Just booked my puppy in to get spayed and I'm having a wobble

[Wibbywobblywobble]

She's 2kg, so teeny tiny, and will be just over 5 months when she gets done.

I know it's the right thing to do for her sake but I'm feeling really guilty about putting her through this op when she's so young and small.

Is there a benefit to waiting? Is it better to get it done before she has a season? Should I get her the suit or the cone after the op? Any helpful hints and tips?

TIA

My vet won’t do it until after first season although it’s possibly breed dependent.

5 months sounds exceptionally early though as they’re not anywhere near fully developed. Spaying itself is absolutely the right thing to do but I would personally wait.

I have a 5 month old puppy and though we will definitely get her spayed I thought it was too early yet. I plan to wait until she’s had her first season.

I can never understand why vets want to spay bitches between seasons as it is deemed safest, yet are happy to spay bitches that haven't yet had a season so could feasibly come in tomorrow?

That said, my personal opinion is that 5 months is far too young, and they should be allowed to mature fully before neutering.

As an aside, are you having a traditional spay or a laparascopic?

Wait until she’s had at least one season, see how she is and if you decide to go ahead then book her in for 3 months after it finishes. Bigger dogs should be fully mature and stopped growing before messing around with their hormone production.

It’s possible to have an ovary-sparing spay, so only the uterus is removed.

I don't know about timings etc as not a dog owner, but our vet does kittens from 12 weeks, as long as they're 1kg. So the size thing isn't necessarily an issue.

Out vets won't do neutering if they're not completely happy, be that weight, age, general condition of the animal. If your vets happy then I'd speak with them to bring your concerns up and go ahead if your happy. You could always call a different vets to ask thie opinion too.

5 months is very young. I’m surprised the vet has recommended this

She's a Yorkshire terrier, there was so much conflicting advice online so I asked the vet this morning and she recommended getting her done when she hits 5 months and definitely before a season. I'm not an experienced dog person so just went with her advice. Maybe I should put it off then, it does feel like she's too small, but the vet said that it's better for them.

My vet doesn't do the laprascopic surgery, so it will be traditional.

I prefer my girls to have two seasons. But, mine are bigger dogs and I prefer to wait until I know that they have had the benefit of their hormones to reach maturity.

For me, the increase in risk for mammary tumours by waiting for two seasons is outweighed by the benefits of having their hormones for a longer period. My girl was done recently and is incontinent and anxious. My other girl was fine.

Having said that, it's a personal decision that you can only base on your knowledge of your girl and her breed,

If you go ahead, I'd go with the surgical suit everytime.

Traditional spay better at that size, in my experience, so that's good (although recovery so much easier for dog after a lap spay, so I would absolutely use it again for larger dogs).

Oh, and to your other question - the bitch I had most spayed most recently, I used a suit for the first time rather than a cone/collar. Suit was SO much better for the dog - although I actually found the Amazon backups I bought better than the vet's one, personally, as it didn't need to be removed for the dog to go to the loo.

Mine are terriers so small. I waited until after first season and had it done as a lap spay which is less invasive with less side effects. If your vet doesn't do you can go to any vet that does it.

I only have her because there was an accidental litter, and her Mum died during the birth, she was the only surviving puppy so I've hand reared her since day 1.

Having seen what her parents owner went through I really don't want that for my pup so want to do everything correctly so spaying her ASAP is important, but I don't want to do it too early.

The only real benefit to spaying her before her first season is that, in most breeds, it reduces the risk of mammary tumours later on to almost zero.

The risk, if you wait until after the first season, is a tiny bit higher.

One of my girls suffered from constant infections and irritations and letting her bits fully mature, cured her of that. If you could see the physical difference in vulva size, nipple size, calming down etc, you'd probably see the that a season really does seem to mature a bitch physically. Whether it makes a real difference to outcomes I don't know but there simply isn't good evidence that spaying before a first season significantly benefits a bitch

I'm quite surprised at your vet saying it's definitely better to have her done before her first season, but maybe thats breed specific advice. Our vet was very much of 'here are the pros and cons of doing it at the different ages, go away and think about it, it's entirely up to you' but maybe that's because she's a different breed (spaniel)
Is it worth you ringing another vet and getting a second opinion, just for your own peace of mind?

