Still no heat.........

Hi everyone, Sunny turned 6 months old on 8/22/08. She is scheduled to be spayed on 9/8/08. When I called the vet, they said they recommend 6 months and BEFORE she goes into heat. My Aunt is a vet tech and last night she told me that they recommend waiting until AFTER they've gone through their first cycle as it reduces the chances of developing cancer later in life. HELP! What do you guys know and think? As always, I appreciate all the advice I get here from all my very knowledgable dog lover friends!
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/m...ndSunny037.jpg

I always try to get them fixed before the heat cycle. No chance that an accident happens and they get pregnant.

I think your aunt needs to re-check her facts. Studies have proven that to wait until after the first season, the risk of certain cancers (like mammarry) actually increases.

I'd go ahead with your plans as you have made them.

I've always been under the impression that it is best to spay the girls right at the six month date. That's what I have done. I had one Siamese cat that I waited for two years before spaying. She lived to be 21. Go figure. I think doggies run about the same, spaying wise.

I would stay on the side of caution and have her spayed soon, before she escapes and makes little ones!

Good luck. Spaying usually runs smoothly.

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Originally Posted by Sighthounds4me

I think your aunt needs to re-check her facts. Studies have proven that to wait until after the first season, the risk of certain cancers (like mammarry) actually increases.

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I agree completely!

Maybe she just misspoke or you mis-heard her? Definately spay BEFORE the first heat cycle.

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Originally Posted by Catlady711

I agree completely!

Maybe she just misspoke or you mis-heard her? Definately spay BEFORE the first heat cycle.

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I agree as well. That would be tomorrow, right?

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Originally Posted by lizbud

I agree as well. That would be tomorrow, right?

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Oops...Tuesday morning :eek: I guess I meant 9/9/08.
Thanks for all the advice...I guess Tuesday it is. Does anyone have any good tranquilizers for me? HaHa...just kiddin.

definately get her spayed before her first heat.
don't know what studies your aunt and those people are reading but chances of cancer are lessened if spayed before the first heat

I've also always done it before the first heat; that is what my vet always advises.

Yup, it is hard on mom as well! You won't need tranqs, you have all of us to lend support. Sunny will be fine.

OMGosh she is getting so big. :D How big is Sunny now, and how much does she weigh? I have to agree with everyone else, sort of. When I had my first dog, I am fairly certain that the accepted thought at that time (18 years ago) was that the dog should be spayed after her first cycle. I am assuming they thought there was some benefit to proper development to wait that long (sort of like waiting two years to get a large male neutered). However, it appears that that mode of thought has been replaced by "the earlier the better" mode of thought. I think Sunny will be just fine on Tuesday. A lot of pups are done before they are sent out for adoption (Ginger was spayed at 10 weeks).

There is some developmental benefit to spaying later, like filling out and growing less tall (this is really only crucial to large/extra large breed dogs). But all that stuff is pretty insignificant, statistically speaking, for the average pet dog. So - definitely BEFORE first heat.

Don't worry; Sunny will be perfectly fine. Come to think of it, Ivy has "gone under" three times already in the ~1 year we've had her :p I'm a little desensitized to it all heh..

WOW! Sunny is soooooooooooo BIG now! :D
I've always heard that the 6 month marker is a good time to spay. I hope all goes well when the day for surgery arrives. Please give her a big hug for me. She is so beautiful. I love those floppy ears!

Thanks everyone! As always, your advice is so helpful to this first time puppy mamma :) I will keep her appointment for Tuesday. Joyce, I love your new siggy!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by MoonandBean

Oops...Tuesday morning :eek: I guess I meant 9/9/08.
Thanks for all the advice...I guess Tuesday it is. Does anyone have any good tranquilizers for me? HaHa...just kiddin.

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Best of luck on Tuesday then. I'm sure Sonny & you will do just fine.:D

You most definately need to get her fixed BEFORE she has her heat cyle. It's not good for the dog IMO to go through, they are so miserable, plus you have the risk of her sneaking out the door and getting pregnant, so I would spay her BEFORE she has her heat cycle. If she goes into heat, it can risk her health by getting mammory gland cancer and that isn't something you want to mess with. So I would get her done as soon as you can. :)

I hope she does well on Tuesday. :) Best wishes to sweet Sunny AND you. :) I will be thinking of you both on Tuesday. let us know how it goes. :)

Don't worry if she isn't herself for a couple days, she'll be back to normal soon. :) and make sure you follow the vets orders after she is spayed which I am sure you will. :) sometimes they keep the females overnight to monitor them, it just depends on the vets.

Sunny wrote this poem last night in preparation for her big day...

Ode to my uterus...

I haven't known you very long, I'm really still a pup. We won't let you get full grown, your breeding days are up.

So many doggies need good homes; it really is so sad. Mom says to bring more pups would be really really bad.

