well I have decided aftermuch discussion to have jessie, our cocker spaniel, spayed after her first season, she is now just turned 8 months and we are waiting :D

whilst looking for a puppy we were told, by a breeder, that should we decide to have her spayed there is a spaying procedure that involves leaving a small section of the ovarian tissue behind, preventing the coat from going wooly after the operation which I have been told is likely to happen with the standard spaying procedure.

Having discussed this with a few vets they did not know about this procedure and I am trying to find out whether it is better for Jessie to have this other than the standard spaying, or vice versa.. I sure hope I make sense :D

well.... we have a little time because Jessie hasn't come into season yet and I wondered if anyone of you knew of this procdure to leave the ovarian tissue behind and the pros and cons of it, ie someone suggested to me that Jessie could possibly still have seasons and be attractive to male dogs but obviously because the uterus was removed the risk of pyometra was gone. I am unsure whether if that was the case, Jessie could then go on to have phantom pegnancies.??

I really need your advice on this one...

Lynsey

You are better off either keeping her intact and dealing with the seasons, or having her spayed properly. sometimes some tissue gets left behind by accident, and this causes problems for the bitch owner as she sort of comes into season giving off feremones and being very attractive to males, though no longer having a womb she won't have the bleeding to alert you to this, and it can be a nuisance embarrasment, and distressing for the bitch who not having al her bits may no like this attention.

Not certain of this, so anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but if ovarian tissue is left, the hormones will still be produced, and isn't it the cycling hormone levels that increases the risk of mammary tumours as the dog ages? (Hence 'normal' spaying supposedly reducing this risk?). But then having said that, the reduced risk is not seen if spaying after more than 3 seasons. OK, confused meself now. But might be worth asking your vet about?

I agree either leave her intact or spay her properly. If u don't want to put up with her bleeding and attracting male dogs then spay her. U could end up causing more problems in the end by leaving a bit behind. Why not then just get the tubes tied and burnt (can u do that like they do with males a visectomy?) This way no chance of getting pregnant, Humans can get their tubes tied so what about dogs? I personally would just have her spayed less problems in the end, and what about mammery glands tumors ect? Sorry asking about as many questions here, never thought about it till now.

ttfn :)

thanks for the info, so basically what you are saying is there is no positive reason for leaving some of the ovarian tissue?..other than the coat remaining the same and not going wooly? there are no other positives at all?...cant see why anyone would suggest having it done then...baffling. seems like there are far too many negatives aswell.

once again thanks for the info, anyone got anything else to add eel free all advice reatly received this end

Avoiding the debate on whether to spay or not I will say Lynsey that it is possible to have a decent looking cocker even if the coat goes woolly. I had my girl spayed at age eight having hand stripped her up to that point. I tried to continue hand stripping but it got impossible after a couple of months the stuff just wouldn't come out. So now I clip her body, I don't use a guard (no.1 no.2 etc) but you have to be carefull not to dig in. Her feathers continue to grow long, silky and straight so I continue to comb often and I have been able to leave them although I do have to thin out on the front legs in particular using a thinning comb. I find too that the top knot and top third of ears are best done with the thinning scissors (she also grows fluff on her face which I trim with thinners, but her being a lady we won't talk about that :)) The end result is pretty good maybe not up to show standard but then I don't show her any more and I find she still looks a whole load better than most cockers we see in the steet. It needs doing about every 6 weeks or so but is quicker to do than the hand stripping. I hope this is of interest to you if you do decide to spay.

thanks Isabel :) I am using a coat king on her at the moment with thinning scissors etc...but as she is a black and tan and seems to have quite a bit of coat I was concerned about her losing its lovely condition. But I guess to me getting her spayed is more important. Not sure what job I am doing with her grooming, but she gets nice comments, mind you thats normally about her eyebrows cos shes black and tan and they are very prominent :D

I keep her paws trimmed, and she has her full tail so that needs trimming aswell.. shes a mucky devil at the best of times :D she has a lovely top knot aswell, which is a sight to see in the mornings :D basically trust me on this shes beautifull :D.. okay so I am biased!.. :D

Isobel's Cocker is an orange roan I seem to remember & these are easier to keep looking nice post-spaying than solids like Jessie, sorry Lynsey :-) Black coats do unfortunately go much woollier than the partis - not that I'm trying to dissuade you from spaying Jessie, you just have to accept that she won't have the coat she has now. You could still do her yourself but might have to invest in some clippers in the future to keep her looking neat & feeling comfortable, which is the main thing :-)

Jane

You remember well Jane :) Actually she was always unusually heavy coated for an orange, perhaps because she was the first in 5 generations of blues, more coat in fact than my previous blue. I would definately agree though that a black and tan will be much heavier, however Lynsey is already using a Coat King which may well lead to a thicker growing coat as it does break the hairs. Many pet owners end up clipping anyway so personally I don't think it should figure too prominently in a decision to spay or not.
I really just wanted to reassure her that she can still have a good looking dog even with clipping :)

A friend's bitch accidentally had some ovarian tissue left after spaying - and every 7 months or so the males went mad for her, just as if she was properly in season. Once she was re-operated on and the tiny scrap of tissue found and removed she was fine.

thanks Jane, yes I had thought Jessie would get quite wooly, maybe its clippers for her then, but that seems a shame, I dont really like the clippered look ...we will ahve to see what develops after shes spayed and go with the flow as me ol dad says... :D