I desperately need advice

I have a 2 year miniature toy poodle. She's in heat. :(

I've wanted to have her spayed for a year, but I am TERRIFIED something will happen to her during the surgery and she'll die.

Everything I've read says it's healthier to have them spayed. I want to do this, but I am scared. I can't find any info online about how safe the surgery is.

Do dogs die very often during this surgery?

She is my baby. She sleeps with me every night and follows me all over the house during the day. When I go to town---she goes with me. She acts just like a human baby. :)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Your dog has a better chance of dying from disease related to not spaying her, than to die while in surgery. It is a very quick operation, maybe a half hour or so, and not very risky. I highly recommend that if you are worried about her, to make sure they do pre anesthetic bloodwork and have an IV Catheter put in. An IV Catheter is like a portal directly into her vein, so if anything goes wrong they can quickly administer the drugs needed. Out of probably about 150 spays and neuters I've seen, I have seen one die, and it was a cat with low blood pressure. I've never even seen any real problems out of all those either. The only problem I've ever seen was when an unspayed dog got pyometra, which is an infection in the uterus and the uterus filled with pus, and they had to do an emergency spay to save the dog.

Please spay your dog. I had to help put down a dog with mammary cancer the other day, which she probably wouldn't have gotten if the lady had spayed the dog. When asked if the owner had ever been talked to about spaying, she said yes, but I just never "got around to it". :(

Your little angel will be just fine. :) Have no worries! The surgeons know what they're doing. They've done it before. :)

Let us all here at PT know her surgery date if you book her for a spaying, and we'll send all our thoughts and prayers your way!

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Originally Posted by areias

Your dog has a better chance of dying from disease related to not spaying her, than to die while in surgery. It is a very quick operation, maybe a half hour or so, and not very risky. I highly recommend that if you are worried about her, to make sure they do pre anesthetic bloodwork and have an IV Catheter put in. An IV Catheter is like a portal directly into her vein, so if anything goes wrong they can quickly administer the drugs needed. Out of probably about 150 spays and neuters I've seen, I have seen one die, and it was a cat with low blood pressure. I've never even seen any real problems out of all those either. The only problem I've ever seen was when an unspayed dog got pyometra, which is an infection in the uterus and the uterus filled with pus, and they had to do an emergency spay to save the dog.

Please spay your dog. I had to help put down a dog with mammary cancer the other day, which she probably wouldn't have gotten if the lady had spayed the dog. When asked if the owner had ever been talked to about spaying, she said yes, but I just never "got around to it". :(

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Thanks, areias. I copied and saved the sentence about the 'pre anesthetic bloodwork' and 'IV Catheter'. I'll make sure to talk to the vet about these things.

Geez! They can even get cancer from not being spayed? I DID NOT know this. I've also never heard of pyometra. I have a feeling I'm going to learn a lot from this board. ;)

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Originally Posted by BC_MoM

Your little angel will be just fine. :) Have no worries! The surgeons know what they're doing. They've done it before. :)

Let us all here at PT know her surgery date if you book her for a spaying, and we'll send all our thoughts and prayers your way!

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Thank you for the kind words. :)

One of my dogs died last year during surgery because the vet made a mistake.

He's a wonderful, caring man and an excellent vet. I know bad things happen sometimes during surgery, but I can't keep from worrying. :confused:

Please do get your baby spayed! She will be fine and much better for it! ;)

Please get your dog spayed. It is not that risky of a surgery. I recently lost my beloved Mandy (who you see in my avatar) to pyometra. We didn't get her spayed due to a birth defect in her heart and getting her spayed 'was' a risk. Her life expectancy was only 2 to 3 years and she had just passed her 5th birthday. Still, had she not got pyometra she may have lived longer.

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Originally Posted by mypoodle

Thank you for the kind words. :)

One of my dogs died last year during surgery because the vet made a mistake.

He's a wonderful, caring man and an excellent vet. I know bad things happen sometimes during surgery, but I can't keep from worrying. :confused:

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I'm so sorry. :( Accidents do happen, but the chances are so low I rarely worry. Just make sure you get the spaying done a reputable place. Don't forget a SANITARY place, as well.

When we adopted Molly, she hadn't been spayed yet so we had to sign a spaying contract at the Humane Society. At the HS, they have a subsidized spay and neuter program, it's only $20 to spay or neuter.

At that wage, what kind of vet will you get? Kinds that go too quickly, they do so many spaying/neuterings a day that they get careless.

Molly had an infection 4 months after her spaying. She couldn't pee. She had blood and bacteria in her pee; high levels. A few months later, she started lactating (producing milk) and acting like she was pregnant. The vet thinks she wasn't completely spayed.

I wish we had phoned the HS and got them to pay the bills, but I think it's too late now. :(

That's a low-risk worst case scenario, but it was treatable. Incomplete spays are extremely rare.

Thank you all very much for the info. You've helped me make the decision to have my little girl spayed. I'll make an appointment for her as soon as she's no longer in heat.

