Spaying at 9 months?????

[lana2408]

Quick question...is it bad for my puppy to get spayed at 9 months? We were thinking of not doing it, but now I have changed my mind...also, I think she just went into her first heat yesterday...

[anna_66]

Not bad at all, you actually could have done it quite a few months earlier (my girl was done around 4 months).
But if she's in heat now you'll have to wait till it's over to have her spayed.

[Logan]

Totally agree with Anna's thoughts. I'm sure your vet will guide you, regardless. I had my girls spayed at 5 months, before they ever experienced their first heat. Do it as soon as you can, safely.

Logan

[catnapper]

You definately want to spay her as soon as possible. Each time she experiences heat, she increases her risk of uterine, breast and cervical cancer (I believe I covered all the cancers heat increases)

Not only that, now she is attracting every intact male within a MILE. Yes, intact males can smell females in heat for a mile, and they will do whatever they can to get to her. Do NOT leave her outside unattended. Even if you've got a 6' tall fence, determined males will get to her. I've heard of males breeding a with female through crate wires!

My girls were always spayed at 6 months. It is a major surgery, but when they are younger, they recover so much quicker.

[Scooby4]

I am against early spaying. I believe you should wait until the first heat or the first batch of puppies. The male dog's testicles should be "dropped" before their nuetering.
There is another post on here discussing this exact point of the appropriate spaying/nuetering. There are 2 sides of that camp. I will agree there are benefits of earlier spaying/nuetering but my experience has NOT been positive with that course.
Dogs and Cats I believe need the time for their horomones to kick in. Since they age faster than humans, their teenage years happen around their first heat or drop in testicles. This time helps the animal develop appropriate levels of maturity.
Imagine if you never got to experience being a "teenager". Would your behavior be mature as it is today? I feel it is important that an animal experience the same bodily changes faced in the teenage sexually maturing stage. This allows the animal to develop it's maturity to it's age appropriate.
My cat got early spaying as recommended by the vet. The results have been NOT favorable. She developed "sagging breast" that have NEVER gone away. People assume she is "fat" but it is her extremely sagging skin that makes her appear that way. The skin is NOT tight at all to be "fat". Her maturity level is NOT kitten like but she not into snuggling or being a lap cat at all. My dogs got nuetered at a later age. They both did VERY well. It even helped the one dog greatly after getting nuetered at around a year. (He was adopted from the pound). Shaggy's sexual agressiveness dropped off 90%.
In my opinion, the early spay and nuetering trend is a reflection of animal activist who want to limit the number of unwanted animals in the world. I agree with 100%. That is because many owner's do NOT get their animals fixed at the appropriate time or at all. By convincing owner's to have the procedure done early while their adoptees are being treated for other things is more of a convenience. This assures the owner who may neglect their animal in the long run, that the animal doesn't reproduce making the situation worse. There are also some limited health benefits but that's not guaranteed the animal wouldn't have developed the diseases naturally anyways.
So I happily say it is a good time to spay your pet. I am glad you are doing it. You just may need to hold off until her cycle is over with. Lock her up tight!!!

[Jessika]

I believe in waiting as long as possible but not TOO long, perhaps before or after the first heat. Maybe at or around a year of age. My experiences with neutering/spaying before they are sexually mature have not been good experiences. As long as the owner is RESPONSIBLE and can keep their dog under control (especially females, if you choose to wait until after the first heat) then I feel that is best.

This is just MY opinion, however.

Of course early spaying for medical or health reasons (as in, retained testicles, etc) I am for.

Males and females fixed before they are sexually mature don't ever seem to be as sound physically as those who were fixed after their sexual maturity. I guess this is just an issue for show dogs though. If they're pets it probably doesn't matter either way

[Crazy-Cat-Lover]

I believe in waiting as long as possible but not TOO long, perhaps before or after the first heat. Maybe at or around a year of age. My experiences with neutering/spaying before they are sexually mature have not been good experiences. As long as the owner is RESPONSIBLE and can keep their dog under control (especially females, if you choose to wait until after the first heat) then I feel that is best.

This is just MY opinion, however.

Of course early spaying for medical or health reasons (as in, retained testicles, etc) I am for.

Males and females fixed before they are sexually mature don't ever seem to be as sound physically as those who were fixed after their sexual maturity. I guess this is just an issue for show dogs though. If they're pets it probably doesn't matter either way

Very well said. I totally agree with you!

