Is Puppy too small to spay?

Hello Vets! Considering a new yorkie puppy. 10 weeks old and only 1 pound. Expected adult weight is 2 1/2 pounds give or take. My concern is will she ever be able to safely be spayed. I don't want to jeopardize her health and safety if too small to spay but don't want her to have increased risk of mammary cancer or pyometra. I sure would appreciate your opinions and advice.  I haven't committed to take the puppy and won't if she can't safely be spayed.   Thanks so much!

Hello - I'm not going to lie to you:  no spey operation can be guarenteed 100% safe.  Anaesthesia carries a risk, surgery carries a risk, even injecting a new drug carries a risk (which is tiny) and opening a body cavity carries a risk.  If things didn't go wrong during surgery, we wouldnt do all that training.  However, vets work very hard in order to identify the potential risks and to minimise them.  (More to follow)

The size of the patient can make the surgery slightly more fiddly.  It's worth mentioning, however, that there are different challenges associated with speying larger dogs:  the ovarian ligaments in german sheperds for instance, are often very deep, with heavy guts etc on top, which are troublesome to work round (the dog is speyed lying on its back).  We also spey gerbils and hamsters, guinea-pigs and rabbits, so it is not unreasonable to spey a 'teacup' Yorkshire terrier.   A good question for your vet might be:  'How big is the risk of this surgery and is the risk justified by the advantages?  How much bigger than in a wolf- shaped dog?'   You could also ask, 'What alternatives to speying are there are what risks are involved with that?' Most vets would be happy to chat to you in advance about the pros and cons of taking on any breed of dog.  With tiny Yorkshire Terriers, the ability to spey them wouldn't be a barrier I'd have listed.