Please forgive me, but I have just one more question about it:

When I spoke with the vet a few months ago about getting it done, she said my baby would have to spend the night. I said, 'Oh. Will someone be there with her all night?' She said, 'No, but I'll come in and check on her.' :eek:

We've never been away from each other for more than 3 hours. I wouldn't mind her spending the night at the vets if someone was going to be there with her all night. In fact, I would prefer it---just in case something happened. But, if she's going to be left alone ALL NIGHT, she should come home so that I can keep a close watch on her.

Is it common practice to keep dogs overnight that have just had surgery , without anyone to monitor them? Or do some vets let them come home the same day?

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Originally Posted by BC_MoM

I'm so sorry. :( Accidents do happen, but the chances are so low I rarely worry. Just make sure you get the spaying done a reputable place. Don't forget a SANITARY place, as well.

When we adopted Molly, she hadn't been spayed yet so we had to sign a spaying contract at the Humane Society. At the HS, they have a subsidized spay and neuter program, it's only $20 to spay or neuter.

At that wage, what kind of vet will you get? Kinds that go too quickly, they do so many spaying/neuterings a day that they get careless.

Molly had an infection 4 months after her spaying. She couldn't pee. She had blood and bacteria in her pee; high levels. A few months later, she started lactating (producing milk) and acting like she was pregnant. The vet thinks she wasn't completely spayed.

I wish we had phoned the HS and got them to pay the bills, but I think it's too late now. :(

That's a low-risk worst case scenario, but it was treatable. Incomplete spays are extremely rare.

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Thank heavens Molly recovered!

My sister told me about a similar spay/neuter program. I was kind of uncertain of them for the very reasons you mentioned.

BC_Mom is right about being concerned about the low-cost spay/neuter vets, at least in my opinion. At the time, I thought that since this was the operation they specialized in, they had a licensed vet performing the surgery, and they were offering it at a discount, what could go wrong?

We couldn't afford the 'real' vet's price for spaying our 2 dogs, and one ended up having an allergic reaction to the dissolving stitches, and it ended up costing the same, since she was then on prednisone (a steroid) for two weeks and an antibiotic to prevent secondary infection in that area. She had to go have another surgery (unrelated) and I mentioned the allergy to that vet (in case he would be using similar stitches), and he said that the cheap material used in the stitches at the low-cost clinics in our area were much more prone to cause that kind of reaction. I never had a problem with taking my male animals to the less expensive places, but that operation's less complex anyway, and they don't usually get stitched up. For a female spay, I will go to the 'real' vet from now on! Lesson learned!

hi i have a poode also but she has been fixed. i have had that awful fear of loosing her also cause shes pretty much my best friend. you hear so many things good and bad. ive always been told that poodles get breast cancer and that getting them fixed always cuts down the risk. and if theres any way i can keep my girl around longer i will and did. you really have to have alot of faith to me in your vet. your angel will be fine.

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Originally Posted by mypoodle

Please forgive me, but I have just one more question about it:

When I spoke with the vet a few months ago about getting it done, she said my baby would have to spend the night. I said, 'Oh. Will someone be there with her all night?' She said, 'No, but I'll come in and check on her.' :eek:

We've never been away from each other for more than 3 hours. I wouldn't mind her spending the night at the vets if someone was going to be there with her all night. In fact, I would prefer it---just in case something happened. But, if she's going to be left alone ALL NIGHT, she should come home so that I can keep a close watch on her.

Is it common practice to keep dogs overnight that have just had surgery , without anyone to monitor them? Or do some vets let them come home the same day?

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I believe many Vets keep them overnight.Typically spayed in the morning
hours or early afternoon then put in a cage & monitored to see how they
are doing.If there was a problem, they would never be left alone & I'm sure
you would get a call if there was an emergency situation. The pup might
actually rest better at the Vets office than at home.

As usual - this is way harder on the mommies than it is on our fur-babies! :)

Yes, it's a VERY long night...but you can get some special treats for the big welcome home party!

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Originally Posted by mypoodle

Thank you for the kind words. :)

One of my dogs died last year during surgery because the vet made a mistake.

He's a wonderful, caring man and an excellent vet. I know bad things happen sometimes during surgery, but I can't keep from worrying. :confused:

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No wonder you're extra scared then. I would be, too. I know how special our dogs/pets can be to us. She should be fine and she'll be home in no time. Are they even using stitches now? Duke was neutered in TX in 1994 and they even used a lazer then. I thought that was really cool.

When we brought our pets to the humane society to have them spayed and/or neutered, they were kept overnight and we had to bring them back to have stitches removed a week or so after surgery.

When I had Charlie neutered however I dropped him off at 7:30am and my parents picked him up at 5pm. He had dissolving stitches so I did not need to bring him back to have them removed.

Of course, the shelter had low cost spay/neutering so it was less than $100 to have them done, but Charlie's surgery was over $200.

So I would call around to a few vet clinics, ask their policies, talk to some pet owners in your area about their experiences with vet clinics in your area and who they recommend, etc. Always feel free to call the clinic and ask questions, visit the clinic, share any concerns that you have. A GOOD clinic will listen and be more than happy and willing to answer any questions you have, be understanding of any concerns, and never get irritable!