[Raven's Mom]

I am trying to decide whether or not to have Wren pexied with his neuter. I was originally of the opinion I would definitely do it but his conformation is so very different from Raven’s I am wondering if it is really necessary. I understand the bloat issue to be related to the green based on the deep chest conformation, correct? Ir is it a breed risck even of the dog isn’t very deep chested? Wren is not nearly as deep chested as Raven. I want to do what is best for him but if he is not at as great a risk as Raven I hate to put him through the extra surgery.

Ill try to add pics for comparison.

 

[Raven's Mom]

Of course it didn't work...I almost never get pics to upload to this site. I'll try a different way. Raven is the blue, Wren is black.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[Mufar42]

I considered having it done when I had my Renn neutered. When it came time to do it, I just couldn't. Kind of stupid of me but I found it difficult just to have him neutered. I can hardly stand the thought of them doing more to him. I am pro-active in not allowing him to run for a minimum of an hour after his meals, I always tell him ok time to rest your belly. LOL For years I would not have thought about the vet doing this but in my older age I can't handle it. I'm getting a bit strange. When I first named Renn I also used the spelling Wren but then dropped the "W" and changed it to a double "N". LOL

 

[MaizieFrosty]

I will do it on every spoo I have. If you can lower the risk of torsion, I think it's worth the extra surgery and expense. It was not difficult at all for Frosty to recover, but he had a laparoscopic 'pexy. I was terrified to put him through it, but he did great. And, he was able to exercise 5 days after surgery!!! Easy, breezy.

 

[MaizieFrosty]

For years I would not have thought about the vet doing this but in my older age I can't handle it. I'm getting a bit strange.

I totally hear you on that. I cancelled Frosty's neuter/pexy twice before going through with it! I was really neurotic about it, but all of my poodle friends reassured me he'd be fine.

 

[Mufar42]

That is good to hear MF. Things never bothered me, I'd just do it be done and say I didn't understand why people fuss. Something is different with me and my Renni. LOL I have so many dogs in my lifetime and different breeds.
You think because he is my first poodle LOL Maybe its not my age but him! My husband does say I'm nicer to to Renn then i am to him

 

[MaizieFrosty]

OMG, Mufar, I was the exact same with previous dogs. Thought people on forums asking for thoughts/prayers for their dogs's spays/neuters were nuts. Boy, did things change when I got poodles!

 

[peppersb]

Other factors to consider (in addition to those already mentioned):
-- Are you close to a 24-hour vet hospital?
-- Are you home most of the time?
-- Stress is a factor. Are there things in your life that are changing and might cause stress?
-- If your dog bloated, could you afford bloat surgery ($4 - 6,000 in this area).

I have not had either of my dogs pexied and I worry about Sam because he does have a very deep chest. Cammie is more petite so I don't worry about her as much. Sam is intact and I have no plans to have him neutered. I would definitely do the pexy if I was having him neutered, but like others, I hate putting a dog through surgery. So don't plan on doing it just for the pexy.

 

[Raven's Mom]

It seemed like a no-brainer with Raven because she had to opened up anyways do she is extremely deep chested for her size. I cannot find a clinic in my area that does laparoscopic surgery on dogs, so he will have to be opened up in the traditional way with a 10-14 day “no exercise” recovery.

I am slightly less desperate right now because Raven finally stepped up and put him in his place over the humping. Her getting after him worked in one afternoon after me trying for days! I have not seen humping from him now in several days.

 

[Raven's Mom]

Mufar42 He came to me with papers but as yet unregistered with the call name “Bear” which does not sound poodley to me at all, particularly since he is very narrow and bony and not at all a big heavy Spoo. As I was pondering a registered name, my son asked “is he going to be another bird like Raven?” I had not considered starting a theme but I liked the sound of Ren (my son is also a serious Star Wars fan) with Raven so he became Wren.

 

[peppersb]

deleted (duplicate posting)

 

[Liz]

I lost my childhood spoo to bloat at age 5. Never again. I had Mia pexied when she was spayed, and I'm glad I did - her sire died at age 10 of torsion and a friend's spoo just bloated a few months ago, also at age 10. I am grateful for the peace of mind and will have future spoos pexied as well.

 

[Mufar42]

Ravens & Wren's Mom, I love it! Our other dog is Kai...so sometimes when we call them it sounds like Kylo-Ren...my daughter is a Star Wars fan too.

 

[Mfmst]

If I had had a female, it would have been a no brainer, “two for” with the spay. With a male, it wasn’t a clear choice. I did exhaustive research, including asking a breeder of Irish Setters, another deep chested, at risk breed, what her policy was. She said, “Honey, you dog is more likely to die of cancer.” Opted not to do a prophylactic gastropexy, on Buck. I have Gas-x, pet insurance and a good emergency clinic close by. Whatever you decide is the right choice for your Spoo.

 

[Raven's Mom]

I am only still agonizing over it because I cannot do it laparoscopically as I had planned. I just can’t decide about opening him up. I have decided to postpone it and give each myself more time to decide.

 

[Mufar42]

I know what you are feeling..I did not have a choice to have it done laparoscopically either, its was so hard to decide.

 

[Eclipse]

Both of my girls were pexied when they were spayed. I lost my first Standard to bloat/torsion many, many years ago at almost 14. She was not a surgical candiate and I had to let her go. No one talked about prophylactic gastropexies then, nor when I had my second Standard. By the time I got my third, the breeder discussed it with me and I had her done, as well as when I got my 4th Standard when my older girl was then 5. I will pexy any future Standard I get as well. I let my dogs go through a heat and make sure growth plates are closed before spaying so they were both spayed/pexied at just around 20 months and stomachs were also fully grown. They were not done laparoscopically. I had no issues with either surgery and both dogs returned to training agility and other performance about 3 weeks afterwards. It is important to make sure your vet is well versed in performing the surgery, I have total faith in mine. She used to be the director of the local ER and has done many, many pexies as that is the protocol for a bloating dog. She says she would much rather do the surgery on a healthy dog rather than one that comes in already bloated and compromised. Some vets consider a prophylactic pexy unnecessary surgery and are not in favor of it. I would not work with a vet who is not. Because there is no definitive cause/effect with bloat I want to stack the odds in my favor as much as I can. A pexied dog can still bloat, which is still a medical emergency and you will need to get to the vet ASAP, but it should not torsion and will buy you precious extra time to get to the vet and have a likely more favorable outcome...I also never want to have to second guess myself or feel guilty that I lost a dog to bloat when I might have been able to stack the odds in my favor. I have a friend going through this now....she recently lost her very much adored 9 year old to bloat who she had not pexied and on top of that grief, she is feeling very guilty that he might have been able to be saved if only.......

 

[Jbean]

We took our last girl on a middle of the night run to the emergency vet for emergency gastropexy when she was 11 1/2. She did fine, but it was scary and we're going to have the new guy gastropexied.

 

[Raven's Mom]

I have decided to have it done but postponed it to September. He will 2 August 31st and I have a Rally show with Raven in Aug. I want to be free to spend time with her without worrying about his post-op health. As always I appreciate the feedback!