Best Age To Spay Puppy?

[Miss B]

Our clinic will not desex pups younger than 5 1/2 - 6 months of age, except in extenuating circumstances. Which isn't often.

[LoremIpsum]

Vrox,

As others have said, there's no point in beating yourself up over this now. You can't predict whether Scout will become incontinent, so there's nothing you can do now but wait. I just did a quick google to inform myself, and it seems that while early speying can cause incontinence, we're still only talking about a very small percentage of bitches. (I didn't see a "one in five" figure" — I saw 12% on one site.) The statistical probability is that she'll be fine.

And remember, the early speying has signficantly reduced her chance of getting mammary cancer, as she didn't have a chance to have a season.

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I'm really interested to hear if there's any validity in the test your vet performed. What were the results? What was your vet proposing to do if the results showed HD?

I was hoping to get Martha x-rayed when she is speyed, which I assumed would occur when she's between five and six months. But is it worth it? Her parents were not hip or elbow-scored, and she sleeps with her back legs extended out sometimes, so I worry. She's fourteen weeks old.

[vrox]

My vet states that early desexing was brought in in the USA to prevent the number of dogs/cats being produced and ending up in shelters. It was a purely economic decision not based on any research.

This idea was brought to Australia and sold as a great fixer but failing to mention how many pups and kittens died as a result of pediatric desexing.

Regardless of pound or lovingly breed pups/kittens its criminal to desex early and cause death. vrox I am not talking about 5 months here.

I believe that a breeder should not desex pups until the appropriate age that that breed should be desexed.

vrox I feel your vet is working under the desex everything school without looking at the affect on a particular breed.

Also dogs are xrayed at 12 months because the hips and elbows and manipulated in an attempt to dislocate them to gauge the movement. Similar to what is done to a baby human to check for DDH.

If this was done before it could cause major problem as the joins are still forming.

From all the replies, I'm getting the feeling that it's not normal practice to desex before before 5-6months of age, and unfortunately scout was. i think the vet might have wanted to save us money by scanning for hd and spaying scout at the same time (while she was aneathesized). what i'm angry about is he never offered us an option to do the procedures separately (I had thought it was normal practice)- I wouldn't have cared about the additional costs if it would have been more beneficial to desex her later. at least I have some comfort in knowing that her joints are fine and she doesn't have hd...for now anyway. i guess it goes to show that you shouldn't always blindly trust 100% in your vet- it's good to do a bit of your own research and go in there armed with some sort of knowledge of your own. thanks guys.

[peibe]

Where did you get your pup from?

Are you in contact with the breeder?

I am sure if your pup came from a good ethical breeder she would of advised you of the correct age to desex

I always desex puppies, they are rescues

My main breed is Shar Pei

I wait until they have a home to go to before I desex, so they are desexed between 8 week onwards

I have never had a problem with spay incontinance, the only time I have encountered it is when I desex bitches over 5 who have had alot of litters

I hope your puppy is alright and I second what everyone else has said, find another vet, they might be right about HD, but I would not like a GR desexed that young

For my own dogs, I desex before 6 months

I do not like early desexing but in rescue I cannot trust anyone with a pup, especially a purebreed

I am not picking here BB, but if breeders sold pups desexed I would not have so many unwanted Pei in pounds to save

[Zombie Bait]

Sorry to hijack the thread.....

Just took Sierra to the vet after incontinence issues on Friday evening - was fine rest of weekend. I thought it was spay incontinence (isnt google a wonderful thing?!), vet has decided its nothing to worry about, to keep an eye on her to see if it happens again etc but he feels she was simply exhauseted and has slept right through her need to pee.

Sierra was desexed at 5 months as this fitted in with school holidays (MIL is a teacher and could keep an eye on her during recovery), I probably would of liked to leave it later since some of the things I have read in regards to growth, incontinence etc.

But she's happy and healthy at the moment so I shouldnt complain too much.

We also have a 20 month old male crossbreed rescue Brembo, who we got at 8 weeks old from the RSPCA already desexed. I dont think its done him any harm, my OH jokes that they took his balls too early and he doesnt have enough testosterone cos he's mummies little sooky boy.

