Hi, i have a 19 week old staffie bitch and i would like some advise on speying, the vet has told us to get her speyed at 6 months before her 1st season but i have since read that it can cousre problems with there hormones, someone likend it to a women having her womb removed and needing hormone replacment , some have said to wait untill after her 1st season, some have said its cruel to do it atall, we dont intend to breed her and we have an 11 year old male yorkie who hasn't been castrated so its important that we get her done, the other thing we looked in to was having him done but we think he's to old now and it wouldn't be fair on him, also the risks of her getting cancer are redused by being speyed, the vet said the longer we wait the higher the risk. I'm not sure when they have there 1st season? and if we wait till after her 1st one will we know in time so that we can seperate the dogs? and how long do they need to be apart we dont live in a massive house so could be a bit of a problem, when the dog next door is on heat it makes our yorkie really ill so i can imagine it being even worse being in the same house. ellie

Hi ellie, if you want your bitch spayed then have her done, i would wait if poss until after her first heat and she would need to be kept away from your male dog for aleast 3 weeks at the first sign of blood, i have all my older females spayed and some times younger ones if they are not to be shown and are not good enough to breed from and they are happy and i dont have to worry about there seasons, talk to your vet and then think about when is the best time for you.

Hi Ellie,

Are you in the U.S.? In the U.S. speying is almost always recommend before the first season (usually happens between 8-10 months, but can be earlier or later). Here in the UK vets almost always recommend speying after the first season in order to allow the dog to develop more naturally to maturity.

In terms of cancer risk, there is almost no chance of mammary cancer if speyed before the first season. There is a slightly reduced risk is speyed after the second season and no difference in risk at all if speyed any later in life.

My personal experience is that in general the younger they are the quicker they rebound after surgery. *However*, I am talking about a matter of days - not weeks or months. I remember picking up a six month old after surgery and she was bouncing around like mad. The three other dogs I've had speyed were after the first season and were a little slower the first couple of days. As I type this, by the way, my year-old Cairn is snoozing on my desk, with buster collar around her neck, and is on day 8 post speying. She has been zooming around the house like mad since day 4, has managed to open her external stitches a bit in the process, but seems to have held together okay :-), and makes me wonder why I still have all the sofas, chairs and stairs blocked off. I am a bit grateful the first couple of days she was less energetic. (Stiches come out on Saturday and I cannot wait!)

A very small percentage of bitches develop urinary incontinence (leaking mostly) after speying, which is generally controllable with medication. Supposedly incontinence is even less likely to happen if you wait to spey after the first season, although I have read reports which say there is no difference between when you spey or even if you spey or not. Speyed or intact bitches (and dogs) can develop incontinence late in their lives, of course.

You have to look at your personal circumstances and make the decision. You will drive yourself nuts trying to decide which is best if you listen to the advice here :-), as good and well intentioned as we all are in sharing. My vet here in the UK gave me no choice but to spey after the first season, so I let the decision be made for me, even though I am sure I could have found another vet. The thing to remember is that thousands upon thousands of dogs are speyed each year, some before and some after the first season, and the overwhelming majority of them in either case are perfectly healthy and happy afterwards.

Stacey

I am in the uk, my guess is that all vets have differant ideas on whats best, thanks all for the feed back i feel a little more at ease now, i would have hated to do something that could change or harm my puppy, you just hear so many differant stories that make you think am i doing the right thing, i will probebly give a couple of differant vets a call and see what they say. thanks again

Hi Ellie, my mum has a 12 year old yorkie bitch who has developed mammary tumours (i guess the details of which would fall onto a different topic board) - Anyway, mum also has a 15 month old BC x springer (yes she is a nutter) we dont intend to breed from her and with the yorkies current condition we discussed spaying the collie x with the vet. She is a brilliant vet and recommended spaying 3 months after her first season. The first season should occour to allow the bitch to develop and mature (as someone has mentioned) and by spaying in-between the first and second season means the reproductive system is pretty much settled down and in a better condition for surgery. So, Molly (collie x) had her op last Friday, mum was upset and feeling guilty so i dropped the dog off for her (before work,) I called at lunch time and was told the surgery went well and she could be picked up that afternoon - I thought the dog would never forgive me for taking her to have this done, but she was surprisingly bouncy and forgiving :) - she is an absolute nut bar and is only stroppy because she cant go up the fields for a good run! She had a check up last Monday and has a surprisingly small wound with concealed stitching, we asked the vet if she still had the womb as we cant believe she has had it done :D
Sarah

I had my 10 month old dobermann spayed when she was 6 months old before her first season and all went well. I had my westie spayed when she was 6 years old and she is fine. Then I enquired about having my now 6 month old dobermann done and was told I should wait until after her 1st season as her growth might be stunted. She isnt a huge dobermann anyway so we have decided to wait. But I wish someone had told me this before I had my older dobermann spayed. Fortunatly the older one is a good size and doesnt seemed to have stunted growth. The weird thing is it is the same vets that sees them all. Not once was it mentioned with the first dobermann. I was a little angry at this.

One of the main problems in have a bitch spayed early is that the genital organs do not fully develop and can make it more likely that the bitch will develop incontinence.