Spaying with Medical Issues

[GoalieMum]

Looking for any advice. My 7 month old Westie has a hole in the heart and a leaky valve. I have posted about her before.

She is now the age where I am considering spaying. I know the vet will say I should, but I need to understand the risks of the anaesthetic verses the risks of not having her spayed. She has a reduced lifespan anyway, nobody can say what, but I want her to have the longest possible life she can have.

I think you need to have a chat with your vet about the specific risks and what they will do to to minimise risks for her conditon.

I have a dog that has a very serious medical condition and there was a fair chance that the anaesthetic would be very risky to her. She has already exceeded the estimate of her lifespan but I have no idea how long she will live either. She was quite ill after the spay for a few days but luckily was fine.

I chose to because I couldn't deal with seasons, not being able to walk her properly would drive her crazy. I also didn't want to have to do an emergency spey if she was to get a pyometra as my logic was that it's better to do it while she is healthy ish than when she's sick and I have no other option.
I also have seen a few bitches with mammary tumours and the ops tend to be longer as opposed to a quick spay ( she was awake after 30mins!)

I did however speak to the vet about the risks in depth first and was aware that it wouldn't be nice. Glad I did it though!

We spayed our whippet 3 months after heart surgery for pulmonic stenosis which she had done at 9 months of age. We spayed her for the same reasons as greyhorses. The vet felt her heart was in the best co duties it was ever going to be at that point in time. Our vet liaised with her cardiologist who suggested different drugs for the anaesthetic, resulting in a much lighter anaesthetic. She was her normal self from the moment we brought her home that afternoon, compared to our other whippet who barely got out of bed for 2 days after her spay 😂

I would say talk to your vet properly, my lurcher bitch is unspayed because the vet ultimately advised against it she has medical issues that would in his opinion have made it too risky. I had to be guided by his advice ultimately though I wanted her done. He was very good at weighing the risks for me.
It doesn't really cause any issue other than I shut off the field when she's in season so she can exercise off lead but no contact with other dogs, I couldn't have done it if it meant only lead walking, she would hate that and that was a factor I considered. She's now 6 and touch wood has never had a pregnancy scare nor any other health issue.

Thanks for all your advice. I will have a good chat with the vet and see what he recommends. She is currently in the middle of her first season so can't be done for a couple of months anyway.