I won't have to suffer Heat and have howling at my door. I get to be a spoiled pup and won't act like a whore.

Well...the vet called. Sunny has an under-developed vulva and it is tucked inside. The vet said to spay her now would prevent it from developing and she will probably always have vaginal/urinary problems and would probably need a corrective surgery later in life. She said if we wait until she goes through heat, chances are good (about 80%) that the vulva will grow and come out like it should and then we can spay her. If the problem still doesn't correct after her first heat, then we will go ahead with the spay and she still may need corrective surgery. The vet said if it were her dog, she would wait. Sigh....... I guess we will wait. The vet said the chance of mammary gland cancer increases from almost 0% to 8% with waiting but she would still recommend waiting.

I'm sorry to hear that Sunny's surgery has been cancelled but it does sound like it will be in her best interest to wait. I hope her development will continue normally so she will not need the corrective surgery later on and will only need to be spayed afterward.
I'm sure glad she went to a good PT home because who knows if she would have gotten the wonderful care that you provide for her if she were with someone else.
Prayers going out that she will not need corrective surgery and that she will grow up to be a strong healthy dog. :)
p.s. I thought your poem was great!

Thanks, Lara!

Oh Sunny, your poem has me in stitches, over here in RI!!!

Aw, sorry to hear the surgery has been postponed; but all in a good cause.

Aww, poor Sunny. I hope her first heat goes off without any complications and her body corrects itself, but it is good to know that there is a surgical option if it doesn't.

What a poem!! That was a hoot!

Hopefully all will turn out ok for Sunny and her developmental problems and she can get spayed soon.

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Originally Posted by Sighthounds4me

I think your aunt needs to re-check her facts. Studies have proven that to wait until after the first season, the risk of certain cancers (like mammarry) actually increases.

I'd go ahead with your plans as you have made them.

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that's exactly what I've heard.
Spay before the first heat cycle due to the heat cycle causes an increase in cancers later in life.
And contrary to popular rural hick belief - a litter of puppies does not make the dog a better dog. (not saying your aunt said this - just I know that's the mentality I've dealt with around here)

Guess I'll never learn to read the entire thread before posting! ~~oops~~ sorry~
I hope Sunny ahh grows where she needs too and that everything will work out! :)

That poem was GREAT!!!

I hope all goes well for her and she can be spayed with no complications next time!

Oh no. All that worry huh, and now no surgery. I hope things turn out all right and she can be spayed after her first heat. The poem is cute.:)

I also agree! I think that you should get her Spayed, before her first heat! I think her chances of getting Cancer, would be greatly reduced, the sooner that you get her Spayed.

OK...I think Sunny is in heat. She has been acting really insecure and needy the last few days. We took her to the park Sunday and a male (neutered) Visla was VERY interested in her crotch. We took her over and checked her and think she looks swollen (it's hard to tell) and there was a little pink discharge. Nothing real obvious. I am taking her to the vet tomorrow just to be sure and also to make sure she doesn't have an infection as she is prone to those as a result of the tucked in vulva. Hopefully, she is in heat and we can have her spayed in December.

Thanks for all your help everyone and especially Freedom (Sandy) who made sure I have "hot pants" ready for Sunny :)

I took Sunny to the vet today. She is still not in heat. She has another UTI due to her structural problem. This little Miss sunshine is definitely going to be unique. So...another week of antibiotics and then she may go on prophylactic antibiotics to prevent UTI's until this problem corrects itself (hopefully!) or with corrective surgery.

Hang in there, I hope this corrects everything, and she'll be able to be spayed in December, as you said!

There is no guarantee that an estrus cycle will change Sunny's vulva. My Naples has the same thing, and since she's a retired racer, I can tell you the approximate time frame when she was spayed. I know she was at least two years old, because her last race was not long after she turned 2. Which means, it is possible that she has had a season or two.

Now, I will also say this, though: Greyhounds are known to have their first seasons later than many breeds, often around 18 months to two years old. And, racers are usually given synthetic hormones to prevent cycles, to prevent "oops" litters, since intact males race with intact bitches (though they are turned out in separate runs).

But I would ask about doing a corrective surgery at the same time as the spay, to be honest. I would expect that would have been mentioned, if it were a possibility, though. And I would think there is a distinct possibility that, due to her age, she will continue to grow, making this surgery an inpossibility. Still, I would ask, just in case.

But I can tell you that the recurrent infections are no fun. We plan to get Naples corrected in spring, when she has her annual dental. I won't subject her to the anesthesia, unless things get worse in the meantime, so we will have it done all at the same time.

Best of luck!

Thanks for the info. We are hoping to do the spay and corrective surgery at the same time if her first cycle doesn't correct the abnormality. There is a specialist about 30 minutes from us and we are hoping he will agree to do the 2 procedures at once.