Hi.. When is it best to have my bitch spayed? She is 14 months old and just had her 1st season which lasted almost 6 weeks! She was just brown spotting for the 1st 3 weeks and the went full red blood, vulva swelling, constant licking and peeing for 7 days. Then brown watery for 2 weeks until swelling went down and no discharge. Sorry for being so graphic! Question is when is the best time for spaying...is it 3 months from the onset or from the end? I will ask my vet tomorrow but I need to be armed with a bit of information from you folks. Thanks.

The best time is mid way between seasons.
As you wont know when her next one would be, the minimum time would be 2 months. This would be to make sure she hasn't been caught by a dog. For this reason most say 3 months from the start.
One of mine was similar to yours for length of season. I have never had one last so long as she went 5 to 6 weeks but she bled from the beginning & was painfully large..felt so sorry for her.
As your girl went on for close to 2 months, you have a bit of extra time & I would say could go 3.5 months from the start ;)

It would be best to wait until she ahs her next season and that will give you an idea of the length between her seasons, and she should be spayed midway between.

If you really want t6o spay this time you should go for 3 months from the start of the season ,or more than two months from the end, as a bitch will go through the same hormonal rises as if the were pregnant and in fact levels stay elevated longer than if she had puppies and you want to spay when there is least hormonal activity.

Thank you Brainless and Lexy for taking the time to reply. Your advice is much appreciated!

Also, do make sure that she is not in a phantom pregnancy when going in for spaying as this can cause a tremendous problem.  Personally, I would let her have 2 or even 3 seasons before spaying her.

Thank you for your advice. I'm taking her to vets for her annual booster. I've going to give her a grilling about it all...but as you know vets don't know all the answers . I like to get advice from folks from this forum ...ones who really have experienced the situation. Thanks.

It used to be postulated that 50% of bitches developed mammary tumours and of those around 40% were malignant.

More recently the study that concluded this was found to be erroneous as it was a small sample f related individuals it was based on.

In my own experience of owning 9 bitches that are/were 3 or over in my breed, I have only had one with a small mammary tumour, that was malignant and removed.  She  died of old age at 13 1/2.

All mien have been spayed sometime between 5 and 7 (the one with the lump was 5, as I erroneously thought it would be helpful).

By leaving a bitch past her third season the RISK of mammary tumours is said to increase by 25%, but then again not allowing an organism to fully mature before interfering with it may cause more health and mental issues.  it is easy enough to check a bitches mammaries and have an lump investigated when small.

Hi again.
I previously had a GSP bitch. She was spayed 3 months after her first season. She also developed a few lumps. One looked like a mammary tumour but developed at 12 years old! She was PTS at 12 1/2 years old after having a so called stroke! So I am aware of lumps and they can be seen well on a shorthaired pointer. As it was over 14 years ago that she was successfully spayed, I realised things have moved on in the medical world, hence my questions! Thanks for your reply...and happy easter!