# Neutering (Spaying)



## Sheila118 (Dec 26, 2015)

Hi All, 

I have been reading through the advice on the site regards neutering (spaying) and it seems like you agree with our vet to have both Libby & Levi done at the same time at six months, also get them chipped at the same time. There was talk about checking that their baby teeth are all gone, can you please explain the significance of this? I take it its to save a revisit and further anaesthetic. Also full bloods to be done before hand, and ask for pain killers. 

I need to purchase baby grows (onesies) and keep them quite for a couple of days (the dogs that is not the onesies HaHa) . Give them a bath the day before, I have quite a list going.... 

I am anxious already and it's a couple of months away, changed our vet as I was not feeling comfortable with the last one, so happy I have done so, as I feel a little more relaxed now. :w00t:

Any further advice is welcome....

Many Thanks

Sheila X

http://ios.pitapata.com/view.php/3ec94e07ccc41cca4a6f294e2c3dc277/1/4/16.png


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## Furbabies mom (Jul 25, 2011)

I never used the onesies on mine and I also had two puppies spayed at the same time. Sometimes a soft collar will do just fine. They both had retained baby teeth pulled at the time of their spay. The hardest part was keeping them calm after they were home. They did great with the procedure. Mine were spayed at 7 months. Don't allow any vaccines given at this time. It's enough to get the spay/neuter done without adding vaccines.


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

I think one should consider letting a female puppy go through one heat cycle (if you are absolutely certain you can separate them COMPLETELY during the cycle as they will move heaven & earth to mate)i.e.: give one to your MIL or some trusted friend for the entire pre & post cycle time! My reasoning has to do with the fact that females may "leak" if spayed too early. This also allows the bone plates to be totally formed for either gender before surgery. 
Don't fool yourself that putting on a diaper or having one in a pen 
will prevent mating!  
There is ALWAYS a risk with anesthesia---just be aware of that. I would also ask the vet if there is 24 hr. monitoring after surgery & what method he uses to warm the pup up while they are recovering from anesthesia (no hot pads, please!) 
Using one anesthesia to do the surgery/remove any lingering baby teeth/micro chipping is wise. 
I would also recommend the BAT test beforehand if you have not had it done already to check for any potential liver issues. It should be done on a day after fasting and is a paired test---also not one that is routine so you may want to do it on another day.
Wishing you the best for your babies.


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

There is an increasing amount of evidence that is is better for the animal's health to wait until they are completely mature. There are also different spay procedures, one in which they remove only the ovaries and the other where they remove only the uterus. There is a lot of info on the internet. You need to read everything you can find and make a decision as to what you think will be best. Your vet is not the one to make this choice. Many vets don't keep up with the latest studies, but stick with the routine they have been doing. Once you decide, you have to find a vet who supports your choice.


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## maggieh (Dec 16, 2007)

Growing evidence is advising waiting for spay between 8 and 12 months and neuter at one year. The desire to spay before the first heat is because most pet owners can't guarantee they can prevent a pregnancy during this first heat. 

Read the information that's available and make the decision that works best for you and your fluff.

Personally, I would spay at around 8 or 9 months and neuter at one year.


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## sherry (Jan 4, 2013)

maggieh said:


> Growing evidence is advising waiting for spay between 8 and 12 months and neuter at one year. The desire to spay before the first heat is because most pet owners can't guarantee they can prevent a pregnancy during this first heat.
> 
> Read the information that's available and make the decision that works best for you and your fluff.
> 
> Personally, I would spay at around 8 or 9 months and neuter at one year.


I'm curious. Why wait till a year to have a boy neutered?


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## Snowbody (Jan 3, 2009)

We needed to neuter at 8 months, shortly after I got him, because two of his teeth were coming in badly and could permanently deform his bite. There was no way I was going to put him through anesthesia twice. 
As for the heating pad...heat is often needed after anesthesia for humans and dogs. Do not allow electric heating pads (one of our member's dogs had serious burns). There are warming blankets that have heated water going through them that most conscientious vets us.


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## mss (Mar 1, 2006)

sherry said:


> I'm curious. Why wait till a year to have a boy neutered?


