Timing of Spaying (A little long)

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Trixie

Mommy's Little- Baby Trix

Barked: Tue Apr 21, '09 6:45am PST


	My peek-a-pom will turn 6 months on May 5th. I am really eager to have her spayed before she goes into her first heat, given all I've read about the benefits of doing so. The problem is - due to financial constraints and the fact that May is an extremely busy month at work, I need to wait until June 5th, the day she turns 7 months. I want to be sure that I can spend time home with her after her surgery, and I just cannot do that in May. I'm really worried about her going into heat before she's spayed because of the mammary cancer issue. I know that we cannot predict these things - but do you think she's likely to go into heat before 7 months? If she does, is it the very worst thing (as I'm fearing)? I guess I'm just looking for some advice! Thanks!

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Trixie

Mommy's Little- Baby Trix

Barked: Tue Apr 21, '09 10:04am PST


	Has any0ne spayed at 7 months without having the dog go into heat?

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Fireside's- Twilight- Princess

Nick Name - Balistic Missle

Barked: Tue Apr 21, '09 10:43am PST


	Others will know more about it than me. I have been told by my breeder to expect Zelda to go into heat anytime after 8 months but closer to one year is more likely. Zelda is a lab so is much larger than your pup so that may make a difference in age. Also, I know this is controversial but my breeder will not allow her pups to be spayed/neutered before 14 months of age. According to her & othes I've talked with there are many studies that are now showing that it's the hormones that dogs release when they hit maturity that tell their body to stop growing. If you spay/neuter it can throw this off. The theory is that you can alleviate some bone/joint disorders by allowing them to finish growing before spaying/neutering. The same studies show that you do not loose any of the benefits of spaying by waiting & allowing one heat. I have never looked into it myself. Zelda is a show dog so I can't spay her so it never mattered to me. Just something to think about & hopefully to relieve your worry.

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Luna

scratch my- booty...come on- just a lil!!!

Barked: Tue Apr 21, '09 10:48am PST


	My lil dog, Luna, went into heat right at 6 months. All my experience with female dogs is they go into heat like clockwork if they are healthy. I thought since Luna was small it might take her longer or something, but she was born the end of March and went into heat the end of September. Can she be at work with you while she recovers?

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Lila Rae

I'm pretty sure- I'm a doberman..

Barked: Tue Apr 21, '09 11:00am PST


	My 4 lb chi, lila, did not go into her 1st heat until around 8 to 9 months old. Her second heat was 6 months after that, though. good luck!

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Trixie

Mommy's Little- Baby Trix

Barked: Tue Apr 21, '09 11:03am PST


	Thanks, all. This does help a bit. Unfortunately, I couldn't have Trixie at work with me and I just can't take off until June. I would just put the whole thing on a credit card card, finances be damned - if I only had the time to watch her. She's frisky, and I can tell by her personality that she'll be a pain about trying to chew her stitches. I think I'm going to have to keep it in June and hope, hope, hope for the best.

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Moira

Is that for me??

Barked: Tue Apr 21, '09 11:18am PST


	Moira was nearly two before she had her first heat, but she not a healthy dog until then. Starving strays have all they can do to stay alive. A previous poster said there is no benefit in spaying before the first heat. Uh,uh. The cancer risk goes to 10% with one heat, 25% with the second and goes up exponentially from there. Also the concern with growth is with larger dogs, particularly males. The sooner after 6 months, the better, She will be fine crated in her little E collar, though I certainly understand why you want to wait. I put Moira's off until I could be home with her. Moira has a mild case of separation anxiety and cannot be crated so I wanted to be here to keep her quiet - of course, it didn't work. for an uneventful spay.

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Luna

Lemme at 'em!

Barked: Tue Apr 21, '09 11:26am PST


	I don't know about the timing of first heats, since our female was spayed at 9 weeks old. Another poster wrote something about early spaying preventing the stop of growth - I don't know much about that, but if that's true, it certainly hasn't affected our Miniature Pinscher. She's a trim 7.5lbs, 10.5" at withers - a little on the light/small side for a Minpin.

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Daddy

Changing one- mind at a time - APBT style

Barked: Tue Apr 21, '09 11:59am PST


	Not to alarm you, but I've read that, generally speaking, small dogs usually come into heat earlier than larger breed dogs, but each dog is an individual; Peg, a medium sized dog, was estimated to have come into her first heat at around 8 months of age (there's no way at the age she was rescued, after having a litter, that she could've had more than one heat). The risk of mammary cancer goes up after each heat until the dog reaches about 2.5 years of age, after which the altered dog appears to have the same risk of mammary cancer as an intact female dog.

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Kado

Couch Potato

Barked: Tue Apr 21, '09 12:05pm PST


	The timing of bone maturity is generally later in larger breeds. That's why some people have their dogs x-rayed to see if the growth plates have closed before spay/neuter. Kado was 51 lbs. when she got spayed at 7 months. She had not gone into heat. She is perhaps an English Setter/English Pointer/ ?Australian Cattle Dog? cross. The kids I got her from got her from another teengager who bought her for $200 as a "purebred Pit Bull" at 5 weeks old. Anyway, she has since put on about 7 or 8 lbs and grown taller. My Lab mix was neutered at 1 1/4 years, when we got him. He is on the small side, about 62 lbs. I don't know if heat comes any earlier in smaller breeds, or if any environmental conditions (besides starvation) play a role in delay. If your girl doesn't have separation anxiety, if she has an eliz. collar in a crate, I would think she would be okay, esp. if you (or someone) can look in on her at lunch. Even with staying at home with Kado, she still managed to run around the day before her stitches came out & got a seroma. So extra house arrest for her. But it resolved nicely.