vanished and its only been three weeks since the surgery. But, I would say wait until all her adult teeth come in and you see how many baby teeth need to be pulled, otherwise your going to find yourself going through this stress all over again when she has to go under anestisia for dental work. I even paid extra for pain meds and she didn't even need them, the next day she was back to her normal self like nothing ever happened. My bf even joked and said are you sure the vet spayed her, maybe she just made a little cut on her and sewed her up :cool: ..

Your baby will be fine, but I would wait until the adult teeth all come through.

Have you considered waiting until she is a bit older to do the spay? My vet suggested waiting until my two little one were a bit older and more developed/stronger. I followed his advice and waited. Jilly :aimeeyork and Kenzi :aimeeyork were just spayed on Monday, they are in the 3# range and they recovered quickly. Took them in at 8:00 and we brought them home at 3:00. We did canine teeth extractions at the same time.
I do know what you are going through. Good thoughts going your way.

Good luck :) Chloe and I will be praying for you and Maggie...keep us posted!

thank you sweetie!! same here! good luck to you and your baby as well!!!

That's the thing! It's in my contract with the breeder that she has to have it done by 6 months of age, with proof, or the breeder can take her back!!! :( I was going to call & ask her if I could wait a while because of her size, but then when I had her at the vet last week for her last boosters (which were late because of her size...) & because she had a big fall...the vet mentioned scheduling an appt. He wanted to schedule her right then & there!!! I bawled when I got into my car after because it opened my eyes at how soon 6 months is! He said now's the time to do it. Ugh.

We're hoping Chloe makes it to at least 3lbs, too, but I'm not so sure! She was way under 2lbs less than a month ago. I know she hasn't gained anything since we've had her. In fact, she seems to have lost some :( I\'ve been trying to feed her as much as I possibly can without stuffing her poor little tummy too full, but it\'s so hard.

That\'s funny that you mentioned the nerve pills, I told my boyfriend I\'ll need to go to the doctor to get something to knock me right the hell out before we take her in. I\'d prefer to be sleeping/drooling in the corner for the whole time she\'s there than freaking so bad I get to the point of vomiting. Uggh.