When to fix your pet?

[OutdoorDad]

Have a 5 month old pup.

Last female pup I had was 30 years ago. The general consensus was to let them go through one heat. At least that’s what my vet (and school roommate) recommended at the time.

Unfortunately, he passed away. And it seems like most all the vets I’ve been exposed to lately are more concerned wth selling chicken flavored toothpaste and organic treats made from dried bull privates than the vets I dealt with in the past.

Whats the current thought or practice or your advice.

 

[VUPDblue]

Our little guy got the chop when he was 8 months old. Vet said he could have gotten it up to 2 months earlier if we had wanted to.

 

[chezuki]

Our vet recommends waiting until they are at least 6 months old to keep hormone levels through critical development times.

 

[CraigAPS]

Here are some Qs and As from the New Hope Clinic's website.

Q: Should I let my dog have a heat before I spay her?
A: Medically, it’s better to spay your dog before her first heat. It greatly reduces the risk of mammary tumors. People who wait to spay their dogs until after their second heat greatly increase the risk of mammary tumors in their pets. Once they’ve had several heats, intact female dogs have a one out of four chance of developing mammary tumors.

Q: At what age should we spay/neuter our dog?
A: We spay or neuter dogs at our clinic at 12 weeks as long as they weigh at least three pounds. Of course, it varies by breed. Some of the tiny breeds have to be done later. But larger breeds are usually ready by two months of age.
There are still some people who say pediatric spay/neuter is dangerous, but that’s not true. It has become much more widely accepted. Those ideas about needing to wait until after a dog is six months or a year old are really antiquated and the evidence is to the contrary. Even the American Veterinary Medical Association supports early spay/neuter.
The puppies recover a lot faster than adults. It’s an easier surgery for them, and it reduces the rate of disease later on. It’s just a much easier procedure on younger animals.

I will add to this, my sister had her Shih tzu pups spayed at 6 months before they went into heat for the first time. I had my pup re-spayed while she was in heat because it was easier to remove the ovaries while in heat as they are larger, but she was over a year old and the doctor who spayed her originally was an idiot, but I digress.

ETA: Here's the New Hope Clinic's website FAQ: http://www.hopect.org/about/faq-dogs/

 

[Trigger Time]

I take my pets to the vet. Also my cars to a mechanic. I'll fix my own guns though

 

[hoosierdaddy1976]

Our female was spayed before her first heat. Her brother has yet to be neutered. They’re litter mates that we got a year apart. Rosie on the left, Odie on the right

 

[OutdoorDad]

Here are some Qs and As from the New Hope Clinic's website.

Q: Should I let my dog have a heat before I spay her?
A: Medically, it’s better to spay your dog before her first heat. It greatly reduces the risk of mammary tumors. People who wait to spay their dogs until after their second heat greatly increase the risk of mammary tumors in their pets. Once they’ve had several heats, intact female dogs have a one out of four chance of developing mammary tumors.

Q: At what age should we spay/neuter our dog?
A: We spay or neuter dogs at our clinic at 12 weeks as long as they weigh at least three pounds. Of course, it varies by breed. Some of the tiny breeds have to be done later. But larger breeds are usually ready by two months of age.
There are still some people who say pediatric spay/neuter is dangerous, but that’s not true. It has become much more widely accepted. Those ideas about needing to wait until after a dog is six months or a year old are really antiquated and the evidence is to the contrary. Even the American Veterinary Medical Association supports early spay/neuter.
The puppies recover a lot faster than adults. It’s an easier surgery for them, and it reduces the rate of disease later on. It’s just a much easier procedure on younger animals.

I will add to this, my sister had her Shih tzu pups spayed at 6 months before they went into heat for the first time. I had my pup re-spayed while she was in heat because it was easier to remove the ovaries while in heat as they are larger, but she was over a year old and the doctor who spayed her originally was an idiot, but I digress.

ETA: Here's the New Hope Clinic's website FAQ: http://www.hopect.org/about/faq-dogs/

i understand the prophylactic benefits, but I have heard that they don’t develop without that first beat. And remain puppy like.

Anyone have a position or experience on that? Cause this pup is crazy high energy.



And id like to hear about the re-spaying story. Sounds like a winner!

 

[hoosierdaddy1976]

Rosie is more high energy than Odie, but it seems that he is the most laidback of the litter (10 pups total). The lady from whom we got them often gets updates from all the pups’ owners. But, being a GSD/husky mix, they both are ready to run, work, and play at a moment’s notice.

