Best time to spay??????

[EasyToEatTiger]

Our bc bitch is nearly 7 months old and has not yet come into season. There are so many things to take into consideration, her future health being a major one! Our elder bitch was spayed probably when she was about 2. I have heard so many conflicting things. I would prefer that she is properly mature when she is done. I think she has quite a weak bladder and I wonder if spaying will make it worse. It seems that early spaying is more to do with habit than health. Any ideas? Anyone????

I think the later the better, however the best person to ask is your vet!

I asked the vet and he convinced me that spaying before her first season was better . Was about risks of cancer etc but I can't remember the details.
Anyway she was 6mos when we had her spayed .
No ill effects ,but obviously early days

My last dog was spayed after season and had minor hormone related incontinence when she was older.

The debate seems to be 50/50 imo.

It's a minefield out there! I would prefer for pup to be a bit more mature than she is right now. Our dog was done at about 18 months. They have so much growing still to do when they're spayed early. How did the Castrati fare?

The research says the most important thing is before the third season. The timing with that comes down to personal preference.

Thanks Lonecat. All things well pup should be about 18 months by then and grown up. She is not yet coming into season.

Basically there's not much evidence. Vets seem to be universally trained to say at 6 months/first season but there's a lack of evidence to support this
This is the British small animal vet assoc statement on neutering (you'll notice they don't recommend neutering to prevent mammary cancer in bitches because there isn't enough evidence to support this)
www.bsava.com/Resources/Positionstatements/Neutering.aspx

And this is the recommendation from the APBC in terms of behaviour
www.apbc.org.uk/system/files/private/apbc_summary_sheet_of_spaying_risks_and_benefits_bitch.pdf

My vet says after the first season, early spaying can cause all sorts of things, including incontinence. Apparently doing it before the first season only reduces the risk of mammary cancer by something miniscule like 0.017 per cent (i will check!) but the risk of bone cancer from early spaying is higher.

www.markelliott.co.uk/Mark_Elliott_and_Associates_Veterinary_Surgeons/Neutering_of_Dogs.html

Sorry that is not clicky but it is a page on spaying taken from my vets website.