Pros/Cons for spaying 8 yr old?

[mypuppyJack]

This incredibly sweet 8 yo female was recently surrendered. My friend is interested in her- and if that doesn't work out she may end up here because she is just sweet as honey- that's her name actually.
My vet (who is over 70 yrs old) said not necessary to spay at her age- I have never had an intact female so what are the benefits or risks at this age?
Seems healthy otherwise but will be getting bloodwork and shots. No history on her except looks like she was bred and she seems a bit thin.
Thanks

[buckaroo]

Yes, spay! She can get pyometra at any age.

[GoingPostal]

Yes, spay! She can get pyometra at any age.

x2, my b/f family's 13 or so year old basset just got pyo and an emergency spay, they almost lost her and paid a fortune.

[AllisonPibbleLvr]

x3. Better now at 8 than later at 12 when it's an emergency and she has a uterus full of pus.

[mypuppyJack]

Yikes!
Don't want pyometra happening to the old gal!
Definitely will get spayed- seems like the risks of not spaying outweigh the risk of the surgery now while she is healthy- soon as her bloodwork is done

[Sarah]

what everyone else said: better to spay a healthy 8-yr-old than an old gal with pyo.

[Misskiwi67]

1 in 4 dogs will get a pyometra by the age of 10 unless spayed. I don't understand why any vet would say to leave her intact. This would make me question this vets comfort level with senior pet anesthesia and surgery as well, so take care in choosing her surgeon.

[geckogirly]

1 in 4 dogs will get a pyometra by the age of 10 unless spayed. I don't understand why any vet would say to leave her intact. This would make me question this vets comfort level with senior pet anesthesia and surgery as well, so take care in choosing her surgeon.

-Andrea

[pblove]

I know two dogs that pyo'd the past 2 weeks, both are now spayed and lucky to still be here.
glad your going for the spay

[mypuppyJack]

1 in 4 dogs will get a pyometra by the age of 10 unless spayed. I don't understand why any vet would say to leave her intact. This would make me question this vets comfort level with senior pet anesthesia and surgery as well, so take care in choosing her surgeon.

Yes I don't think he is comfortable with senior anesthesia. He has a younger vet that works with him and I wou ld have him do the surgery. My vet guessed she was closer to 10 yo.

[mypuppyJack]

I know two dogs that pyo'd the past 2 weeks, both are now spayed and lucky to still be here.
glad your going for the spay

Scary! Again thanks everyone for confirming the right thing to do. Uncharted territory for me as I never adopted a senior and never had an intact animal that was older than 6 mos

[MarMar]

Agree, 8 yo is not that old, and with a knowledgeable anesthetist and proper protocols she'll be fine. My old girl Dolly was not spayed but she was between 15-17 when I adopted her, she lived another 2.5 years and I am still amazed she never got pyo, she would not have survived the surgery I don't think.

[mypuppyJack]

Agree, 8 yo is not that old, and with a knowledgeable anesthetist and proper protocols she'll be fine. My old girl Dolly was not spayed but she was between 15-17 when I adopted her, she lived another 2.5 years and I am still amazed she never got pyo, she would not have survived the surgery I don't think.

What a grand age she lived!

[Misskiwi67]

Agree, 8 yo is not that old, and with a knowledgeable anesthetist and proper protocols she'll be fine. My old girl Dolly was not spayed but she was between 15-17 when I adopted her, she lived another 2.5 years and I am still amazed she never got pyo, she would not have survived the surgery I don't think.

Meh, we do surgery for tumors etc on dogs 12 and older all the time. Its sad sometimes how the general public thinks pets will die under anesthesia after 10 years of age. Dental procedures require much longer anesthetic than most surgeries, and we perform these on senior dogs every day. Unless she was quite obese, the spay should not have been a problem for her. I'm glad to hear she did so well though, and obviously it was a good choice for your dog.

Dogs can handle much more than we give them credit for. Unless there is significant heart disease present, I cannot think of any otherwise healthy animal of any age that I would not be comfortable anesthetizing, even for a prolonged period of time. This is because we have excellent trained monitoring staff, quality monitoring equipment including ECG and blood pressure, and very up to date anesthetic protocols. If you have the tools and training, senior anesthesia is not much different than young pet anesthesia.

One thing to note, I would not recommend senior anesthesia be done anywhere that does not utilize (not just have, but USE) blood pressure monitoring and does not catheterize and provide IV fluids under anesthesia for senior pets.

[Murfins]

I agree with Misskiwi - I've had surgeries done on multiple animals over 10 years of age, including a cat who needed to have ALL of her teeth removed at the age of 18 years old (it took us a couple months after adopting her to get her infection under control and then we did all the pre-surgery work ups like blood and she a specialist/team to perform/monitor her) but age really shouldn't be a reason not to do surgery, not at all, imo.