Sherry, from my memory, one major reason is because of the effect on bone growth. I think when they are neutered young, they have longer but lighter leg bones which can result in problems. I had my late Spunky neutered as soon as the vet would allow at that time (1996-7). That was about 5 months. As an adult, he had knee joint problems and the surgery on one leg did not go well.


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## Barb J (Sep 17, 2015)

My experience has been with my first female doxie back in 1992 our vet said to spay before first heat will possibly eliminate the risk of mammary cancer. My girl lived to be over 16 years old. She did develop Cushing's disease when she was ten.
With our boy we waited until he was over a year old for bone development (growth plates.)
It's an individual decision that you have to make. I would do more research and speak to numerous vets. Find the vet that is most up to date with this. 
I was not aware of removing ovaries only. Just goes to show how thinking has changed. It makes sense to me though, why remove the uterus? Unless it's one less organ that can turn cancerous. I so worry about cancer since I lost my last little girl to bladder cancer.


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

European vets hardly ever remove the uterus and they don't neuter/spay as standard procedure. If they do it is at a later date usually. We had ex-rays taken at least twice to make certain Kitzi's bones were completed before doing his knee surgery. He had been limping badly since he was 7 months old, but we wanted to be sure the plates were closed before doing the surgery.


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## Steph_L (Jul 20, 2015)

I've heard of waiting to neuter but I thought it was for larger breeds that take longer to grow up. My Newfoundland was going to be neutered at 2 (when they're about full grown) but had it done at 1 1/2 because he was too hormonal and actually knocked people (including children) over to hump them. He was fine after being neutered. 

We were told to wait till at least 6 months to spay Daisy. She had it done at 7 1/2 months. She had 11 puppy teeth removed at that time. They had suggested waiting till she was 10-11 months to have another surgery to remove the teeth. We decided to have them removed during the spay so it would only be one surgery. It also happens that after she had all those puppy teeth removed (and she had a good mouthful of adult teeth at the same time btw) she started eating more and gained about half a pound in a month and has put on weight since she was weighed. I think the extra teeth hurt to eat.


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## mss (Mar 1, 2006)

The study that was done at University of California, Davis, used Golden Retrievers as its study subjects. They say results may be different for different breeds--because they were not part of the study. 

Cruciate ligament injuries are one of the problems found more often in those neutered young. (That's what I meant by the knee problems my male Maltese had.) My boy did eventually start doing things that I thought neutering would help prevent, so if I had it to do again, I would probably wait and see if he became obnoxiously macho. 

Here's a bit of what they said about the study a couple years ago on the UC Davis website:



> Specifically, early neutering was associated with an increase in the occurrence of hip dysplasia, cranial cruciate ligament tear and lymphosarcoma in males and of cranial cruciate ligament tear in females. Late neutering was associated with the subsequent occurrence of mast cell tumors and hemangiosarcoma in females.
> 
> In most areas, the findings of this study were consistent with earlier studies, suggesting similar increases in disease risks. The new study, however, was the first to specifically report an increased risk of late neutering for mast cell tumors and hemangiosarcoma.
> 
> Furthermore, the new study showed a surprising 100 percent increase, or doubling, of the incidence of hip dysplasia among early-neutered males. Earlier studies had reported a 17 percent increase among all neutered dogs compared to all non-neutered dogs, indicating the importance of the new study in making gender and age-of-neutering comparisons.


 Golden retriever study suggests neutering affects dog health :: UC Davis News & Information


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## Gabbee15 (Jan 8, 2015)

I picked up onesies at the Salvation Army for 1$. Rosie was neutered later just because the baby teeth take longer on the smaller pups. She had 8 removed. The onsie is nice to help keep them from licking the wound when the cone is off. The onlyy time we used the cone was when she was alone 
We also had the doctor check to make sure the tear ducts were not plugged. You may want the vet to do that if you are having issues with tear staining Although teething can also cause this. It's just good to know that it is not caused by blockage of tear ducts which are checked while they are under. Good luck. You will feel bad for them the first day but they are surprisingly resilient. Don't worry


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## shellbeme (Mar 1, 2011)

I've heard about the golden study I have also heard about another that discovered a higher instance of long bone cancer in large breed dogs that are spayed and neutered early. They are discovering that the sex hormones actually benefit the animals and provide some forms of protection. 

