Instead of having my bitch spayed is there any medication that can be taken long term to stop the seasons?

As far as I know you can postpone a season but not stop all together - why is it you need to do this?

Yes you can, Delvesteron, but it can long term cause Pyometra which is the main reason it is best to get a bitch spayed before she reaches late middle age. 

Also it is not a good idea to use on a bitch that is wanted to be bred from as it seems to be linked with cystic ovaries and abnormalities (cysts and fluid) within the womb lining.

With my first bitch of another breed I used it, the First dose is given midway between seasons as I remember, the next 4 months later then every 5 months (at the time I warted to keep breeding option open, but since learnt it's not good to use regularly on potential brood bitches).

When she was spayed at 3 it was found her womb was full of cysts and fluid.

I'm really concerned about the op that is my reason.

If you are worried about the surgery, there's even more reason to do it sooner rather than later. The injections to stop seasons very often lead to pyometra (this was discussed not long ago on another group, and it was amazing how many people had bitches develop pyometra) and of course if you have an older ill bitch, the risks are much higher than if you operate on a young fit one.

If you use the drug to stop seasons your very likely to end up with Pyometra or some other issue needing a spay.

Assuming your bitch is fully mature (has had two or three seasons) and not going to be bred from then spaying is probably the better option.

Of course you could simply keep her as nature intended (and deal with seasons, adn keepign ehr safe from being mated) and be vigilant about looking for signs of Pyometra as she gets older, accepting that you have about  a 30% chance she may need an emergency spay.

Something also to take into account is if she is of a breed that suffers huge coat changes making grooming difficult and unpleasant (Spaniels come to mind), this may decide you in favour of keeping her entire.

There is also the issue of Mammary tumours, more common in some breeds and lines than others, but overall around 40% of bitches will get them, and around half of them are malignant.  Vigilance means if you get them treated when small the prognosis is excellent for curing the problem.

This article sets out the pros and cons rather well http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

As for worry over the surgery, no surgery is without risk, but operating on a young fit animal is preferable and with modern anasthesia, with such routine surgery, a minimal risk.

> As for worry over the surgery, no surgery is without risk, but operating on a young fit animal is preferable and with modern anasthesia, with such routine surgery, a minimal risk.

I've had a 5 year old bitch spayed today.  She's never had a litter, but I no longer have to worry about the boys chasing her.  She is pretty dopey, and took no interest in the fish I poached for her, but some bitches are like this after a spay.  She will be restricted on her exercise for a while, but I am happy that it is now all over.

I'm really concerned about the op that is my reason.

There have been hundreds of thousands of dogs neutered with this operation, so its not an op vets are not familiar with. It is a major op but it is also quite safe, my bitch was spayed & although I find it an uncomfortable period for me in the short term, then, unless you plan on a litter, it is better to get it done & it saves a lot of interdog aggro & decreased exercise periods for the dog.
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All of the rescue dogs I've had were already spayed and were healthy to the end of their lives.  The last dog I had from a puppy and had her spayed and she started leaking wee and I had to keep her on Incurin for all of her life.  She hated getting wet from the leaking and it really stressed her out.  Incurin helped but I had to keep increasing the dose.  I never, ever let her know it upset me. This new puppy is 100% healthy and I don't want the same thing to happen again. 

I have just had my 1 year old lab spayed. I was worried about it but I waited until 3 months after her season and had all the checks done. I hate having to worry about dogs getting to her when she's in season and it restricts her enjoyment of life - so it was a bit of a no brainer.
She was a bit whiney the next day - but 2 weeks later she's right as rain and we can look forward to uniterupted fun. :-)

A good few years ago I had a bitch spayed and she ended up badly incontinent for life. As a result I didn't have my next bitch spayed - and she got a pyro! It was touch and go with the pyro and I never want to go through that again. Since then all my dogs have been spayed / neutered with no problem. I would much rather run the (slight) risk of incontinence than risk losing my bitch to a pyro or mammary tumours. I'm just waiting for the time to have my latest rescue spayed and although I will be a wreck on the day of the operation I think it is the best thing for her. Talk over your concerns with the vet and then decide.

I think if you want her to be without seasons then you should spay but not before she is fully mature, depending on the breed from 18 to 30months - do not spay before maturity unless there is a medical reason.

