What age to spay?

[Heavymetalmater]

Our cocker spaniel is currently 4 months old and when i last spoke to the vet she recommended spaying at 6 months. I had always heard you should let them have one season but the vet said this isnt necessary.

We are not planning on breeding from her so will get her spayed. Just feel that 6 months sounds very early as she will be still a baby.

Am i just being soft?

Some vets recommend spaying before first season but I think most of them prefer bitches to have their first season to allow them to mature fully. It's usually done about 12 weeks after first season finishes to give the uterus time to contract back down and the hormone levels to return to normal.

Cockers seem to be prone to spay incontinence, AFAIK the risk is reduced if you wait until after the first season. If she's had a season you also know that you're not booking her in for a spay right before one, there's a much higher risk of blood loss if it's done too close.

Very large study publish in 2000 showed that bitches who get urinary incontinence get it regardless of when you spay them so there is no benefit to having a season.
The most important thing is that the long term benefits come from having the spay done before the second season.
The most recent recommendations from the British Small Animal Veterinary Association are that if the bitch has had a season the spay should be done 6 to 8 weeks after the season to reduce the risk of phantom pregnancy.

My vet advocated getting our cavalier spayed at 6 months before her first season as research has apparently shown there is a link to reducing likelihood of cancer in these cases. We had her done at 6 months, she recovered quickly without any fuss and has been fine since (apart from the usual expected weight gain)