I wonder why hysterectomys are not more popular for female dogs, I have heard they take about the same time to do as a spay.

I have also heard of speculation that early spay/neuter keep the dogs from fully mentally maturing and may cause many of the anxiety behaviors we see in problem dogs today. (Case and point, Tucker who I was pushed to neuter at 3 months old.) This, however, is just speculation at this point, I don't think there have been any studies completed on the subject.

I don't believe any studies have yet been completed on toy breeds-so most experts are sticking with the notion of around 6 months to fix the dogs. They are learning more and more but you know, someone has to fund all the research :\ 

Personally, I think I'd prefer any of my dogs to be fully mature before having them fixed going forward.


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## Bailey&Me (Mar 8, 2010)

Emma was spayed when she was close to 10 months old. I waited as long as I could and probably would have been fine waiting longer but she had to have a couple of puppy teeth removed. With any future puppies, I would definitely wait at least that age or older to neuter/spay.


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## LilSuz (Oct 18, 2015)

Hi Sheila. I´ve had loads of dogs, different sizes, and sterilized at different ages. I had a large male x-breed castrated at a young age, and he never showed any health probs, nor maturity issues, and I´ve had a numbered of little bitches spayed before the first season. Only one tiny of mine had a leg problem, which was a slipping patella, that was a yorkie, which was spayed at two years old. 
Someone´s comment about not neutering in Europe was surprising. Here in Portugal, as in England, the vets are all for it, especially since there are so many on the streets abandoned. 
My present Maltese has just been done at 7 months, weighed 3kilos. I got a babygrow for her, and cut a hole in the larger flap, then put it on her back-to-front so she could pee and poop. I always do this for mine, it works a treat. My other one is really tiny, so I will wait for her to be at least a year just so she has the full amount of growth behind her. 
And just out of interest, I´ve never had to have any of my tinies´ teeth removed, so never had to worry about that one. I suppose the teeth always get dragged out with their rope toys etc...... 
You have lots of time to plan, eh?


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## Sheila118 (Dec 26, 2015)

I would like to thank you all for your replies, I have read and re-read. 

I have a couple of months to make a decision, but I must say that it makes sense to wait until they are fully mature, I have my own hormone therapy and struggle with aches and pains in my bones. 

I have emailed the breeder and will have a chat to the vet on our next visit. It's just a small inconveniences to go through and wait until they are a year old as there are so many contradictions. I have asked the breeder if she will have Levi when Libby comes into season, not many people I would trust with him, I sound like a paranoid mum.. 

I am really enjoying the site and getting lots of information, I am going to book them into puppy classes, going to be hard work as I need to take them separately, I have seen a lady who does them Tuesday & Thursdays, so could take one on each visit.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year, with good health and happiness in 2016 x


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

Sheila, Happy New Year to you also! 
It sounds like you have everything well thought through! I sure hope your breeder is helpful in regard to Levi---that would be the perfect solution! You are in good company here if you are a paranoid mum!


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## Miyuki1.. (Dec 30, 2015)

This probably won't help but I remember my girl had her op. at 5 months (few years ago). It's probably different, but in Australia, when you register your animal the prices are different if its spayed/neutered so that's why maybe some people prefer to do it young? The guidelines state that the animal must be registered before turning 6 months old.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!


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## Sheila118 (Dec 26, 2015)

*Up Date...*

We are all set to take Levi to stay with the breader when Libby comes into season. I am really feeling happy to get them both done when they are fully grown, thanks for your opinions, I spoke to lots of people including the breeder and the general census was to let her have one season.

Libby's mum was late coming into season at 10 months so it should all work perfect if she follows the same trend. They are 5 & half months now and Levi seems to be interest in her rear end this last few weeks, his tetestrone most be on the rise, we are a bit paranoid keep checking even tho she is so young..

Happy Sunday to your and your little ones.. Xx


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