I've spayed three girls, one after first season and two before - vets advice at the time and I now know the implications of an early spay. None of them had any 'leakage' problems and lived to good ages. Plan to spay my latest girl after she is eighteen months.

The last dog I had from a puppy and had her spayed and she started leaking wee and I had to keep her on Incurin for all of her life.

What age was she spayed? I believe there is a link between early neutering and incontinence in bitches. A friend has a bitch that became incontinent and she was just 18 months old when spayed -no choice as she developed pyometra.

Jodi, have you ever left a girl intact?

No. I've never had any intention to breed and would rather not deal with seasons and unwanted attentions from male dogs

So you don't really know how spaying your bitches early may have effected them as you have nothing to compare it with.

I had two females spayed late...one at eight years...no problems.
The other was spayed at six years and became incontinent at eight. Ive used incurin which stopped the incontinence within a week....nowadays I use it intermittently and she remains dry.
re.  other dogs we've had...
a mastiff spayed at age one....no problems
A Rottweiler ..spayed at two..increased her aggression to other dogs...:-(
A terrier ?..un spayed...developed mammary tumours at 13 but lived  to 16 without issues.
Two chis....un spayed...no issues.

So you don't really know how spaying your bitches early may have effected them as you have nothing to compare it with.

Nova, the only thing I was commenting on was that spaying may cause bitches to have incontinence, nothing more. All I said was that I have had three spayed and none of them leaked.

I am sorry then Jodi I miss understood what you said which was

I've spayed three girls, one after first season and two before - vets advice at the time and I now know the implications of an early spay. None of them had any 'leakage' problems and lived to good ages. Plan to spay my latest girl after she is eighteen months.

I thought you meant that you felt you now knew the implications of an early spay.

No, I was thinking more of physical, such as skeletal problems and perhaps behavioural problems as well.
My last dog tore a crusciate when older which I have read may have been partly due to the early spay. So this time the dog will be fully mature both physically and mentally before being spayed to try and alleviate those problems as much as possible, but then there's pyo and mammary tumours to fret over instead. Sigh!

For varying reasons there is not one vet in my area that I completely trust.  I'm comfortable with the one I'm using at the moment as regards injections and maybe an emergency but that's it.  I had a dog with breathing difficulties and tried all the vets but to no avail.  This one took my money for an x-ray then said they'd lost them but here was a similar one of another dog.  I told them to do another x-ray at their own cost but they didn't want to subject my dog to another one.  My dog died during a Sunday night and I had to go to a vet open on Sunday mornings 20 miles from me and I got them to do a post-mortem and it was lung-worm just as my husband had been telling all the vets all along.

You don't need to spay your bitch until you are feeling comfortable with the idea if you can cope with the season's.

I have 3 unspayed bitches of different age's and the oldest now being 6yrs ... none have been bred from and its my preferred way to spay them at around 6-7 yrs old before they get any older as have done with previous bitches.

To those of you who own flat coats and have them spayed. How much difference have you found in their coats ? I am still not sure what I will finally do but dont want to risk pyo. Atm she is only 2 ish and has only had one season which was recently so I am in no rush just wanting to balance the pros and cons

Do not own one myself but have a couple of friends that do and they both resemble Newfis. Now the size is in the control of their owners but the coat and change of shape would be down to the spaying.

I don't have bitches but have two friends who own spayed Flatties.  The coat of one of the bitches did not change at all following spaying and the owner keeps her slim.  The other girl's coat has become more profuse and 'woolier' and does require extra grooming.  However, with some extra, frequent effort on the grooming front her coat still looks great.  (Without this extra grooming she would, indeed, look very hairy!)  So I think it is individual to the bitch and, for those whose coats do change, its appearance will depend on how much grooming people are prepared to do.

(Nova - yes, I also know a neutered boy who resembles a Newfie, but the poor lad does not get much grooming and I don't think the state of his coat is entirely due to castration!)

