[Trish123]

My little 12 year old baby has had an extended heat and not normal. She has white drainage. Ultrasound was done and there was fluid in the horns of the uterus and small amount in the uterus. I have her scheduled to be spay, but am frightened to death. She's eating, drinking, feeling well other than the on and off drainage. I have been to 4 vets already and have plans with one for the surgery.

Has anyone had their older dog spay and what was it like? She will not be staying and will be going home with me. I don't want her stressed, but she will be. I don't want her beautiful personality to change. Can someone answer my question? Thank you.

 

[MorganE84]

This isn?t an entirely fair comparison but my family adopted a 10 year old Westie that was still intact and he got neutered. He came out of it great and no change to his personality. Still feisty and bossy.

 

[Laco]

I would think she would do fine with the spaying, the issue you should discuss with your Vet is her physical condition and her ability to handle the anesthesia.

 

[Trish123]

Thanks for the reply.

Neutering is a much simpler surgery. But I appreciate your respnse and glad your little one did great!

This isn?t an entirely fair comparison but my family adopted a 10 year old Westie that was still intact and he got neutered. He came out of it great and no change to his personality. Still feisty and bossy.

 

[Trish123]

Thank you

Yes, her health has been perfect. Eating and having number 2s normally. The drainage is making her tired. They did find a low grade heart murmor (never had it before), will have a chest xray before surgery and moreblood work, but vet is not worried about it. I'm still very worried and don't feel comforted. I feel like I'm putting the spay off because I've been told it could wait. It's been almost one month extended heat on & off. The ultrasound showed fluid in the horns of the uterus, and other things, not consistent with pyo. Not a normal uterus or ovaries. Impression was less likely pyometra, but she's been on antibitiotics since then. Every vet said it's not urgent, but have it done because it could change. Now the drainage is not dripping but ever since yesterday has been constant (white, not foul smelling). I may take her to the emergency hospital (been to two already), three vets said the same thing. No temp. I don't know how she will react after the surgery. I feel so awful. Hopefully she'll survive because she is my life. The vet said surgery is surgery, never told me she will be OK, but the vet surgical tech tried to comfort me. Though I think that she was thinking more of a puppy and not my 12 year old. I know, I'm all over the place. I'll update when and if I go this weekend to a new ER. Thank you! I have a new vet and her words did not comfort me, but didn't scare me. onder:

I would think she would do fine with the spaying, the issue you should discuss with your Vet is her physical condition and her ability to handle the anesthesia.

 

[Laco]

My only advice is, if you have, or can find a Vet that you trust, put your baby in his hands and follow his/her advice. There are never guarantees with surgery, whether for people or pets! I completely understand how attached you are to her, we are completely focused on Samantha too.

 

[MorganE84]

No vet is going to give you a guarantee. My 12 year old had an amputation in May and I was terrified. But she came out of it well and recovered beautifully. They took extra precautions bc of age but she did great.

 

[JohnR]

Frankly, it sounds like the spay surgery is a very good treatment option. In your case, I would follow the vet's advice.

 

[PoppyKenna]

My almost 14 year old Aussie was spayed just a couple of weeks ago. She has seizures occasionally in addition to her age, so I was scared to death.

She didn?t have drainage, but she was in heat and bleeding longer than she should have been. She was actually at the vet for a stomach bug (which we now think our other dog had instead) when they said she could have the early stages of pyometra and that we should go ahead and spay her.

The operation wasn?t cheap - if she?d been younger I wouldn?t have cared but due to her age we wanted one of the best in the area. She came through fine though. In fact, she has been perkier - she has some arthritis in a front leg and I think the pain pills they gave took the edge off of that. She?s a trooper for sure.

I?ll be thinking of your pup but I?m sure she?ll be just fine

 

[animalcraker]

Honestly the chances of an open Pyo going bad are probably greater than the chances of the surgery going bad. Since she has a heart condition, definitely get those chest xrays done first. And make sure bloodwork is done prior to survey as well. Both of those will help your vet and his team make more informed anesthetic decisions so they can modify thier protocol to better suit your pet and be prepared for any possible complications.