Vet cost question for German Shepherd owners

[ellie05]

I was raised with GSD and they usually got fix around the time of 6 months. This has been the case with all of our dogs now too. Except for our new puppy, when we adopted him he was already neutered at 10 weeks old.

We never had to have any baby teeth pull.

I've gotten conflicting information about the growth issue from different vets. This is what I've seen from personal experience. Our adopted puppy is at 70 lbs. The foster mom kept one of the puppies. They are both males and hers isn't neutered yet, she is waiting until he turns one. Her dog is close to 80 lbs. Both of the dogs are males and they were the same size when we went to pick him up (Our dog has just been neutered just a few days before we pick him up). This has been the case for some of the breed specific rescues we worked with. One of our trainers runs the sheepdog rescue and recently they had a reunion of the litter that his dog came from. His dog was the tallest and the only one that was neutered after the one year mark, because they fix all the puppies before adoption. But honestly I don't care if my dog is bigger or smaller it is not going to change their personality and that is what I love about my dogs, heck they could be green and I wouldn't care. They are perfect the way they are. What I would be more concern is reducing the chance of cancer and other health problems. That to me is the most important thing of all.

The most important thing out this thread is to make sure you get a vet you trust 100%. I went through a few vets before I find our vet but I trust him 100% and I know whatever he suggests it is the best for my pet and I never second guess it. You might want to contact the rescue and see if they can refer you to one of their vets if you don't like the one you have. Also talk to them about your concerns I am sure they will be more than happy to help guide you in the right direction.


Good luck with your new fur baby .

 

[digitalsiren]

Not a German Shepherd owner, but I did work at a AAHA-accredited veterinary hospital for four years. Our facility did not perform neuters/spays on dogs younger than 6 months (unless, of course, it became medically necessary). Most patients were recommended for altering at 6m of age and in a few instances, some were recommended to wait until after their first heat cycle (this happened more often with larger breeds). My dog is from a shelter and her spay was performed, before I adopted her, at about 4 months of age. Her vulva is severely recessed and she is at an increased risk for urinary problems that could potentially lead to corrective surgery. Essentially, she had surgery before her girly parts developed properly and dropped to where they needed to be. I have, luckily(?) only dealt with one bladder infection thus far, but this might have been avoided if her surgery occurred later. Our hospital would not admit a patient until 2 weeks after the last round of vaccinations so as to not overburden the immune system but also to protect the patient before admission to the hospital where there may also be contagious pets.

As far as cost, get a price sheet from the hospital so you know where there price breaks occur as you may be fretting over the weight for nothing. Our spays were charged according to if the dog was <25 lbs., 26-75lbs. or >75 lbs. I don't think there was a super significant cost difference between them (maybe $100 between the <25 and >75 mostly due to medications). The price went up significantly after the first heat cycle as the surgery becomes a bit more complex. This may be the reason your other girl's surgery was costly. Deciduous tooth extractions occurred once every ten surgeries or so, if even that often. The surgery included up to 2 extractions, more were ~$10 each so not that much of a financial burden and I wouldn't be too overly concerned with that occurring. I'd get a written estimate prior to the surgery so you know a cost range with everything included (pre-op blood work, microchip, monitoring, medications) so you don't receive any surprises.

I agree with RMAMom as I'd be concerned that this veterinarian seems willing to perform a serious surgery on your pet (earlier than even she recommended) without regard as to what is most beneficial to the health of the patient. At the very least, next time you are in for vaccinations discuss a bit more in depth why you should or shouldn't wait those 2 extra months.

 

[luvavacation]

I have had a GSD in my life since I was 18 months old. I am in my 40's now, so I have lots of experience with this one breed of dog.

My best advice is, if you trust your vet, work with your vet to find a solution that you both are comfortable with. I trust my vet implicitly, and would follow her to any practice if she were to leave the one she is at now. I do not trust the other vets at this practice though, just my one vet, so I take what the others say with a grain of salt.

