To Spay or not?

claire_88 · #1 21-11-11, 02:06 PM

Skye is 8 months old and as yet has not had her first season.

Now from reading previous threads i think i want to let her have two seasons and then look into getting her spayed.

Problem 1: My OH seems adamant on letting her have one litter...........from a previous thread i posted, i no longer want this, but he does

(I don't want to get into a breeding war i am merely stating what's going on)

Problem 2: the health issues involved with the spay.......the pro's and cons.
I'v seen some people on here have left their bitches un-spayed and how have they found this, has it been a challenge every season? Is it just as easy to leave them be?
Do people recommend spaying? Any people had problems with having the procedure done?

I had my male neutered and regretted it, but as he is a male its a big difference i.e: no pregnancy scares.

So to spay or not?

Caryll · #2 21-11-11, 02:54 PM

Oh dear, you're going to get so many different answers!

I've never willingly had a bitch spayed & the only one I did, was because of pyometra. I have to say that although the seasons were a bit of a nuisance I never found them more than that, and I've had 4 bitches.

I really don't like the idea of unnecessary surgery & all the risks involved, and would therefore avoid it unless it can't be avoided. Spaying is a big (although quite routine) operation, and there can be drawbacks. Urinary incontinence/urine burn is one. Nervous aggression is another. Yes, it can stop your bitch getting mammary tumours, but they are not as common as some people will have you believe.

When all's said and done, all you can do is read everything you can & make up your own mind!

I've always liked this article...
Spaying & Castration. Neutering Dogs

claire_88 · #3 21-11-11, 03:05 PM

Thanks Caryll i will have a read of the article when i finish work

xx

kita · #4 21-11-11, 03:53 PM

I would always rather spay a bitch, not because of the risk of pregnancy, but because of the risk of a pyo. According to a study done in Sweden where they don't spay bitches 25% of unspayed bitches will have a pyo. by the age of 10 years old. As they get older the risk gets greater. As pyo. is a life threatening condition that risk is far too great for me. Plus having had a bitch that had to be spayed aged 8 (a BSD) due to a pyo. I would not want to put a dog through such a major operation when she was so old again.

I did not find seasons difficult to cope with, but then I only had bitches at the time, and I was able to put her straight in the car and take her to a local beach for walks, along with my other two GSD's.

My OH was also not wanting to get into breeding her (he would not want to be responsible for selling the pups!) so I did not have that problem to cope with.

This is an article that gives a scientific view of all the studies done, it gives all sides of the arguments:

EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH TO NEUTER SURGERY AND INTRODUCTION TO EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICAL PRACTICE - Arnold L Goldman, D.V.M.'s Blog - MedHelp

Sue

PS I have kept an intact male and would do again.

zetstaff · #5 21-11-11, 03:58 PM

I'm with Sue on this one, pyo is a killer + sometimes the symptoms don't manifest themselves until it's too late

Jude · #6 21-11-11, 04:19 PM

Unless intending to breed (from the right stock i.e. good hips, health tested etc)I would always spay. I had two rottweilers - one was spayed routinely and the other developed pyometria and had to be done as an emergency, two collies - the first was not spayed and developed very aggressive mammary tumours and other developed pyometria and again had to be done as an emergency - this costs about twice as much as a routine spay. My previous GSD was a rescue and was already spayed when I got her and I have recently had Kira done - after 3 seasons and 3 very distressing ( for her) phantom pregnancies.

Caryll · #7 21-11-11, 08:03 PM

Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-neutering. I wouldn't have it done to my own dogs, but that's just my own decision. What I don't like is early neutering, and to me, castrating before a large breed is 18 months old, or spaying before a bitch's 2nd season is too early.

In the case of both sexes the true character hasn't developed until they mature fully, and in the case of a bitch her genitals won't be fully developed, which can lead to awful problems with urinary incontinence & urine burn.

I think if I were to get a dog of mine neutered, it would be at 2 years old for a male, and after the 2nd season for a female.

Lutgard 1 · #8 21-11-11, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caryll

Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-neutering. I wouldn't have it done to my own dogs, but that's just my own decision. What I don't like is early neutering, and to me, castrating before a large breed is 18 months old, or spaying before a bitch's 2nd season is too early.

In the case of both sexes the true character hasn't developed until they mature fully, and in the case of a bitch her genitals won't be fully developed, which can lead to awful problems with urinary incontinence & urine burn.

I think if I were to get a dog of mine neutered, it would be at 2 years old for a male, and after the 2nd season for a female.

I agree with Caryll
After having health problems with my last Bitch (being spayed at 6 months) Link will Not be done for some time if at all.

claire_88 · #9 22-11-11, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jude

Unless intending to breed (from the right stock i.e. good hips, health tested etc)I would always spay. I had two rottweilers - one was spayed routinely and the other developed pyometria and had to be done as an emergency, two collies - the first was not spayed and developed very aggressive mammary tumours and other developed pyometria and again had to be done as an emergency - this costs about twice as much as a routine spay. My previous GSD was a rescue and was already spayed when I got her and I have recently had Kira done - after 3 seasons and 3 very distressing ( for her) phantom pregnancies.

I have heard of these! and they sound awful, did she get these every season then?!

I didn't realise they got them all the time!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caryll

Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-neutering. I wouldn't have it done to my own dogs, but that's just my own decision. What I don't like is early neutering, and to me, castrating before a large breed is 18 months old, or spaying before a bitch's 2nd season is too early.

In the case of both sexes the true character hasn't developed until they mature fully, and in the case of a bitch her genitals won't be fully developed, which can lead to awful problems with urinary incontinence & urine burn.

I think if I were to get a dog of mine neutered, it would be at 2 years old for a male, and after the 2nd season for a female.

When i went with Skye for her first vaccinations, they told me it would be best to spay at 6months!

Now even though i knew very little about it all then, i still thought this was too young..........(reading your articles now guys

)

Caryll · #10 22-11-11, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jude

I have recently had Kira done - after 3 seasons and 3 very distressing ( for her) phantom pregnancies.

I agree that the phantoms can be very distressing. But not all bitches have them, and even of the ones that do, not all find them really distressing. Most just get a bit mothery & clingy for a few weeks.

The only bitch I had that suffered from phantoms was the one that developed pyo. They didn't particularly worry her, she just became very 'sweet' and would carry around her squeeky toy. If anyone picked it up, she'd follow them around looking very worried.

Having said that, I think if a bitch of mine suffered more than 2 successive phantoms, I probably would spay.