My rescue spaniel had been used for breeding ( puppy farm) but when she developed Pyo after another litter, they let her go. I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and rushed her to the vets for emergency surgery. Her coat is a nightmare it is like a thick nylon fur with very little silky shine. They had kept her shaved in the puppy farm so I don't know if it is the spay or the fact she had been shaved virtually all her life that caused this coat to grow, she was around 3-4 years when she was spayed. The only way I can cope with her coat, bearing in mind she is purely a pet, is to keep her cut very short all over. Not at all like a spaniel but as long as she is comfortable that is all that matters.
My other dog ( a Patt ) I had spayed very early because we also had her litter mate brother and it was not convenient to keep them apart when she came into season, so as soon as he started being interested in her she had the op, as did he. I have not noticed any difference in my Patts coat and her growing seems perfectly normal. So I cannot honestly say whether spaying spoils the coat or not. If I go back in time all of my dogs have been spayed and I have never had problems with their coats, only this spaniel.

The breed may be relevant as I know in some breeds a high proportion of bitches have leaking issues. 

Coat issues seem to occur with some kinds of coats more than others, spaniels suffering particularly awful changes.

I have so far had all my bitches spayed (6 so far, the other 3 still entire, as only 1 - 5 years old) after their breeding life was over (between 5 and 7) and none have been incontinent, but were kept at correct weight all their lives and are a medium size breed.

Flatcoats generally have a very obvious coat change. While it can depend on the line and the bitch, the coat does tend to change quite drastically in the breed. I've heard the change can be made less severe by supplementing the diet with sweet potato, but have heard mixed reviews as to how effective this is.

If you're planning on showing your bitch, I would not recommend spaying her until her show career is over or she is into veterans. If she does develop the "spayed bitch coat" I've seen on a fair few in the breed, she likely won't get very far in the ring because the coat quality won't be what is called for in the standard.

Thanks everyone that was my generally feeling regarding the coat. Although we have stopped showing atm its a cas of " never say never " and the coat would be a consideration. Extra grooming is fine it cant possibly be as much work as a longhaird thick coated gsd ( also nutered but male) Other factors I am not so worried about it seems spay incontinence is luck of the draw, I have got her  to a good  weight and feel that keeoing her that way is up to me. Although she doesnt make it easy being a foodie !
Interesting about sweet potato she would be more than happy to have something added to her food her catch phrase is if its good it must be food
Think any descions are going to be delayed as long as possible and fingers crossed we dont get the dreaded pyo

Yesterday I had my rescue bitch spayed, today the wound site began to pour blood and she was rushed back to the vet. She immediately had a second operation and is being kept in at least overnight. The vet phoned about an hour ago to say that there are problems with the blood clotting and that  he is "hopeful" but she is not out of the woods yet. How I wish I could turn the clock back and not had her spayed! Please all keep your fingers crossed for her, she is so special.

What an awful time your having, hope she is soon well and home.

Is this a breed where Von Willebrands is common?

Are they checkimg for lungworm I believe there is a connection with clotting problems. Sime vets insit on precautionary treatment befire operations. I do hope she recovers well x

That's terrible news hope she makes a full recovery.

In Response to furriefriends
Are they checkimg for lungworm I believe there is a connection with clotting problems. Sime vets insit on precautionary treatment befire operations. I do hope she recovers well x

Saying that when I was up my vets last some one was booking there dog into be done and was told unless they wormed the dog with one that does lungworm they couldn't book them in for it as they insist all be treated before.

Yes I went to a workshop held by a large vets practice in surrey and he was saying that it has become the practice in many areas because of the risk of bleeding after ops the south of england being an area he mentioned. I really hope that the ops dog is going to be ok whatever the reason

I went in to see her today and got her to eat a bit - good sign. She is still on a drip but if no more bleeding overnight I can take her home tomorrow. Will speak to the vet about lungworm and if not that will need to get her tested to find out if she has one of the clotting problem diseases. There was no mention of testing or vaccinating against lungworm when I took her in although she had a thorough check up when she was first admitted. We are in N E Scotland so maybe the lungworm message hasn't filtered through yet. I feel a little happier having visited her today. Thanks to all for the help and good wishes. She was wormed a couple of weeks ago with Panacure granules don't know if that covers lungworm.

Have got her home at last, she is a bit delicate but the wound appears to be healing. If anyone has any tips on dealing with the clotting issue in the future I would be grateful. I know that any cuts etc. need immediate vet attention and have been advised to get a stock of pressure bandages in case of minor wounds, to use for the trip to the vet, not to treat wounds myself!