Bitch spaying

[Benji13]

Help advice needed re spaying please. We have only ever had male dogs!

Our rescue pup is 5 months old and was at the vets this week with an eye infection. The vet mentioned that she can be spayed from 6 months and they don’t need a season first - that’s old advice.

6 months seems very early and she’s a nervous rescue finding her feet at the moment. That would be a big ordeal so soon. What do people feel?

I'd say wait until she's had a season or two, so that she's physically and mentally matured. The sex hormones are involved in bone growth - so early spay / neuter can affect this.

You need to wait till she is fully mature & finished growing. To a certain extent that depends on the breed, small breeds mature faster than large or giant breeds. So at least 18 months fir toy breeds, well over two fir bigger ones.
There are good reasons for this. The skeleton is still maturing & the growth plates don’t close till full maturity which can lead to problems in later years. Also you need to make sure that she is half way between seasons when the hormones are at their lowest to avoid the possibility of a pseudo pregnancy following the spay because of the sudden drop in hormones.

Please excuse, for not fir, fingers hitting wrong key.

My Border Collie girls will be spayed tomorrow.She is 1 year old.I would let your rescue girl have her first heat and then spay her.If she is a bit anxious and you havent had her that long,it is better for her to find her feet under the table a bit.

I would definitely let her have one season.
And it depends on her size, little ones I personally do after 2 seasons, larger breeds mature slower I believe so might need to be longer.

This may be unpopular but I haven't spayed my 8.5 yr old lab bitch. I keep her in when she's in season or, when younger, did lead walks out of usual walking hours.

She is the shiniest, healthiest dog I've ever had and I come from a long line of dog people who all admire how healthy she is. People regularly assume she is years younger than she is and she is full of energy and enthusiasm for life, with such character and (emotional) intelligence.
As long as you are extremely responsible and go to great lengths to avoid unwanted pregnancy and avoid male dogs when in season, of course, I believe spaying is unnecessary.
I am sure people will disagree and tell me I'm irresponsible and not spaying can cause health probs etc. Spaying can also cause health probs. I really disagree with very early spaying as it deprives healthy female animals of the hormones they need to grow strong and develop into the animal they should become.
Also, I live in a female household with my daughters and it's quite amusing when we all synch up, even the dog!

@ChangeMustCome I suspect most people spay to prevent the often deadly pyometra, not necessarily pregnancy.
You need to be hyper vigilant for signs of pyometra, delay in getting treatment will result in certain death.
All my bitches have been spayed. A family member doesn't bother and has had 2 bitches with pyometra, one didn't make it, the other was a huge bill for an emergency spay.

[quote NiceTwin]@ChangeMustCome I suspect most people spay to prevent the often deadly pyometra, not necessarily pregnancy.
You need to be hyper vigilant for signs of pyometra, delay in getting treatment will result in certain death.
All my bitches have been spayed. A family member doesn't bother and has had 2 bitches with pyometra, one didn't make it, the other was a huge bill for an emergency spay.[/quote]
NiceTwin I wholeheartedly agree that Pyo is a risk but it was, I felt, a risk worth taking. Hopefully my lovely girl won't succumb and get ill - I'm not a vet and don't claim to be. Nor did I 'not bother', I thought long and hard and the real stats of quite what risk is posed vs the risk to health long term of spaying are hard to come by. Incidentally, my insurance is no higher than for an unspayed dog.

OP, a lot depends on your dog's breed. There is some research by Hart and Hart (on phone, can't link) on the risks and benefits to various breeds of neutering at various ages (impact on joints, cancer risk etc).

Personally I like to a dog mature mentally as well as physically. I have a slow-maturing breed, and my bitch finally grew up mentally at about three and a half. She has now been spayed, but she is a solid, sensible, clued on dog and I'm glad I waited, despite the pita of seasons.

I certainly wouldn't spay before at least 18m.. longer if they are a larger breed, if possible.
Mine's a middle -largeish girl. I wanted to wait til she was at least 2, but she was SO unhappy during her two seasons she had, (became reactive and just depressed) that we reluctantly spayed her at 20 months. It was the right decsion for her, but not one we took lightly.

We also did a laporoscopic spay...can't reccommend it highly enough! Tiny incision and she was jumping fences by day 3...no long recovery needed and once the anaesthetic wore off she was back to normal straightaway!

6m is waaaay to early I think.

I spay at six months without issue. There’s UCDavis research which is breed specific and which, for my breed, says no difference between a late and early spay.

So I made the decision on social grounds. I work long shifts (NHS) and she couldn’t go to day care in season, which would be a nightmare logistically.

For a rescue who’s anxious and settling? I’d wait a few months at least.

@ChangeMustCome

This may be unpopular but I haven't spayed my 8.5 yr old lab bitch. I keep her in when she's in season or, when younger, did lead walks out of usual walking hours. She is the shiniest, healthiest dog I've ever had and I come from a long line of dog people who all admire how healthy she is. People regularly assume she is years younger than she is and she is full of energy and enthusiasm for life, with such character and (emotional) intelligence. As long as you are extremely responsible and go to great lengths to avoid unwanted pregnancy and avoid male dogs when in season, of course, I believe spaying is unnecessary. I am sure people will disagree and tell me I'm irresponsible and not spaying can cause health probs etc. Spaying can also cause health probs. I really disagree with very early spaying as it deprives healthy female animals of the hormones they need to grow strong and develop into the animal they should become. Also, I live in a female household with my daughters and it's quite amusing when we all synch up, even the dog!

The problems with an unspayed bitch occur later in life.it is a well established fact,spaying prevents problems.Also,why would you want your bitch go through this unnecessary palaver every six months.my girl had her first season,it lasted a full month!male dogs were all the time on her bum,sometimes quite aggressive,persistent(very often male dog owners dont give a shit).I had to have her on the lead for a whole month,she didnt know why her freedom suddenly was so curtailed.she was spayed 2 days ago and we celebrated her freedom for the rest of her life.I have always spayed my bitches(never had a dog) and they were healthy girls,free from unnecessary restrictions.

If you spay before the second season, there is a big reduction in the risk of mammary cancer, so I usually recommend between the first and the second season (for most dogs this means they are late teens/adults so have done most of their growing).

In my opinion ‘early neutering’ before the first season mainly had its place in rescue if they want to neuter before rehoming, or house lots of dogs together - it’s not really necessary for a responsibly owned pet.

There is a recent paper summarising the evidence we have regarding age of neutering for specific breeds, called Assisting Decision-Making on Age of Neutering for 35 Breeds of Dogs: Associated Joint Disorders, Cancers, and Urinary Incontinence - should be open access if you google it.