Can you spay an old dog

While the traditional age for spaying is six to nine months, dogs as young as five months can undergo the procedure. Even if there are some risks with senior dogs, the benefits still outweigh a few risks. With advanced techniques and safer anesthetic drugs, spaying is safe in most dogs , regardless of age. At Care Animal Hospital, bloodwork is required to check if the kidney and liver can tolerate the anesthesia.

Vets are capable of spaying any size of a dog. Size only impacts the procedure in terms of the length of stitching. If you have concerns about the weight, the minimum requirement is two pounds. This means dogs should be around five to eight weeks of age. Veterinarians typically do not recommend spaying while a dog is in heat.

If you proceed, more blood will flow to the uterus during the surgery, which may result in complications. When this happens, males dogs will get very attracted to them, which may result in canine visitors in your yard. If we are able to allow female dogs to get as old as possible, but manage to spay them just before their first heat, this would seem like the ideal situation, but it is tricky to predict when that first heat will be.

Knowing the family history can be helpful, but is still not an exact way to know when the first heat will occur. Facebook Instagram.

For male dogs: The signs of sexual maturity in male dogs include lifting their leg to urine mark even in the house , humping, and overprotectiveness.

When should I neuter my male dog? For female dogs: The signs of sexual maturity in female dogs can have some similarity to the males, but they also will come into their first heat estrous. When should I spay my female dog? Click Here to View All Blogs. Have questions? Please contact us today. Search for:. Follow Us! Is that safe for a dog her age? A: Every dog is an individual, of course, but in general a healthy 7-year-old dog should not have a problem undergoing spay surgery.

There are good reasons to spay your new dog. She is still capable of bearing puppies at her age, and she is at risk for a serious and sometimes fatal uterine infection called pyometra, which can affect older unspayed females. Take her to your veterinarian for a thorough physical. Older dogs may take a little longer to recover, so be sure she has plenty of opportunity to rest and has good pain medications on board.