Regarding the tooth pulling, never heard of this. Must not be a common practice where I live. My Shepherds' teeth have all fallen out on their own with no problems, but they have also had numerous chew toys and various types of treats of different consistencies. Not sure if the pulling of teeth in puppies is just a new way for vets to make money, but I know I would not do it for my dogs unless there was a problem to begin with. If nothing is wrong, I don't see why it needs to be done.

With the spaying, shelters spay their dogs at very young ages, and many shelters in my area won't even let a puppy go home until it is spayed. Those puppies still grow into mature dogs, though there really is no way of knowing if they would have been larger or smaller if the spay/neuter had waited. Our previous GSDs have all been spayed as puppies of various ages, and all grew into very nice, average sized female GSDs.

My present dog was not spayed until she was two, because the breeder had hoped to breed her once when she turned two (she is a beauty, with good lines and intelligence). Unfortunately, she never got over her timidness, and lacks the confidence that most GSDs have, and we did not want her to pass that on to any offspring. Hence, she was spayed at 2, and is now 3, but has not put on any excess weight or bulked up. So the thought that a dog will grow larger when spayed/neutered has not held true with any of my dogs.

Because you will find varying situations and experiences, and because someone will always have an experience that goes against the "norm", this is when trusting your vet to help you make an informed decision is most important. If you don't trust your vet, find one you do, especially since you might find yourself paying for their next new car over the years!

 

[Lewisc]

This is the budget board....Petco offers shots. Cost is generally less then going to a private vet. Getting your dog spayed or neutered. Call your local shelters. Some will perform the procedure, even if you didn't get your dog from that shelter. May be less expensive the your local vet.

Frozen bagels help with teething issues.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

This is the budget board....Petco offers shots. Cost is generally less then going to a private vet. Getting your dog spayed or neutered. Call your local shelters. Some will perform the procedure, even if you didn't get your dog from that shelter. May be less expensive the your local vet.

Frozen bagels help with teething issues.

Oh, I wish I would've thought of frozen bagels! My dogs love bread and we're in NC where it's hot so they would like those!

 

[RMAMom]

This is the budget board....Petco offers shots. Cost is generally less then going to a private vet. Getting your dog spayed or neutered. Call your local shelters. Some will perform the procedure, even if you didn't get your dog from that shelter. May be less expensive the your local vet.

Frozen bagels help with teething issues.

I have to respectfully disagree, grains are not good for dogs. Try baby carrots for teething puppies.

 

[ellie05]

This is the budget board....Petco offers shots. Cost is generally less then going to a private vet. Getting your dog spayed or neutered. Call your local shelters. Some will perform the procedure, even if you didn't get your dog from that shelter. May be less expensive the your local vet.

Frozen bagels help with teething issues.

I would try to stay away from the petco clinics as well or any other type of chain vet office. The most important thing for you pet health is to find a vet you can trust 100%.

I have to respectfully disagree, grains are not good for dogs. Try baby carrots for teething puppies.

 

[ellie05]

So the thought that a dog will grow larger when spayed/neutered has not held true with any of my dogs.

No one was talking about gaining weight but more to grown taller and just be a bigger dog in general. At the age past 18 months it would have not made a difference anyway.

 

[staceyhzoo]

I have 15 yrs experiance as a vet tech and now I am a member of a large dog rescue group. The retained baby teeth is more common in small dogs. I would never alter (spay or castrate) a dog under 5 months unless in a shelter where it was the rule. I would also not wait over 7 months for fear of a female coming into heat. In the past year, we pulled over 120 dogs from shelters and only one had retained baby teeth and he was about 2 yrs old.

Instead of worrying about a cost difference (esp since you only have a guess of how much she'll weigh in a few months), look into pet insurance. I think that option will allow you to have the dog spayed at 6 months and also be there in case she blows a knee or something in the future.

I say this as I took a dog to see a surgeon today to have orthopedic surgery and our est. was $2000!