 

[CraigAPS]

i understand the prophylactic benefits, but I have heard that they don’t develop without that first beat. And remain puppy like.

Anyone have a position or experience on that? Cause this pup is crazy high energy.



And id like to hear about the re-spaying story. Sounds like a winner!

So, I adopted Amora from a GSD and Husky rescue (she's a GSD mix. maybe husky or possibly chow. idk) one August. Everything was fantastic. I got super lucky. She's a very smart and sweet girl who loves nearly every person she meets but she's just not big on other pups. Anyway, come spring, I see spots of blood on the couch where she lays. I take her to the my vet, and he tells me that she's in heat, which neither of us understands because she clearly has the scar from having been spayed and the rescue told me she had been. So, we discuss our options and decide to re-spay her while she's still in heat, but after the initial bleeding has stopped. She has the operation, and everything is fine. The vet tells me that whoever spayed her took her uterus but left her ovaries. So, essentially, she still produced the hormones that caused her to try to "find some," but she couldn't have carried a litter. My vet had never seen or even heard of that before. She did calm down a little after being spayed. She still has energy for days, but she doesn't have the need to try and roam. She only broke out of my yard once in the 5 years that I've had her and that was the spring she was in heat.

 

[dusty88]

I am a small animal vet

The question of when to spay/neuter has actually become more controversial in the past two years, but I'll try to keep this relatively short

Behavioral changes are often misattributed to spaying/neutering because dogs, like people, go through behavioral changes while maturing and that timing often coincides with timing of surgery
Spaying before the first or second heat reduces the chance of mammary cancer in adulthood to almost zero

However, there is information that spaying/neutering before full development MIGHT contribute to longer bone growth and orthopedic problems later in life (This is NOT settled science though 90% of the breeders think it is and think they are smarter than scientists and veterinarians but I digress)

What breed is your pup? That changes the risk factors or concerns you need to have

Also bear in mind the basics that some folks seem to be forgetting. A female can be in heat up to 3 weeks. When she is in heat, male dogs will smell her from 5 mi away, run into your yard, climb fences, kill other male dogs for her attention etc. So her environment also matters (ie I would not leave a female in heat loose, even in a fenced-in yard).

 

[OutdoorDad]

Thank you Dusty88.

She is a miniature poodle.

I tried to to hold out for another Doberman, but the Mrs won.

And she is a fine dog that is large enough to pet. But a bit of an A-type which results in being a bit nippy with some folk.


Oh, and mad scientist genius type at manipulating.

 

[dusty88]

Thank you Dusty88.

She is a miniature poodle.

I tried to to hold out for another Doberman, but the Mrs won.

And she is a fine dog that is large enough to pet. But a bit of an A-type which results in being a bit nippy with some folk.


Oh, and mad scientist genius type at manipulating.

In that case, I would get it scheduled. She will be coming in heat within the next 3 months most likely. And she is almost done growing, so you don't need to wait.

She may be more subject to weight gain for the first few months after the spay, so keep an eye on that.

 

[OutdoorDad]

Appreciate your input.
Shes scheduled for tomorrow. But I just found out yesterday that this was the plan.

I’ll stop foot dragging and let it move forward.

 

[OutdoorDad]

So, I adopted Amora from a GSD and Husky rescue (she's a GSD mix. maybe husky or possibly chow. idk) one August. Everything was fantastic. I got super lucky. She's a very smart and sweet girl who loves nearly every person she meets but she's just not big on other pups. Anyway, come spring, I see spots of blood on the couch where she lays. I take her to the my vet, and he tells me that she's in heat, which neither of us understands because she clearly has the scar from having been spayed and the rescue told me she had been. So, we discuss our options and decide to re-spay her while she's still in heat, but after the initial bleeding has stopped. She has the operation, and everything is fine. The vet tells me that whoever spayed her took her uterus but left her ovaries. So, essentially, she still produced the hormones that caused her to try to "find some," but she couldn't have carried a litter. My vet had never seen or even heard of that before. She did calm down a little after being spayed. She still has energy for days, but she doesn't have the need to try and roam. She only broke out of my yard once in the 5 years that I've had her and that was the spring she was in heat.

thats bizarre!!

 

[Dead Duck]

When to fix your pet?

When they're broken?