My female lab is 6 months old and thing now to get her spaded. I want to get her keyhole surgery . So after talking to a vet they said not to get her done for 2 years iIs this right as some same before 6 months and some say after 6 months. As she plays with a lot of male doggie friends it’s best to get her done and also the health benefits. Paul
Hi Paul, it's understandable to be confused, spaying dogs is an emotional topic, and it's not unusual to hear different advice from different experts! This article about spaying on our main site discusses the advantages and disadvantages of spaying, and the significance of when you choose to carry out the procedure in more detail. Good luck!
It's a complicated subject that's for sure, and anyone who says otherwise (on either side of the debate) hasn't done enough research. I kept my last dog intact until I bowed to pressure from my vet when she was 13 years old. She died of a mammary tumour a couple of months after that ,which the vet says was coincidence but I doubt. She was an incredibly energetic healthy dog prior to being spayed with none of the joint issues you might expect to see in a large breed dog her age.
Most folks now think it should not be done until bone growth is complete, so not before about 12 months. Beyond that you have to weigh the pros and cons about whether to do it at all. We always have because we did not want accidental pups, and it is really the norm in the USA.
As mentioned above it can be such a confusing decision to be made and lots of different opinions/advice out there. We did a bit of research and asked friends with dogs and spoke to our vet and breeder and we came to the decision to have our pup Lola speyed. we really trust our vet and feel they wouldn’t contemplate the procedure at a young age if it wasn’t safe. She actually had the procedure today and turns 7 months tomorrow. For us, we thought best for her to have the op now, we were never planning on breeding her and feel it’s better for her. Can reduce risk of some health issues. also, the thought of her being in season a couple times a year and not being able to go out and play properly with her dog friends or go out with dog walker and be kept on lead for that time just didn’t seem fair especially if not planning on breeding her. Everyone is different though and it’s entirely up to you. good luck with your decision making.
I am on the fence with Willow. I had a rescue Springer at 18 months and one condition was to have her spayed. She developed cancer that spread everywhere. Not sure if spaying at 18 months contributed. My old springer died of pymetra as she had a heart failure and could not be operated on.
This was a topic of discussion at my training class last night. We have a 6-month old female and, when we bought her, our breeder virtually begged us to not get her neutered until after her first season because it's better for development and long-term health. We fully intend to respect that and our vet in turn respects that decision. My trainer reminded me that neutering should take place approx 3 months after the season. I'm not sure of all the technical ins and outs but this will be our plan.
Hello, our lab Poppy is 6 months old and we got her spayed a week ago. It was a laparoscopic spay and the doctor who did the procedure is very experienced. Poppy did great, doc's orders were 10 min walks only for a week, but she was back to her regular walking schedule the very next day - she started tearing down doors and scratching to get out, so I had to take her. We also debated waiting, but we decided to get it done before her first heat because we're traveling for the holidays and need to board her. They will accept only spayed/fixed dogs and I think it might be safer for her as I don't want to risk a pregnancy when she's under a year old. A lot of people say their dogs are fixed and its hard to know for sure, especially when you are boarding your dog and there are several dogs around. The vet himself initially asked us to wait until her first heat, but agreed to the procedure when we explained we have little choice. Good luck with your decision, if you do decide to go for it, laparoscopic is the way to go. Cost $1400 but worth every single penny. Recovery time is astonishing.
I would wait for 2-3 heat cycles. Let the dog mature first before you do it. Pls read up on possible consequences of doing it to soon. Would not underestimate impact on hormones, etc. personally don’t see the rush either.
I would have a good read of this article and think about the ethical side of this, as well: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/03/opinion/dogs-spaying-neutering.html You 'fix' something which is broken. Our dogs are not born broken.
There is lots of conflicting advice so you have to weigh up the pros and cons based on your own priorities. Some of the opinions are based on avoiding treatable but common things like incontinence and bone problems, some are based on avoiding less common but more dangerous things. There's no right or wrong answer, you have to go by your own feelings and fears. We weighed this up with our vet, we have had one and met many bad experiences of miserable heats and false pregnancies (from the dogs' perspectives rather than the owners'), we would like to avoid incontinence but have insurance for treatment if needed, we have no stairs and won't be letting her get heavy so she has those advantages for bones, our previous dog had treatable and untreatable cancers. Our decision to wait a bit after 6 months but still be before her 1st season was a very personal one. If you like getting into the details of the evidence there's a review below of the scientific evidence or just read the second to last paragraph which has an example conversation about a lab. http://www.fawavizslas.com/uploads/...in_the_dog_-_clinical_theriogenology_2017.pdf
There is a huge amount of misinformation in that article, too much to be able to pick it apart without writing a thesis in response. To give one example, they are STILL quoting the completely debunked research about mammary tumours. This recent review of all the existing research on mammary tumours and neutering: https://www.researchgate.net/public...nl3ecMBWgCsjPtEvtjr-R1FcJbUn2wCTzR2pRP6FGjSag ... found that ""due to the limited evidence available and the risk of bias in the 1969 study, any evidence that neutering reduces the risk of mammary cancer and that age at neutering has an effect on it, is judged to be weak and not a sound basis for firm recommendations on neutering." Yet the article you've linked to is still repeating this misinformation....and trying to scare people into neutering to prevent cancer. When the truth is that neutering causes far more cancer than it prevents. It's really important to read all the research and not just a couple of articles. If anyone wants access to all the research, you can join this Facebook group I run, where we strive to keep an up to date list in the Files: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AgainstRoutineNeutering/ You can also find a less complete but still useful list on the Avidog site here: https://www.avidog.com/research-on-the-effects-of-spaying-and-neutering/
