Spaying / Neutering Chins

So, I occasionally get people asking about if all the chins are spayed or neutered.  Based on how many chins I get into the rescue due to people thinking how cute it would be if Fluffy and Furry would have babies... and then get completely overwhelmed and need help... I often wish I could.

But no, unless they specifically say so, they are NOT spayed or neutered.

Fixing chins can be dangerous unless (even) if you have an experienced vet, as chins don't always do well with anesthesia, and sometimes, the way you find this out, is when your chin doesn't wake up.  Oops.

We currently have a pair of chins -- Henry & Sweet Pea -- senior chins where Henry is neutered.  They came that way... I wouldn't personally pair a male and female if I didn't want to breed, as it's just as easy to pair same-sex chins. 

I've once paid to spay a chin when she had internal bleeding coming from her uterus.  She didn't live through the surgery.

I had an adopter who adopted a little baby male chin.  Somewhere, they read that it was good to neuter the chin.  So, they attempted to do the responsible thing, and took him to the vet to get neutered.  What actually happened is sort of up for debate, but long story short, it seems like he went low blood sugar after the surgery (due to anesthesia or surgery complication? possibly), this wasn't handled correctly, and he passed.  Very sorry for the family.

On the other hand, I see people post online on facebook groups about their fixed chins.  It can go fine.  I can go badly.  However it goes, it's expensive.  Around here, it's ~$300 to fix a chin, and that's not including after care or any necessary bloodwork or prep ahead of time.  People already whine about the adoption fees (even for the adults, which tend to be $75-$100), so imagine if those were $375-$400... unfortunately, not a cost I can eat, and not a cost people will pay if included in the adoption fee. 

It's up to everyone to make their own minds about if they would want to fix their chins.  Honestly, there's no good reason other than medical necessity (like in my instance where the only way to stop the internal bleeding was to remove the uterus)... it doesn't change behavior, it doesn't stop the males from humping...all it does is prevent the chin from literally popping out a baby.  Which is fine, but in my opinion... not worth putting a chin through a major surgery when it's just as easy to intro a male to a male, or a female to a female, as it is to introduce a male to a female.