This week's article Should you spay your bitch - a look at the pros and cons has been revised and updated to reflect recent research and current thinking.
Re: New: Should you spay your bitch I have only kept one girl entire and wouldn't wish how her life ended on anyone, female cancer was awful and even while she was fairly fit and well in herself at 13 we had to end her life as she was going in a few days to be unable to pee or poo with the rate the tumour was growing. Still feel guilt about her as it was my stupid idea not to have her spayed. Never again
Re: New: Should you spay your bitch Interesting timing for this post! I just dropped Daisy off to be spayed this morning. She's a little over 8 months old, and since I don't intend to breed her, decided a spay was in order. I read a lot of articles on spaying and neutering at different ages, and with my own experience of some 12 years as a veterinary technician and with 10 personal dogs, the decision to spay Daisy was not a hard one. If she was a Golden Retreiver, I might feel differently. However, having never encountered a younger dog, that was altered early, with any sort of cancer, BUT having seen older females going through both mammary cancer and pyometra, the decision was almost made for me. I would have waited another 1-2 months, but decided to do it over the holidays since I have the next 2 weeks off and can try to keep her quiet (yeah, right!). When I got home without her, Henry was beside himself. He insisted on going out to check the garage and kennel, then came back in and trotted around the house, whimpering. He's huddled at my feet right now. I wish I could tell him that she'll be back! (I'm not even thinking about surgical or anesthetic risks. Nope. Will not go there! :-\ ) I'll be able to pick her this afternoon after 4, assuming all goes well - as it will, of course!!
Re: New: Should you spay your bitch How did it go npcarpenter? Gypsy is part of a large research programme by Guide Dogs to discover which is best. They are uniquely placed to be able to follow the bitches from birth right through. Gypsy was spayed at 6 months, a couple of weeks ago. The scar was tiny and you can't see it at all now. She's really well and happy - keeping her quiet was impossible!
Re: New: Should you spay your bitch It's only 1 PM here in Minnesota, so I'm still waiting to hear back from the vet. I think they do their surgeries in the morning, so it's probably over by now. If there'd been a problem, I think they would have called me, so I'm blithely assuming all is well!
Re: New: Should you spay your bitch I want to have Chepi spayed. She's almost 8 months. My vet said to wait until after the first season due to the risk of incontinance (spelling?). However, I am dreading the first season. Apart from that, I would wait until she is 12 months old anyway, unless there was a more pressing reason to go sooner.
Re: New: Should you spay your bitch Tomorrow your biggest problem will be trying to keep a healthy young dog quiet I had Molly spayed at seven months, they only consideration was the timing. With my last dog they wanted her to have a season first, now they like to do them young. I have never regretted having any of my pets spayed.
Re: New: Should you spay your bitch Ack - it's so difficult. There seems to be little evidence either way. When you look at what's there there is just not much substance on which to base a decision, it seems. Good on Gypsy, taking part in a trial that might provide some answers!
Re: New: Should you spay your bitch Daisy is home, having survived her surgery, and Henry is much happier, having his puppy back! I initially had her confined to a small area where she could see and hear everyone, but couldn't get out to be too rambunctious, but she was so whiney and restless that I caved and let sleep in her normal spot next to my desk. Now she's trying to sleep off the rest of her anesthetic, giving an occasional whimper or groan - pretty pitiful... :'( And tomorrow will be sooo different! I may have to use the house leash later if she starts feeling too frisky, too soon! The majority of the opinions I've encountered over the years, from vets and breeders, is to spay as close to the first season as possible, without actually going through the first season. I know many shelters spay and neuter at very young ages (6-8 weeks!), but I think that's way too young. It's a gray & gloomy, rainy day here, perfect for hunkering down inside the warm house. I don't know when we'll get some serious snow that will stick for a while, but I have to admit that a brown, wet winter would be fine with me! I think I'll bake some cookies...
Re: New: Should you spay your bitch So glad Daisy is home and as well as can be expected. Advice I hear varies wildly, is often influenced by country of origin and whether people work their dogs or not. I did some reading and joined a Facebook group that rejects the routine neutering of dogs as they have gathered quite a bit of research on the subject. (Not anti neutering but more a recognition that each case should be judged on it's own circumstances and people should have the information in order to make their decision) I agree with Julie and the evidence I've read is far from conclusive. And that is why I have an intact male dog ;D
Re: New: Should you spay your bitch [quote author=bbrown link=topic=9130.msg132016#msg132016 date=1419287596] And that is why I have an intact male dog ;D [/quote] Me too. Although, I think the health benefits for spaying bitches seems clearer - the timing, not so (as in not clear, not that I have an opinion). I think it's important to add that the nature of my dog is such that, under my supervision, his chances of legging it to a bitch in heat such that I couldn't interrupt him rapidly are very, very low. And I have secure gardens. It might be different for other dogs.
Re: New: Should you spay your bitch [quote author=JulieT link=topic=9130.msg132018#msg132018 date=1419287817] Although, I think the health benefits for spaying bitches seems clearer - the timing, not so (as in not clear, not that I have an opinion). [/quote] Agreed. I understand the various cancer risks however my personal bias would generally be to allow growth to complete before removing hormones or to arrange for a procedure that prevented unwanted puppies without removing hormones(which is available but not often practiced). It's a minefield though and new thinking and evidence comes along all the time
