When to get dog spayed

[CleverQuacks]

So I am bringing my pup home tomorrow. She is a 8 week old whippet. I have already booked her in for her jabs but wondered what people’s thoughts are about when to get her spayed. I know there is a lot of debate about the best age to get a male dog neutered and I wondered if it’s the same for girls? Or is it a case of the sooner the better? I don’t want to risk her getting pregnant but also don’t want to do her any harm by doing it to early.

Most suggest letting them have their first season and then 3 months after so it's between seasons x

I personally wouldn't let her have a season if she was mine. Higher risk of cancers once they've had a season.
We spayed ours before her first and she lived until 16. Only time she went to the vets was for her teeth cleaned. :)

Early spay carries higher risks in other respects, including increasing risks of other cancers. It can cause behavioural problems, bone problems, joint problems, puts at much higher risk of obesity, etc.

The thinking now is that you shouldn't spay until the dog is fully grown, and even then health wise, so long as you are responsible and don't let her get pregnant, the positives and negatives of both can pretty much cancel each other out.

I wouldnt even start making a decision on when (or if) you get her spayed until she has her first season. (Vets don't take long to book them in if you want it doing).

Where I live (east Africa) the vet and rescue centre wanted to spey my dog at 6 months! Generally a high population of problem street dogs here. We're moving to the UK with her in the near future and she'll be about 14 months when we arrive. I'm waiting until we get there to neuter, and just being careful walking her until then (She's still immature, but I've waved a stick at a feral dog or 2 when walking, if I'm honest . Of course, I have no idea when to expect first season, but data suggest letting her grow fully, although I understand the recommendation of local vets here, given the environment. Do you have any reason to do it sooner rather than later ?

spaniels Where have you read that the current thinking is to wait until fully grown?I’d be really interested to know. I’m a vet and currently there is no “one size fits all” solution to what’s best whether to spay before or after the first season. It’s very breed and also situation dependent. OP feel free to message me.

We spayed our whippet x collie before her first season.
This was the advice of our vets. They said obviously there were risks to spaying, but also risks to not. For our breed they said we were better spaying early.

skandinavium, would you be able to give some examples? ie which factors would it depend on?

In practice, I mean. I read the British Veterinary Association states there is not enough evidence to make a statement on when is best to spey....so what factors do you use to advise/make the decision? Or do you think it actually doesn't matter which age? (And why?)

Skandinaviem it was across an array of various sources about 2 years ago, when I researched the ideas behind it. There are various (fairly new) studies which show spaying before fully grown contributes to bone related issues (generally weaker bones and more likely to develop osteoporosis at a younger age) joint issues (which seem to stem from dogs that are spayed or castrated early "over growing" what they should/would have if left). There are various behavioural issues linked to it - including never mentally maturing (particularly if done before first season) or becoming more likely to show fear based aggression.

There are also various other mammal based studies that support the idea that removing womb, ovaries or testicles causes problems and that the younger this is done the worse it is for the animals in question.

This is the most up to date way of looking at it. Obviously in the past we went from never neutering, to almost always neutering quite young. Now the lastest research is suggesting that it's much better to wait (the main reason against this is the irresponsibility of the people owning dogs - hence there is warranted caution of making it a more of a set standard that is the first recommendation given by vets).

tropic Sure thing.
So the biggest factor affecting the decision of when to spey either before or after the first season (=total removal of ovaries and uterus here in the UK) is the healthof the patient. If the patient is underweight or otherwise unwell, neutering before the first season (usually done around 6months) is postponed. So provided your pup is healthy and otherwise well, she could theoretically be spayed at any age. Historically early speying was risky because of anaesthetic risks but nowadays our anaesthetic drugs, protocols and monitoring are vastly improved and therefore risk associated with anaesthetic for elective procedures (so operations we chose to perform like speying etc) is much safer.

In terms of early speying (so before first season) or late (three months after first season) and disease causation vs prevention, the breed of the patient of the patient has a big influence on what risks early vs late neutering might pose to your dog.

There have been many MANY studies done on this subject and there are always arguments for and against: so for example a study on Rottweilers showed NO difference in the likelihood of bone cancer between neutered and intact (or entire) individuals. However the same study went on to show that bitches that we’re neutered before their first season, were
more likely to develop osteosarcoma (bone cancer) than bitches spayed earlier. However in this breed early neutering increases life span so these bitches also lived longer (so in this study early neutering was shown to increase life expectancy in this breed)
So for Rotties, early neutering may mean a longer life but an increased risk of osteosarcoma.
Other types of cancer like mast cell tumours for which Labradors can be prone to, appear to be more frequent in patients neutered later. This also applies for mammary tumours. There are many more types of diseases that studies have shown to be caused or prevented by neutering (vaginal tumours, urinary incontinence, senile dementia and cognitive disorders) but nothing conclusive which enables us as a profession to chose one over the other.

Another important thing that influences the owner and veterinary surgeon’s choice to spey before or after the 1st season is the pup’s home environment. Obviously speying is intended to render the patient infertile and if there are entire males at home
that will go bonkers when a bitch is on heat, then it makes sense to spey before that first season, as well as making sure there are no unwanted litters. (I had a male dog present with a jaw fracture from chewing through a fence to get to a female on heat!)

Another reason that I prefer to spey earlier (so definitely before the second season and ideally before the first where appropriate) and this depends on your vet,
is that I find the surgical procedure is less complicated the younger they are. The blood vessels are smaller, the blood loss is less, the uterus and ovaries are smaller as the patient is still juvenile and typically the surgical wound is small, the procedure and subsequent recovery are quicker and they seem to bounce back rapidly with the right care.

In some cases, the pups also have retained baby teeth that can cause tooth decay and malformed bites, and 6months is a very good time to remove them so the erupting adult teeth aren’t damaged when they come through.

So there are loads of factors to be thought about. Ones I haven’t mentioned are things like obesity (huge HUGE problem amongst our pets), pyometra incidences, problems with pregnancies and C-sections etc as all of these are discussions to be had when considering whether to spey or not, and not when the only consideration in “when” to spey rather than if. As I’ve understood it you’re set on speying, but just not sure on when?

All in all, if your puppy was a patient where I practice, we’d recommend early neutering. But!! If I were you, OP, I’d speak to your vet, or if you haven’t found a vet yet go and look around some practices, find a RCVS accredited one that you like, with vets you like and more
importantly trust, and take their advice.
Sorry this has been the longest post ever, have been trying to settle 7m DD whilst writing so apologies if it’s a bit disjointed! Hope that helps tropic and OP. And congratulations on your new puppy OP. Whippets are just amazing! Nicest little dogs with the funkiest characters!

Thanks Skand, that's great info. Something to think about. My dog was a malnourished scrap at 6 months, and it didn't seem a good time. I guess she may be fine now at 9ish months but I may get the relocation out of the way first

I'm a Veterinary Nurse, we used to recommend letting a bitch have her 1st season then spay 3 months after but more and more research shows that speying at 6 months/before 1st season is best. Your own Vets will discuss this with you when she has her 1st Vaccinations.