Vet says my puppy has slight vaginitis and should wait to spay until after her first heat cycle. Does anyone have experience with this?
Hi @Lindy Rig , I don't know anything about vaginitis I'm afraid, but I think it's common advise to wait until after the first heat to spay for several reasons but for me the main reason would be that after 3 months after the heat period the uterus etc is at it's least vascular so that there is less risk of post op haemorrhage. There was a post a few weeks ago about this, I think it's in the Health Forum.
Does she have vaginitis because she has an inverted vulva? There is some information that says a heat cycle can fix an inverted vulva so wait to spay to allow the heat cycle to correct the inverted vulva, then the infections stop as well. You can google that up, here's one site: http://www.heartypet.com/blog/?p=47 That is just a blog, I'm wary of blogs, but it is from a Lab breeder who has gone through this and has lots of experience.
My dog had a mild case of vaginitis the week before her spay. All the vet did was wait until she'd finished her course of antibiotics, then she had her spay. In NZ the vets like to spay/neuter at 6 months, but the UK/Europe seem to prefer to wait until until after the first season. Does your vet want to wait for medical reasons like @Snowshoe suggested?
Hi, Vanilla has had vaginitis and has an inverted vulva. Our vet advised to wait until after the first season, as it 'pops it out' so to speak. It has altered it, but not as much as what we have hoped. SO she is now booked in for her spay in a few weeks time, which is approx. 3months after her season (just over). We have to wipe her vagina with baby wipes about 3/4 times a week, and also have some cream to put on (can't remember name now). This is when she licks too much and it starts to annoy her. Our Vet is pretty good and she just said even after the spay, we have to keep this routine up. We now make it part of a daily routine with cleaning teeth etc. Hope this helps.
Ella gets vaginitis from time to time and has a slightly recessed vulva. She was spayed at 6 months but the vet never mentioned anything about her recessed vulva or the possibility of it 'popping out' if we delayed until after her first season (this is one of the reasons that we left the vet). If I had known I think I would have waited until after her first season. My advice would be to have a chat with the vet and see if you can see an obvious reason for the vaginitis and whether delaying the spay would have any impact.
Her vulva is normal. She doesn't even have any discharge or any noticeable signs except she has (or had) frequent urination. This seems to have improved with Cranimals (a cranberry supplement) given daily. So hence, the decision to spay at 6 mos (standard here in US) or wait until after her first heat cycle just in case that would clear up any mild vaginitis that may exist.
