Hi, I have an appointment for my 6 mos old golden girl to be spayed tomorrow. Now I have read that they should not be spayed until after the first season, so I am wondering if I should cancel my appointment? How old are they when they have the first season? How can you tell? I also have a male boy, 3 1/2 years old, (neutered at 6 mos). Will he act weird if I let her go to first season?

Thank you,

~ m

Don't have her spayed until midway between seasons and her hormones with then be balanced. Please wait until she has also had a season. She will then have nearly finished growing and her hormones balanced.

I get cross with vets that insist that it is better for them. Poor little pup its like giving a 12 year old girl a hysterectomy (spelling?), you wouldn't do that would you.

I was always under the impression you shuldn't neuter your male til much
older than 6 months also as they never properly mature is this correct?

Regards Briony

Hi, I am (guest) from before. I always heard that you should spay/neuter at 6 mos, I grew up with a lot of cats and we always did it at that age. I have always heard that is the best age for dogs also (by the way, i am in the U.S.). I neutered my boy at 6 mos and he doesn't seem to any immaturity problems. He seems to be a normal boy, wanting to mark everything when we go out (I assume this is normal?)...

~~ m

Hi Macdoggy,
Have a look at this previous thread about reasons for not spaying too early.

Well, now I am really confused on the subject! I called my vet and my friend's vet and was told by both that 6 mos. is best. I was also told that doing it young prevents cancer in the mammary glands & that the incontinence is not related to the age the dog was spayed at... I was also told that the incontinence was easy to conrol with weekly medication. Now i just don't know what to do...

Hi,
If you click on 'Search' at the top of the page and type in "Propalin" you'll find lots of information.
:)

I have a 6 month old lab and my vet told me to wait until 2 months after her first season!!!!!!!!

My personal opinion (so take it or leave it!) is that the people who recommend early spaying are not the ones who have to live with the consequences.

I was in the same dilema (UK based), as my mini s. is nearly 5 months old. I have decided to have her spayed for the following reasons:

health benefits in the long run
she us purely a pet and we have no breeding experience
we frequently socialise/walk with other dogs (some intact males), who also live in our road

My vet recommends 6 months, however having found this web site and read the threads mentioned above, I have now decided to wait until mid way between her first and second season. My reason for this is that it seems that the dog will be fully mature in terms of growth, hormones etc. The other point that I have read is that the different in health benefits of being spayed after first season vs. 6 months are very similar.

If I am wrong on any of these points, please let me know.

Thanks
K.

I asked the staff at the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association kennels when they spay or castrate animals. Their bitches always have one season, and the dogs are at least 9 months old. Over very many years and many thousands of dogs they have found these timings to give the least problems.
:)

Hi - Thank you all for your advice. I am still unsure about this, but my vet has convinced me to have her spayed now. I dropped her off this morning and can call at 3 to see how she is doing. She will spend the night there tonight and come home tomorrow afternoon. So, please cross your fingers that she is fine and everything goes well. :)

Thanks, ~ m.

I must say I agree with Jeangenie I kept in touch with every one who had one of our last litter of puppies now aged 9 months and we vistit them, only one of the the five bitches in the litter has been spayed and she was done at six months and although she was one of the biggest pups she is now smaller than the rest of the litter it could just be coincedense but i feel it is probally more to do with spaying as the other four bitches are almost identical!

Hello Briony, Yappy and Guest,

I always recomend waiting until the bitch has had a first season and then spaying midway (approx 13 weeks after season starts) between that and the next one. As the other poster said, the hormones will be back to normal and she will be fully mature by then. One of our beardie bitches didn't have a season until she was 14 months old!!!! Spaying them too young can cause problems with the growth plates and also incontinence later in life.

With boys, I always recon about 12-18 months, as above, the growth plates are not fully formed, they are not physically and hormonally mature until then and also it can cause problems with nervous aggression if neutered too young.

manda
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