Older dog and spaying...
Today was Camber's scheduled spay (she is between 6-8 yrs) and the Vet ran some preliminary tests before the operation and found that she had low sodium. We were presented with either: A: operating on her and taking the chances of complications or B: paying like $350 for test to see why her sodium is low and rescheduling her spay.
We chose B.
She was tested 6 months ago and her blood levels were fine. We hope it is nothing serious, but jeez…
Now I wonder, “Why even spay her?” We made it through two “in seasons” and the second one was no big deal, so why bother? I know everyone says they dogs should be spayed, but we’ve also been told that each year the dog gets older, the more complicated it is to spay her.
Neither of us wants to be bad dog owners, but we also have to be realistic. Why put her in jeopardy (having surgery) for spay when she could be 9 years old this year?
We chose B.
She was tested 6 months ago and her blood levels were fine. We hope it is nothing serious, but jeez…
Now I wonder, “Why even spay her?” We made it through two “in seasons” and the second one was no big deal, so why bother? I know everyone says they dogs should be spayed, but we’ve also been told that each year the dog gets older, the more complicated it is to spay her.
Neither of us wants to be bad dog owners, but we also have to be realistic. Why put her in jeopardy (having surgery) for spay when she could be 9 years old this year?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Erica on
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when i first started this website, my dog was about to have puppies (* it just happened on sunday*) a lot of people scolded me for not spaying my dogs.. i completely understand why people say for it to happen.. completely . but i am just not for it.. i know the surgery is fine for younger dogs like mine.. but i just for some reason dont want to go threw with it with my two dogs.. i am definitely getting the puppies spayed... but i mean your girl is getting older now... if i was in your situation i most likely wouldnt do it.. but thats just me .. and im sure there are plenty of good reason for it.. but she is sooo cute you wouldnt want anything to go wrong. the pups i just had look exactly like Camber :) good luck with your decision
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Permalink Reply by mosesbotbol on
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I think we are responsible and now that we have gone through it twice, it will be easier to deal with in the future. So many get their dogs spayed young, they are unfamiliar with how a dog is in season; as was I until we got Camber.
We put her in heat diaper on as soon as we noticed, and she does not interact with many dogs, and the ones she does are all fixed.
I am fine with not spaying her, but I do not want the wrath of pet owners around world to swarm on me.
As many on the forum, we have gone to great lengths to give our Corgi a happy and safe home.
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UPDATE - Camber's blood work shows she does not have Addisons or Cushings disease. We can schedule her spay, and the Vet was a little taken back when we said we may not spay her. We probably will, but I feel like I am being sold more than getting medical advice.
It’s like the Vet sees us coming and has 1-2 punch all set up. That’s probably not the case, just how I feel…
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Permalink Reply by Sylvia on
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so another good reason so spay/neuter is to get rid of the chance for other diseases later in life?
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Permalink Reply by Butter on
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Just to let you know, we had our 9 year old male neutered right before we adopted him. Even though he was 9 he did really well with the surgery. Was eating a small amount later that day. Didn't have to stay in the hospital overnight. We took possession of him 2 days after his surgery and weren't aware that we should have kept him quiet. We played and walked him a lot and he recovered fine.
I won't give an opinion about whether she should be spayed; just wanted you to know that older dogs can do well with the surgery. Good luck!!
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We got Camber spayed on Tuesday. The operation went well according to the Vet, and then Vet was enamored on how great Camber was and how excellent she is of Corgi. Perfect form, etc… As we are paying, nice to have lip service, but I think it was genuine.
Well, I don’t know if this is because she is an older dog with 2+ litters, but she has a pretty big incision on her belly! Yikes. She was in so much pain, poor little thing. The next day, she was bleeding some, so we brought her to a 24 hour clinic and they gave us some antibiotic and told us to keep her lampshade on 24 hours a day for 10+ days.
As if the pain pills aren’t hard enough for to swallow, now we have to give her an additional pill. We tried pill pockets, crushing pills… none of which work. Now, we are just forcing them down her throat. At least now she is eating. She wouldn’t eat if we mixed in the medicine. She is one picky (formally) you know what! At least I know now her scent is better than I thought. There’s no way of tricking her to take her pills.
She can finally manage her lampshade without too much effort, but it breaks my heart seeing her like that. I wasn’t paying enough attention yesterday and she hopped on our sofa. I do not think that did any damage, but is a big no-no according to the Vet for another week at least. It was my fault, but I think she managed OK.
How long do you think it’ll take for her fur to grow back? Winter is around the corner and she’ll need the extra warmth.
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Permalink Reply by Mariana on
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I'm so relieved that Camber is alright. That was a very brave thing you did taking her to get spayed. I'm sorry you're having so many complications. I had Ofelia spayed on Sept. 16 and her hair still hasn't grown back completely. I'm hoping it will in another month. I got her a sweater just in case. :-)
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Camber, recovering on the couch. She does not have her lampshade on as she is covered in blankets and I was watching her every move. We put it back on when she came off the couch.
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Permalink Reply by Carly & Libby on
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I spayed my dog at age 5. Originally I wasn't sure if I wanted to breed her, and she was in one show. But then I realized that I wasn't going to breed her. They told me she had a higher risk of cancer and that was all. The two positives that came out of it were she didn't try to run off as much, and she didn't go into heat. But otherwise she gained weight, seems to have less energy, and seemed to age faster. I don't know if this is normal, but I feel she was healthier before she was spayed. If I get a new dog, I feel that I should either spay her as a puppy or not spay her at all. I would rather have a healthy dog and deal with her heat cycles.
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I notice Camber does not have as much spunk as she did. She's not as much a "you know what" as she use to be, lol... We both noticed a personaility change, and I am not sure if it's for the better or not. I am not looking at her energy level right now, as we haven't been walking her yet and I assume her lax recovery has added to her laziness. Next week, I'll start bringing her back to her old routine. Her sutures are healing great and we don't have to give her pain medication.
She does seem a little friendlier, but her fickleness was part of her charm.
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Permalink Reply by Gail's Lil' Gizmo on
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hey.. how is camber doing? did she do alright? we were thinking of her. Gail in Florida.
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Thanks for asking and that's so nice that you were thinking of our little Camber!
She is much better now and I would at 100%. She has more energy in backyard than ever. She FRAPS like no tomorrow and will chase me around the perimeter of the house. She is a little more friendly than before, but some of the "you know what-ness" is gone; for good or bad. Her appetite is fine too.
Our health insurance screwed us a little. We paid $460 for the spay. Granted, we went to a fancier Vet, but ASPCA said reasonable cost for a 6+ year old Spay is like $240 and they would only pay 80% on that number...
I guess we should've asked them what a "reasonable cost" was before Spaying. I think out Vet would've worked with us.
Now we know :-( I am gonna make sure we get full use of the policy now.
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