After reading on here that spaying can alter behaviour I was wondering others views on the subject. I am thinking of spaying our puppy around 6 months of age. We spayed our rescue spaniel at 18 months as required by the rescue centre. My other Spaniel was not spayed and in later life developed a heart condition and also got pymetra after her period at 10 years old and was not fit enough to have an operation. I never want to go through that again. My rescue spaniel developed stomach cancer and died at 9yrs 7 months old. I am torn between not spaying and not taking a chance of pymetra.
Spaying certainly prevents pyometra. Have a chat with your vet as to the best time to spay, and don't be pressured by what others think.
The vet said from 6 months on. But not sure if it's best to leave it a while longer for at least the first season. Dogs can't get in the garden so she will be safe from unwanted pregnancy it's just inconvenient when we go on holiday preventing blood stains in highered accommodation and letting her off the lead.
Some recommend waiting until she has had one season. Our current girl, I think was done before her first season, but I don't know for sure. She does have some behavioural issues which her previous owners alledge only started after she was spayed, but we don't know.
Hi WillowA, I think it's always difficult to make this decision, it's major surgery after all and irrevocable too. There's no going back! I have a black lab who was spayed last February aged 22 months. Between her first and second season she had a nasty phantom pregnancy which was horrendous for both of us, I don't know anything about spaying changing personalities but for the duration of that pp she was a different dog and very hard to live with. So that was a major decision in getting her spayed -- but at rising 2 she had time to physically and mentally mature. The vet nurses gave me all sorts of reasons to have her done before but I stuck to my guns. I'm sure if you search this site you will find plenty of articles linking research to this topic. I hated taking her down for the op, I cried and cried for the puppies she would never have (I know, daft). But I think we're both much happier without the upheaval of seasons, she was pretty miserable during them. But then Diva is her middle name! Good luck with your decision making.
My Spanel Sally who wasn't spayed had a phantom pregnancy it didn't seem to go away her teats were really enlarged and she was producing milk the vet asked what was going on I said it's a phantom they just said oh ok but didn't treat her if she was spayed we wouldnt have lost her to pymetra. My rescue spaniel Lollie developed a mammory tumor she had a large tumor in her stomach and tumors in her anal glands. Some research states the later they are spayed the higher risk of cancer. Lollie was spayed at 18 months.