[Vela]

Males and females fixed before they are sexually mature don't ever seem to be as sound physically as those who were fixed after their sexual maturity. I guess this is just an issue for show dogs though. If they're pets it probably doesn't matter either way

For myself I found this to be just the opposite. My female had a litter of puppies (before I got her) and she has more problems physically than I can even list. She almost died the first month I had her. She had mastitis, she has had cancer removed, her hind end is crippled with arthritis. She can't go for walks, she can't get in the car, and she is only 5. On the other hand, Cracker was nuetered at 6 months of age and is sound as can be. No physical or health problems whatsoever. Very healthy height, weight, and body type. Never a bad step. I don't think there is a hard and fast rule to follow and you will find there are lots of opinions on the "right" way to do it. I personally prefer to do it at around 6 months of age, as does my particular vet.

[Suki Wingy]

I am against early spaying. I believe you should wait until the first heat or the first batch of puppies.

What should we do to the puppies? euthenise them?

I used to think that the earlyer the better, but that was before I even knew anything about it in detail. I still think that if they are not a show or working dog the bitch should be spayed before she has to go through a heat.

[VTJess03]

As to euthanizing the puppies, I am confused... I thought the previous comment was intended to mean that if you have an interest in continuing a breeding program for all the right reasons, then you should spay after the first litter of purebred, etc. puppies.

I had also heard a local wives' tale that said spaying before the first heat causes fat dogs later on, and that after the first heat was the best time to spay if you had no intentions of breeding your dog. I have not seen that to be the case, but there's been a lot of good discussion on spaying after the first heat that has convinced me.

We had Maggie spayed at about 9 months (the soonest appointment we could get to the time we adopted her and signed the spay agreement with the shelter), and Belle was done on the same day (she was closer to 11 months old). We decided on this because we didn't want one to be trying to play with the other during recovery and then causing stitches to come out or anything messy like that. We did not realize it, but Belle was actually in heat at the time the operation was performed (we did not know all the symptoms of the heat cycle). The vet told me when I picked the girls up that evening.

It is not (supposedly) a problem to do, but it does require more supervision after surgery. It is imperative to not let any male dogs near her since she still smells like she is ready for breeding...it can kill the poor girl if a male tries to breed her after the surgery. We kept her inside for recovery and only went out for supervised potty trips, and never had a problem.

[catnapper]

None of my girls have saggy breasts. Abby is the closest to that description and she was the oldest -- nearly 7 months -- and starting to show signs of sexual maturity. I would bet if I waited one more day she'd have gone into heat. We were close. I saw all the signs and I ran her to the vet before her first heat could set in.

As for behavior after they spay.... I have no idea how to even reply. A cat (especially a cat) does not show their true personality until nearly a year old. My Abby was sooooo stand-offish before spay. No sooner was she spayed did she turn into a lover. She is my lap kitty to this day. Flutter was spayed at 5 months (oopsie, I messed up on the math with her and her sisters! ) She never liked to be held, and once I finally realized a few weeks ago WHY she doesn't like to be held, she has turned into an amazing lovebug.... at almost exactly a year old.

The cat with the biggest saggy breasts? Allen, and he was almost a year when we finally got him neutered (don't ask -- life was a mess -- we were engaged, followed by newlyweddedness, followed by MIL's death)

Nicki was 6 months almost to the day when we spayed her. She's 11 and still has a perfectly flat and firm tummy an chest. We won't discuss her ample bottom

[LeahMM]

Pedieatric spay has always been an issue but I'll give you my experience and insight on it.

I have always had a cat or dog spayed at 8 weeks with no future health issues. In our state, vets encourage early spay and neuter. Of course the boys can't be done until the nuggets drop, but that's a gimee.

[Giselle]

The issue with the physical "distortion" due to early castration is that the animal does not go through the influx of hormones that is conducive to sexual maturity. Because the animal does not reach sexual maturity, he doesn't "fill out" to the point where an intact animal would. This often results in gangly, long-legged pups whose chests don't quite drop or fill out. With companion animals, this is no problem. These small aesthetic details are only discernible to a judge, which is why early castration *is* a problem for potential show dogs. Then again, the whole purpose of showing is to evaluation breeding stock, but I digress.

I was also wondering about Scooby4's comment regarding 'batches of puppies'. I have to say I'm as confused as Suki, but, at whatever rate, as long as you speuter your dogs and don't contribute to the overpopulation problem, I'm happy!

My suggestion is to get your dog speutered as soon as her heat is over, and you should be fine. Just be sure to NEVER leave her unattended. Good Luck! You'll really need it!

[Jessika]

"Speutered", there's a new term!

[steph]

Our vet recommend neutering around 6mths of age, there is no need to worry if your dog is older, we've spayed dogs of 4 - 8yrs old, but we highly recommend blood tests to see if they are ok for the anathetic.

I think neutering is the best way to go, if you dont want to breed your dog. Not only does it prevent un wanted pups, but also a uterus infection, which can be deadly, and testicular cancer in the males.... and i also read that studies show that neutred dogs/cats live longer (not sure if that is true though!!!)