Please Help: Considering GDV Surgery!! - Page 1

Hi all,

I am a first time dog owner and I have a beautiful German shepherd puppy named Khaleesi. She is almost 7 months and is getting spayed tomorrow. Last night my vet suggested surgery for GDV/dog bloat.

This would be during her spay appointment. We wanted to ask you guys for some advice.

Should we do the surgery? Or should we not?

All feed back is welcome! Just want the best for my girl.

In case you want the best for your girl you should wait with spaying until she is ( -/+ ) 15 months old, right now she is too young. She needs way more time to develop mentally and structure wise.
About the "bloat surgery" - I am not sure about the sense or nonsense, but a gastopexy is no big deal, so maybe I´d do it ( I lost 2 dogs due to bloat during the decades ).

Whoa, before we worry about bloat, let's worry about pediatric spay! She is WAY too young to be spayed. If your vet thinks otherwise, you need a new vet. If you want the best for her, you'll research the issue and ask your vet some hard questions about their knowledge of early spaying and neutering and the horrible consequences. NO large breed puppy should be spayed or neutered prior to 2years. Asking about a gastropexy at the same time is either nice or money-hungry but I don't have enough info to say, LOL. If it's barely any extra (since they're in there anyway), I would do it when I spayed her (NOT TOMORROW!) if her bloodlines are high risk. If it's a lot more money, it's just a "tack-on" (get it? LOL) to get more money out of you.

If you cannot deal with heat cycles for whatever reason (they are really not a big deal), then consider an OSS (ovary-sparing spay) where she gets to keep the hormones that are so vital to her continued growth and maturity, then if you must, spay her when she is much older. If your vet is giving you the usual sell they'll mention cancer. Well, what about the fatal cancers that are far more prevalent in spayed and neutered animals? As far as mammary tumors, there is little distinction in the articles commonly cited between malignant and benign; we are led to believe that this is a huge problem and dogs are dropping dead right and left from mammary cancer. If you really look at the facts, it's simply not true. Yes, intact females are more likely to get mammary tumors, however, over 50% are benign. I have known 2 dogs die from mammary cancer and they were both SPAYED Goldens. Cancer, like in humans, has a genetic component. I would worry far more about developmental growth disorders caused by early spaying, behavioral issues, spay incontinence, osteosarcoma, lymphoma, and a host of endocrine problems associated with losing hormones prematurely than I would about mammary tumors later in life. Keep in mind, most of these are showing up when the dog is senior aged. 

Here, from a vet I used to go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enPCZA1WFKY  She talks about her experience with her own patients spayed and neutered young. It's 25 minutes long but WELL worth the watch. 

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

 

Please, please, wait until your dog is physically and mentally mature before removing her reproductive system. Until then, like I said, if you cannot keep her supervised or can't handle the heat cycles, get the OSS so you don't have to worry about pregnancy or bleeding. 

 

 

Please listen to both Susie and Jenni...They are telling you the truth...Vets are now a days in the market to make money...If you can find a good one that does things for the good of the dog...You've found a Gold Mine...

Medically you do not need to have her fixed now (this early in life)...if at all...

As for tacking the stomach...It's actually a good idea to help your dog from having Bloat...But you don't need to do it this early either...and there are many things you can learn to do to help prevent your baby from having this problem...Read and Ask questions about how to help prevent it and be informed...

Are you planning on doing any sort of work with her? Or basically a house pet/home protector/companion?

~Bob~

Was there GDV bloat before kibbles were invented?

To OP, I'd suggest you to change your vet just because he didn't warn you about the consequences of early spaying.

@Swarn - unfortunately, yes ! But I suspect it has become more common since the invention of kibbles.

Just as GDV has always been with us, but more and more prophelactic 'tacking' is being suggested nowadays.

I sure hope she sees this post before spaying!
PLEASE, for the love of God, or whoever you believe in, DO NOT SPAY HER....yet!
Vets piss me off so much. Just like they push yearly vaccines too. Ugh. Sickens me.

I just wish that more people...New pet owners...would take the time to investigate what they're doing before they do it...
I would highly suggest that they use all the investigative tools available to them including finding some local people they can be-friend and get advice from...
I was brought up to believe what doctors and vets told you but today I don't believe in that...Now-a-days I question everything before I do anything...except in emergencies...
I would certainly check with Working dog people including Working Dog Clubs and even ask your local Police K-9 Depts to see what vets they use and to ask questions...
It seems today that doctors and vets are more into making money then doing the best for us and our pets...

~Bob~

A gastroplexy during a spay will save you the additional expense and stress on the dog from a second procedure later.  Four of my 6 GS have had gastroplexies-the first during the surgery for GDV, two while under going foreign object removal and the fourth was voluntary prevention.

The  local  emergency service quoted thousands for a voluntary procedure where one of my local vets charged a few hundred.

Things to consider:

1. Recogniting the signs of GDV

2. Ability to access emergency services-it is a life/death situation

3. Whether you would be present should GDV occur.

Tacking is supposedly becoming common for working K9s & MWDs. 

In support of veterinarians, I don't believe most are just interested in making money. I think the push for early spay and neuter by veterinarians and animal shelters is based on concern for the major problem of overpopulation resulting in animals languishing in shelters, many of whom are euthanized. Also it is an easier operation in a younger and smaller animal. That said I do believe a client should be given information about the potential complications of early spay or neutering. I personally think for a puppy with a responsible owner who will prevent the dog from reproducing, the best choice is to wait until 18 mo - 2 years of age for all the reasons already mentioned. My veterinarian who I trusted did not discuss any pros or cons with me and my dog was spayed around 6 months of age before her first heat. In fact the veterinary hospital pushed a puppy health program which included all vaccinations and well visits for the first year and a marked reduction in the cost of the spay/neuter if done within 6 months of signing up. A year after being spayed my dog developed urinary incontinence and is now on Proin for the rest of her life. If I had known about the downside of early spay, I would definitely have chosen to wait until she was 2 years of age.