I have a 5 month old Springer Spaniel, Heidi, and as she's a dearly loved pet and friend, we don't intend to breed from her, I don't know much about the subject, I don't like the sound of phantom pregnancies etc and would ideally like to have her spayed before her first season, if this is in her best interests, I would be grateful for any advice and experiance of other people, thanks

I think you will find most vets wont spay/castrate before the age of 6 months. A few years ago, you used to be able to get a dog or cat spayed/castrated without any trouble at all., but from hearing other peoples experiences, vets seem to question "why do you want your animal spayed". This happened to a colleague of mine, when she got her dog castrated, they were asking her all sorts of questions. In the end she got quite abrupt with them, and told them that she had no intention of using him as a stud dog, and that they wanted the comfort that if he ever got off the lead or ran off, that he wouldn't be doing anything he shouldnt be. Personally, I have my two girls intact, buts that's because i show. If i didnt, and I wasnt going to breed, I would get them spayed.

HTH

Nat

Hi

Our vet would not spay our JRT girl before her first season as he said that it increased the incidence of age related incontinence. He suggested that the best time would be 3 months after her first season as the uterus is at its most (not sure of the word) but meant inactive, relaxed. This apparantly did not increase the chance of incontinence but still offered quite a lot of protection against mammary tumours.

Of course this is just the opinion of one vet and I am sure that others may say differently! :)

Karen

I agree with the above except that I would wait until 3 months after the second season ideally, when the bitch is more mature. If of course she does have a phantom after the first season then it may be wiser to spay after the first. Bitches should never be routinely spayed at 6 months of age as they may be very near to having their first season and the uterus would have more blood supply which can complicate surgery. Some trainers believe that spaying before mental maturity ( quite late in a springer!) can inhibit their emotional development and may make them harder to train some just dont "grow up". Since many vets have been pushing early spaying trainers have reported more difficulties with these dogs at training classes.

thank you all for your replies, its cetainly given me something to think about
:)

I was talking to my vet recently about leaving my border collie pup until after her second season, to give her chance to mature, but he said the risk of mammory tumours later in life increases with each season for about the first three seasons, then evens off after that, so would recommend after the first. Anyone heard this before?
LynnT

I don't know how true this is Lynn but have heard that before.:D Gillian

LynnT

That is also what my vet said to me. He said that the whilst the chance of mammary tumours is virtually eliminated by spaying before the first season the down side is the increase of age related incontinence. He said that the protection is reduced by 25% with consecutive seasons (ie 75% protection after first season, 50% after the second, 25% after the third) until the 4th seaon, after which there is no protection from having them spayed. That is why he suggested that the best time was after the first season as no increase in incontinence but still a lot of protection against mammary tumours.

Of course whether this is true or not I can't say - just that is what my vet said. Although I am sure I have also read it somewhere else since but not sure where.

Karen :)

I think there's a lot of rumours and inconsistencies out there... Personally, I think there's no hard and fast rule of exactly when. I believe it basically comes down to personal preference of the owner, breeder, and vet for what they feel is 'best' from their experiences.

I've had small breeds in my family spayed at 5-6 months old (Schnauzers, Beagles, Westies, doxies)...none have ever had incontinence problems at all. I've always 'heard' that it's the larger breed bitches who've had problems when they were spayed at older ages. I don't know if that's a fact or an opinion.

I've gained a belief from being on CD and learning from others with great experience that larger breeds should not be spayed until they are older than 6 months due to slower maturation rates than the smaller breeds.
But I still would rather run the risk of the minimal chances of incontinence than pregnancy, pyrometria, and cancer.... I've come across more owners who had those three troubles than ever a problem with spay-related incontinence.
regards,
toodles

Toodles

My vet said that there is no increase in incontinence if they have just the one season. But like you I was willing to take the risk and rang around to try and get my girl spayed at 6 months (wanted maximum protection from those mammary tumours and was willing to risk the incontinence) but could not get a vet in our area to do it before her first season. Not sure if the reason was the same in each case though as didn't go into it with each one I called (and there are quite a few round here) but couldn't get it done.
I got it done 3 months after her first season but in the meantime she had to endure the misery of a phantom pregnancy :( (I would have risked the incontinence to spare her that alone) but at least she will not have any more.

Karen :)

Toodles ,

I agree we have had loads and loads of dogs thoughout our family from one breed to the next. I lost count of my parents dogs ( They are 65 now) none every had any problems ever with incontinence. Most dogs were however small to medium.

Pam

After reading your replies, I think on balance I'd rather Heidi was spayed before her first season, she is very hyper, so I don't know how she would cope with being kept in while she was on heat, rather then her mad run on the beach for 2 hours every morning then the freedom of wandering round the fields for the rest of the day, and theres all ways the risk that an accident could happen with all the intact dogs we have around here. As to training, she's going to be a family pet, and is already very good on the recall, sits and stays etc, so I don't think we would be training her much more any way. Although we had thought of agility training in the future, just to keep her mind active, (and mind):)
It does worry me though that she would benifit from waiting, before spaying,but then I do tend to worry about my baby a little too much sometimes:)

In my experience bitches seem to calm down and grow up with their first season. If you have her spayed before puberty, she may stay this infant for ever.

I have a freind with a 11 year old Golden who can't accept she is a grown up, to the wextent that she only really likes puppy kind of play, and all my dogs have one by one outgrown playing wuith her.

ytou may like a Peter Pan of this sort. :D

This is not an isolated incident, nearly all the prebubescent spayed bitches I know in various breeds are immature in this way.