I fully understand why rescue orgs desex so early and also why some breeders are now doing it and I do agree.

[vrox]

Vrox,

As others have said, there's no point in beating yourself up over this now. You can't predict whether Scout will become incontinent, so there's nothing you can do now but wait. I just did a quick google to inform myself, and it seems that while early speying can cause incontinence, we're still only talking about a very small percentage of bitches. (I didn't see a "one in five" figure" — I saw 12% on one site.) The statistical probability is that she'll be fine.

And remember, the early speying has signficantly reduced her chance of getting mammary cancer, as she didn't have a chance to have a season.

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I'm really interested to hear if there's any validity in the test your vet performed. What were the results? What was your vet proposing to do if the results showed HD?

I was hoping to get Martha x-rayed when she is speyed, which I assumed would occur when she's between five and six months. But is it worth it? Her parents were not hip or elbow-scored, and she sleeps with her back legs extended out sometimes, so I worry. She's fourteen weeks old.

Thanks botheration. I know that I shouldn't beat myself up about it, but you know, scout's my first pup with my OH and so you can't help but have this overwhelming motherly concern about everything! :D Obviously you have to weigh all the pros against the cons, and my only regret is that I wasn't more informed when I had to balance these factors up.

There was no test of any sort- the vet simply took an xray of her hips and they showed that her hip bones are sitting nice and neat in their sockets, the way they should be. he said that if she showed signs of hd, the xray would reveal this and this would allow them to correct the problem (by breaking the bones at some point or other) which would be much easier to do than if this same procedure was performed at a later age. It's definately worth getting this xray b/c it'll give you hopefully relief in knowing that she has very minimal chance of getting hd if the results are good (although this doesn't guarantee 100% that your dog will never develop hd, it is nonetheless a very good indicator). with scout, I wasn't really too worried about the hd, as her mum has a 0,3 hip score and her dad 0,5 - so both extremely low. as with the sleeping with her legs extended, I think it's all part of sleeping as a puppy gosh, they sleep in bizarre positions sometimes, but I think they'll grow out of it! good luck with your little Martha!

[vrox]

Sorry to hijack the thread.....

Just took Sierra to the vet after incontinence issues on Friday evening - was fine rest of weekend. I thought it was spay incontinence (isnt google a wonderful thing?!), vet has decided its nothing to worry about, to keep an eye on her to see if it happens again etc but he feels she was simply exhauseted and has slept right through her need to pee.

Sierra was desexed at 5 months as this fitted in with school holidays (MIL is a teacher and could keep an eye on her during recovery), I probably would of liked to leave it later since some of the things I have read in regards to growth, incontinence etc.

But she's happy and healthy at the moment so I shouldnt complain too much.

We also have a 20 month old male crossbreed rescue Brembo, who we got at 8 weeks old from the RSPCA already desexed. I dont think its done him any harm, my OH jokes that they took his balls too early and he doesnt have enough testosterone cos he's mummies little sooky boy.

I fully understand why rescue orgs desex so early and also why some breeders are now doing it and I do agree.

Good news for you & Sierra Ridgie! :D I think I'll just have to go with the flow and deal with it when it happens...all these 'should've, would've, could've' thoughts are giving me a headache! Let us know how she goes, ok?

[wylie]

vrox please change vets!!

No vet unless they have been trained in scoring hips and are accredited should be even taking xrays at such a young age and giving a diagnosis.

Talk about a money maker for your vet!!

I find your vets actions highly unethical in his treatment of a novice dog owner. Its money grubbing at its worst.

Did you tell your breeder of the actions of this vet and what was there response?

[stormie]

vrox please change vets!!

No vet unless they have been trained in scoring hips and are accredited should be even taking xrays at such a young age and giving a diagnosis.

Talk about a money maker for your vet!!

I find your vets actions highly unethical in his treatment of a novice dog owner. Its money grubbing at its worst.

Did you tell your breeder of the actions of this vet and what was there response?

There is a surgical procedure for correcting HD that is much less invasive but can only be performed up to a certain age. What the vet said is correct.

There are plenty of dogs who already have terrible hips at 5months of age. Whilst you cannot give a hip score at this age, in a lot of cases, you most certainly can see hip displaysia.