Should I wait any longer for Sarah's surgury

[Tonya]

As some of you know, Sarah was rescued from a puppy mill. She has to have surgury eventually. She needs work done on her tear ducts, extensive dental work, and to be spayed. I've been procrastinating because she is so small. She is now 8 months old and hasn't grown a bit. She still weighs only 2 1/2 lbs. I know Teddy grew quite a bit between 8 months and a year. He gained about 5 more lbs.

Should I wait a little longer to see if she gets bigger, or just take the chance and do it? I'm scared to put her under since she is so small.

[Shelteez2]

What does your vet think?
Keep in mind that many many rescues are doing spays and neuters on 8 week old puppies and kittens with no problems, so her size shouldn't be an issue.

[RobiLee]

I was also wondering what your vet thinks.

Whatever you decide, I'm wishing Sarah all the best.

Robin :)

[Tonya]

My vet says I can do it whenever I'm comfortable with it. He really thinks I should get the dental work done soon though, her teeth are only going to get worse. She is going to have to have a series of surguries pulling teeth as they come in...She has polydontia (same thing Teddy had). I know I probably should, but it just scares me, she seems so delicate.

[Shelteez2]

I'm sure she's sturdier than she seems, especially if you can mistake her for a football ;) :p

Seriously though she must have had her first heat by now right? When was it? I would wait until it was 3 months past that heat and book the spay. They might also be able to do part of the dental work at the same time.

I would then wait at least 6 months before putting her under again. Unless of course the surgery was urgently needed.

[Tonya]

Her heat was last month. He wants to do everything at once so that he only has to put her under once. (If he only wants to put her down once, he's obviously concerned too.)

[Shelteez2]

Ok so I would book it for 2 months from now. That's just me personally, as I would want to get it done sooner rather than later. I would also try and get everything done at once as going under anesthetic is hard on anyone's body of any shape and size.

[Fox-Gal]

If the Vet belives she can handle it and really needs the dental work done soon, then I really think about getting in done, but that's just me. I lost a dog once because I put things off being a worry wart of a mom, so I'm more of a get it done as soon as you can person now. I have to trust that my Vet knows when the right time is better then me sometimes.


As for doing it all at once, I don't belive he said that because he's
concerned too. If he's anything like my Vet, he feels that if you can get away with putting a pet through surgury only once, then do it. Just the fact of putting them under is a risk, as we know, so why take that risk twice if you don't have too.

I wish you all the best what ever you decide to do. In the end I belive it will all work out fine. Fingers and paws crossed here for both of you.

[aly]

I think you should wait until she's bigger. My shelter routinely does spays/neuters at 8 weeks old, BUT kittens have to be at least 3 lbs and puppies have to be at least 5 lbs. If they're not, then we wait longer. She's close to 3 lbs, but I'd still wait a bit.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

I think the sooner, the better. Especially with the tear ducts and teeth as an issue, they can both cause more problems if you wait. Her size shouldn't be too much of a concern, my vet spayed my friends 2 lb. chihuahua. My vet also spays rodents as small as rats and hamsters.

Also considering the fact that you are pregnant and will be moving soon, you may want to do it now. Your life is just going to be getting busier in the next several months.