Also the suits are definitely better than the cones in our experience - a lot more comfortable for the dog.

Hope your sweet girls surgery goes okay whenever you do decide to do it!

Frankly I’d be changing vet. Their recommendation is not in your dog’s best interests. Just because some rescues spay and neuter very young animals doesn’t mean it’s right. Please do more research OP, vets are very often wrong, about nutrition and vaccinations as well as hormone-altering surgery. You can’t reverse it, please give your pup much more time.

Could you explain what the benefit is please? I've not heard this before.

I've been researching for the last month and there's so much conflicting advice from getting her done at 5 months to never getting her done at all.

I will call another couple of vets and see what they say.

I did tell them I was very paranoid about her getting pregnant, due to what happened with her mum (who was just over a year old) so maybe that swayed their advice.

It's sounding like I'm maybe better waiting until the 9 month- a year mark though?

I am in Ireland so advice could be different, my vet was early the better, makes all the difference in reducing cancer.

my girl was one, purely because she only came to live with me then. it was the first thing I got her booked in for. If she'd come early, she'd be done earlier.

She's a Frenchie

I waited until mine had one season before spaying as that's what my vet recommended but I think they are all different.

Just to reassure you, my chihuahua weighs just under 2kg and was spayed yesterday. She came through it just fine and is curled up on me now sleeping.

I don't think there ever really is one right answer to this, to be honest - what I would say is, if you feel she's too small, it's not going to be the absolute end of the world to wait until she's a bit more grown up - her bond with you will be even stronger and she will have settled into her toilet training, socialisation and other training a bit more, so a couple weeks 'off' won't be such a big deal. Once she's had her first season maybe you can reasses, but I think you are right to go for a second opinion. Especially if that means you could get a laproscopic procedure instead.

Thank you all, I've just emailed another couple of vets, see what they say.

She's just so small, and I have no experience with dogs so I have no clue what's best for her at all, I just want to get it all right so she's happy and healthy.

My small dog was done before her first season at just about 6 months. I felt a bit guilty because she was still small, but i didn't want the hassle of dealing with a season. Vet said with a small breed it doesn't really make any difference to her development if it's before or after the season. I think my research at the time showed me it's actually very slightly better in terms of future cancer risk to do it before the season.

I researched exhaustively and decided to wait until after my 6kg girls first season. I bought babies envelope neck vests with the poppers at the bottom and just undid them when she went out to wee.

I did tell them I was very paranoid about her getting pregnant, due to what happened with her mum

@Wibbywobblywobble you say it was an accidental pregnancy, so what happened? What I'm trying to determine is how you can reassure yourself that the risks of an unplanned pregnancy in your dog are reduced. Did her mum get out of the garden? Was she mated out on a walk? etc. These things can be avoided with care, so there's no need to be paranoid about something easily preventable IMHO.

The right age to neuter depends very much on who you ask. Generally speaking:

Rescues tend to recommend early neutering because they've seen the problems caused by unneutered dogs

Behaviourists and trainers tend to recommend later neutering because of the behavioural and structural issues caused by inadequate hormone production

Vets tend to recommend based on their evaluation of health risks

I don't think there's any general right answer, it depends on you, the dog, the circumstances and your evaluation of the different risks.

Yorkies are one of the breeds covered in this study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7359819/, you might find it helpful in assessing the risks.

My personal view is that provided you can ensure she isn't accidentally mated then there's nothing to be lost, and potentially a lot to be gained, from waiting for a season or two.

That's really young. Vet told us an immature vulva can lead to UTIs later on. I'd follow your instinct, and wait until her first season.