Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have a 6 year old American Bulldog who has had a phantom pregnancy & I don't want her to have to go through that again. But I have people telling me conflicting information about her being too old, the effects of anesthesia & problems that can come after. I don't know what to do?? Any advice is welcome.
I'm sure your vet can discuss all the particulars with you. IMHO, I don't think your bulldog is too old to be spayed. My Boston Terriers have been under anesthesia several times at ages 10 and 11. Todays anesthesia protocols are very safe and do ask for all the details from your vet. Mine has a tech whose only job is to monitor the vitals of the animal during surgery. I usually go for the bells and whistles...do have a senior blood panel run beforehand.
I have a 6 year old American Bulldog who has had a phantom pregnancy & I don't want her to have to go through that again. But I have people telling me conflicting information about her being too old, the effects of anesthesia & problems that can come after. I don't know what to do?? Any advice is welcome.
Spaying will eliminate some other potential problems.
I adopted a dog who was certainly over ten. She was spayed with no problems. Talk to your vet.
I have a 6 year old American Bulldog who has had a phantom pregnancy & I don't want her to have to go through that again. But I have people telling me conflicting information about her being too old, the effects of anesthesia & problems that can come after. I don't know what to do?? Any advice is welcome.
If you look up Canine Pyometra you will find that about one quarter of intact female dogs are at risk for this life threatening uterine infection. As far as I know, spaying is the only way to ensure that this won't happen to your girl. Any surgical procedure carries some amount of risk, but she will never be in better shape to handle the anesthesia and recovery than she is right now.
In the five years that I was a vet tech, I recall a couple of times when we had to do a spay on a dog with pyometra. That was a high risk surgery on a patient weakened by infection, but the only way there was to save the dog's life.
My final suggestion is that when you are considering medical options for your dog, only pay attention to the opinions of veterinary professionals. Friends and family and forum members may be well meaning, but they are not qualified to guide you in these important decisions, and you will only become more anxious as you get conflicting advice. Get at least two opinions from vets you respect and go with what they recommend.
I have a 6 year old American Bulldog who has had a phantom pregnancy & I don't want her to have to go through that again. But I have people telling me conflicting information about her being too old, the effects of anesthesia & problems that can come after. I don't know what to do?? Any advice is welcome.
Mine had no problems when she was spayed at 6. It of course depends on the health of the individual dog. If the vet says it's fine, I'd spay her. I've had dogs who were much older than 6 have no issues with anesthesia. I wouldn't worry about what "people" say.
I just want to chime in here quickly, because recently I was looking through these forums when contemplating spaying my 16 year old chihuahua toy fox terrier/ chihuahua. She had an open pyometra infection, which can only be treated by emergency spay operation. Our vet said we could either get the surgery that day or euthanize her. While my dog is very old, she still runs around, enjoys food and life. At the same time the risk of such a surgery, the anesthesia, and her extremely old age made us think there was no way she would survive surgery. I couldn't find any cases online of a dog that old surviving, my vet was remaining neutral, and friends and family were split. Long story short, I decided it didn't seem like her time to go and went forward with surgery. I dropped her off, the surgery went well, and picked her up the same day. She rested and took medication for about a week. Now, 3 months later she runs around like a greyhound, plays with other dogs, and is full of life. I just had a feeling it wasn't her time to go, and obviously this situation could have been very rare and may not be the same for everyone. I just wanted to share a success story for those who are in the shoes I was in not too long ago.
As a Retired Breeder I can tell you That's BS. This time False Pregnancy NEXT time could be Uterus Infection that Either an Expensive ER Spay. Or Put her to sleep!
I just want to chime in here quickly, because recently I was looking through these forums when contemplating spaying my 16 year old chihuahua toy fox terrier/ chihuahua. She had an open pyometra infection, which can only be treated by emergency spay operation. Our vet said we could either get the surgery that day or euthanize her. While my dog is very old, she still runs around, enjoys food and life. At the same time the risk of such a surgery, the anesthesia, and her extremely old age made us think there was no way she would survive surgery. I couldn't find any cases online of a dog that old surviving, my vet was remaining neutral, and friends and family were split. Long story short, I decided it didn't seem like her time to go and went forward with surgery. I dropped her off, the surgery went well, and picked her up the same day. She rested and took medication for about a week. Now, 3 months later she runs around like a greyhound, plays with other dogs, and is full of life. I just had a feeling it wasn't her time to go, and obviously this situation could have been very rare and may not be the same for everyone. I just wanted to share a success story for those who are in the shoes I was in not too long ago.
WOW Glad to hear she doing Fantastic!!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
