A few more neutering questions

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

I'm planning on neutering yogi at exactly 4 months old. There seems to be differing opinions on when it should be done.. Anyone do it this early? He is a mini.

Also they want $67 to do a preliminary "test" to see how he tolerates anesthesia. Should we do this?

Lastly, my vet says he won't need a cone as he ties the sutures so they are inside. Does this work?

Comments, opinions? It's $219 not including the extra testing.

[Missy]

I don't have any expertise on age of pup and neutering, we just did it when our vet said it could be done and before the timeline of breeder which was 6 months.

We did pay the extra funds for the 'pre-testing' and ours was $99.00.  I too was a bit shocked at all the extra fees on this procedure. But the way I looked at it was the testing also provided a base line for the pup in the next year if something was to go wrong, so it's not just a one time lab fee. Go with what makes you comfortable!

We also didn't have to use a cone. I watched our boy like a hawk for three days to make sure he didn't lick the area, and he healed up great within 1 week.

best of luck!! and I assure you, the vet expenses go down after this!!

[Stephanie and Ragley]

We just got our 4 yo pyrenees spayed and she had the same type of sutures where they were on the inside. The vet said we would only need a cone if it seemed like she was licking the area excessively, but she really wasn't too interested in it so we didn't get one. Yogi may not either. They didn't do a preliminary test on Bella, but I think it would be worth it just to make sure Yogi doesn't have any adverse reactions during the surgery. Our vet explained pricing for the procedure as more expensive the bigger the dog is, so $219 seems expensive to me but it may just be our area. Our pyrenees' spay was less than $200 and she is about 110 lbs.

[Linda And Loo]

Loo is a mini female. I had her spade at 5 months. I did not want her to go into heat before she was spade. She had a blood work up before she was spade. It was a to give the vet a baseline but also to show if there was some hidden problem for an otherwise healthy puppy. I thought it was a good fee. I have had 4 different dogs spade and none of them wore a cone. Loo and RB did very little licking. Their sutures were on the inside. Just watch Yogi and if the licking is obsessive then you can get a cone for him. There has been so many improvements over the years that I feel like the recovery for the dogs is so much easier than it was 15 yrs ago! Hang in there! It is not as bad as you think it will be!

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Our Vet suggested spaying/ neutering between 4 -6 months. In fact, prices went up after the 6 month mark. We chose to spay Enzo at 5 months. The blood work is a great idea, as it is a one time thing and provides a base line for any future procedures. After age 5, they do a more in depth blood work.

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

We got Hurley at 3 months. His breeder had already neutered him.  So I would assume age is not that much of an issue.

[Kris and Sawyer]

We waited until six months old. I read that it was better to wait so their personalities would develop. I'm sure there are differing opinions. We did not do the preliminary bloodwork. Our vet said with young dogs there is a very low chance of anything being wrong and that they monitor them the whole time while under anesthesia. I think I would do it if I had an older dog. Sawyer had internal stitches too and the vet said cone for 2 weeks.

[Anita - Thunder, Noodle, Sparky]

We waited until 6 months for our last dog because our vet wanted his personality to develop. And boy did it ever!!!! I am glad that I waited for sure! I have never heard of pre-testing. 

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Thanks everyone for your input! It's so nice to be able to run my concerns by you guys. You always have
great answers.