I am very concerned about the long term health of my little golden cocker, however feel that it would be best to have her spayed.  She is a very nervous/frightened little dog and it worries me to leave her at the vet's surgery with total strangers which I know she will find extremely stressful.  Do you think that it would still be for the best to have her spayed?

Without wishing to go into your reasons for wishing to have her spayed (you don't elaborate), I was in a similar position when it came to having one of my male cockers castrated-he too is of a slightly nervous disposition and is especially nervous of strangers.  However, the vets are sensitive to this, therefore I stayed with him while he had his pre-anaesthetic sedative and held him (my arms were completely asleep!) in the waiting room while this took effect.  By the time this worked he was almost out of it anyway, and so when the nurse took him through, he didn't even notice he was leaving without me.  I was phoned when he was starting to come round from the op and went straight back down to the surgery so I was with him, and then waited until he was cleared to go home, so his stress was minimal.  My advice to you is to speak to your vet before any procdeure and I am sure they will do thgeir best to minimise stress to your dog, they have the dog's best interests at heart also.  Hope that helps :)

my nellies temperment improved so much after having her spayed,i think its a good idea. also alot of dogs are alot braver when their owners arent around i have found. im sure she will cope fine at the vets, its us the owners that suffer more than they do!!!!!

I have just left my working cocker at the vets to be spayed (she's 18 months).  It's a really tough decision to make, and I am having a horrible day worrying about her.  Although she hates the vets (she shakes with fear, tries to run out of the door or off the table), she seemed really settled when we left her.  They give the dogs a tranquiliser to calm them down so they don't get distressed when the owners leave, and we took along her own bedding and toy.  She is used to a crate, so settled down in the cage quickly and didn't seem bothered at all about us going.  Unlike me, who started crying as soon as I got into the car...

im sure she will be fine Rosemarie!!!!! try not to worry toooooooo much! bless!

Aww Rosemarie....this sounds like a carbon copy of me not long ago! - crying when leaving the vets....and crying when we picked her up - a bit embarrasssed everyone in reception saw me break down, but they were all so kind. (I wasn't prepared for just how drowsy/sore & down-in-the-dumps Rosie would obviously be :rolleyes: ) Like mine, your girl will soon bounce back in a day or two.....but I'll still be thinking of you today ;) Do let us know how you *both* get on ;) :)
Jo
xx

Our rescue GSD was spayed & came out of the vets the way she went in like a steam train :) Had to take her to the vets yesterday & she had to have a cyst aspirated & then drained, she never made a murmur(done without GA or sedatives just a local) & had an Anti bio shot. She never said a word until they tried to put her in a recovery cage then she screamed the place down, resulting in the vet nurse returning her to me post haste at a rate of knots

I would have any bitch I owned spayed having had bitches develop Pyros regardless of whether they had had puppies or not. Hasn't affected her coat or temperament wise.

Thanks MichelleD and Jo Bassett.  Everything went smoothly and we picked Molly up a couple of hours ago.  She was delighted to see us - the nurse was amazed at how lively she was!  She is currently snuggled up on the sofa with lots of blankets and cushions, though she is clearly finding it a bit difficult to get comfortable.  I'm feeling equally exhausted, having not slept for the last few nights for worrying! Both vet and nurse stressed the importance of keeeping her quiet and only giving very short, lead-only walks for the next ten days.  Easier said than done with a working cocker...

Really pleased it all went well & Molly is recovering so quickly If she was that bouncey so soon afterwards, I do symphathise with your task of keeping her calm and quite for 10 days LOL Wonderful to hear though Rosemarie ;)
Enjoy some well deserved shut-eye on the sofa with Molly xx
Jo

Oh I'm so glad I'm not the only one who does that! Every time I've ever left my dogs at the vets I have driven away unable to see through the tears and have blubbed all over them when the veterinary nurse brought them out! :rolleyes: What a wonderful vet you have S.L., to let you do that, wish more were like yours. :-)

Claire

:) I do have wonderful vets, and I know how lucky I am to have them!  But what is ironic I often think is that when it comes to leaving them, half the time we're more upset than they are! :)

I'm referring to leaving the pets, not the vets, just incase anyone wondered! :D

:D @ S.L.

If your dog is overly nervous or overly exciteable, it is always a good idea to stay with them whilst they have their pre med. Adrenalin caused by excitability/nervousness can bloke the effectiveness of the pre med and subsequent anaesthetic which may mean they need more. We always reccommend that the dog is brought into the vets given the pre med and the n they either wait in the waiting room or in the car until the pre med takes place. This makes the dog much more settled to go into the kennel, and the owners are happier knowing their dog is ok. After the op most dogs are quite content to sleep it off so are fine until collected. I think it is definately worth asking the vet if you can stay dduring the pre med if your dog is one of these cases.

my friend has a 7month working cocker called oscar. hes very cool,very long though!