Should I Get My Bitch Puppy Spayed?

[~Annie~]

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Ok, I've only scanned this thread so apologies if the point I'm making is already covered. Also I do have the stats from the vet literature to support this but as I'm waiting on a phone call from the vet having just rushed Tolly in as an emergency I'm not going to go and seach them out just now.
The risk of cancer increases the longer a dog is left unspayed but the difference in risk after one or two seasons is small. If all bitches were left unspayed mammary cancer would still only occur in a relatively small number, so by delaying spaying and allowing the dog to have a season or two you only marginally increase what is already a smallish risk. You also allow the dog time to mature emotionally and physically, and this includes time for the growth plates in the long bones of the legs to close as and when they should, a process that is in some part hormone driven. Dogs spayed whilst still immature can have reduced bone density which can mean a life long higher risk of injury etc., particularly for a sighthound/running dog. The risk posed to the bones by early spaying (or castrating) is greater than the increase in cancer risk if spaying is delayed until 18-24 mths.

HTH

Annie

It is worth pointing out also that the difference( and there certainly isn't sufficient evidence that this is a certainty) between bone density of early spayed animals and those spayed later is also very small so much like the argument about cancer,the difference is minimal.

Our boxer bitch is both emotionally and definitely physically( ours is certainly far more muscular and less puppy looking) no different to our friends boxer who was allowed two seasons before spaying.

we all just do what's right for our own animals.

I agree we should all do what is right for us and our dogs, there is no right answer, but the more information we have when deciding what to do the better. And yes, the difference in risk re. the bones is small too, but decreased bone density, however slight, is more likely after early spaying than cancer is after delayed spaying, unless the spaying is delayed beyond I think it's 36 mths.

Annie (who's off to get a patched up Tolly).

 

[Seraphina]

Take a look online if you wish to see the figures for comparison between early spaying % risk against later spaying or not spaying at all

I have looked and the "studies", they generally involved handful of dogs and were conducted by somebody strongly for desexing early. Anybody who says it is win win win win win is obviously not to be taken seriously. Just ask any pre menopausal woman who had a hysterectomy why she has to take HRT.

Do not take me wrong, I am all for desexing dogs. Many people are just too careless and if we did not spay bitches there would be many more litters born and then dogs destroyed. But people need to understand that removing uterus and ovaries is a large operation, also that the hormones released by ovaries affect the whole dog, not just reproduction. They affect calcium absorption, growth and closing of growth plates at puberty.

And there are plenty of articles that have lot more balanced aproach than those that say it is all good. Here is one of them;

early spay/neuter

Here in Australia most vets insist on spaying bitches at 3 months. That is what I hear from my puppy buyers. It may be different in UK where many people keep their bitches entire even if they do not plan to breed.

The fact is that 3 months old bitch will recover much faster; I have seen some coming out of anesthetic and playing as if nothing happened, while bitch few years old may feel miserable for a week.

 

[Seraphina]

Sorry Annie, I skipped your post somehow and then repeated what you said

 

[Hula]

My vet spays his own whippets 3 months after their first season so that is evidence enough for me that it must be safe enough .

One of the reasons vets want to spay as early as possible is that so many bitches are made pregnant ( accidents ) during their first season thus bringing even more unwanted dogs into the world

 

[~Annie~]

And vets also weigh in the balance the health risks to the bitch of pregnancy, wanted or otherwise There are though I'm sure many families with unspayed bitches who confidently suppose that they can avoid unplanned litters given that they have successfully done so over many years.

The fact that in some countries vets are spaying at three months, in others 3 mths after first season, and that I know of a number of vets (one young and recently qualified so this is not necessarily a generational thing) who like to wait for two seasons or more, suggests to me that the 'right' answer is not a simple one. It would be fascinating to hear the vets debate the whys and wherefores.

Also I believe that this is one of those areas where breed is relevant. The longer the leg bones the greater the risk if bone density is compromised, for example. Breed specific risk/predisposition seems rarely to be discussed in relation to neuterings impact on long term health, and the one size fits all policy of many vet practitioners worries me a bit. To my knowledge whippets are not amongst the higher risk breeds for mammary cancer and are amongst the higher risk breeds for loss of bone density, but although I've read a lot of vet literature on this I'm no expert so I'm happy to be corrected there.

Annie

 

[kirsty]

Megan was speyed 3 months after her first season. She was between 10 and 11 months when she had it done. My vet also recommended doing it 3 months after her first season. She will be 5 in October and have never had any problems :thumbsup:

 

[Trish]

i had both my bitches speyed on the same day,one was 14 months and had had one season the other was 6 months old, to be honest 6 months was far too young it took her a good two weeks to get over it,she couldnt do stairs she couldnt get on the chairs and was off her food for a few days and cried alot ,where as the 14 month old was tucking into her dinner as soon as she got home and the speying didnt have any affect on her what so ever ,but weve noticed 3 years on and she does tend to leak urine from time to time which weve never had before off any of our girls in the past.

 

[Seraphina]

Also I believe that this is one of those areas where breed is relevant.

Absolutely, also because sighthounds mature later than some small breeds. Many breeds will come in season at 6 months. The earliest I had Whippet to come in season was 12 months, I had one who started her first season just few days before her second birthday, and I have heard of others to come even later.