Desexing Female- Better To Wait After First Heat Cycle?

[ronja]

I have a 7 month old female cross breed. She is fairly large (25kgs) already. She is currently not desexed, but this is obviously something I am planning on doing. The question is 'when'?

A behaviourist told me it would be very beneficial if I could wait until at least after her first heat cycle. In addition to this leading to a lower likelihood of health problems such as urinary incontinence she said that (if I understood this correctly) during the oestrus the females release calming hormones. So her overall emotional development would be better if she gets a chance to have her first cycle first.

Does anyone else have any ideas or opinions about this?

Thanks :)

[*kirty*]

Everyone will have a different opinion. Most people on this board would agree that it is best for the physical development of the bitch to wait until she has had at least one season. In larger breeds this is particularly important. Having said that, the slight risk of pyometra and increased risk of some types of cancers later in life cannot be ignored. And if you are concerned about caring for a bitch in season or about your ability to ensure she does not get pregnant, waiting to spay might not be a good idea. Personally with my dogs, I like to wait until they have had their first season. I desex at around 18mths of age.

Having said all that, I have desexed several young dogs (as young as 4-5mths) through rescue and they have not had any issues. They all grew up to be healthy dogs, average size, etc.

Edited March 24, 2014 by *kirty*

[dotdashdot]

My older girl was desexed at 12 months, and was about to come into her second heat. I originally was planning to continue to show and breed her but for several reasons I decided not to and that's why I did it at that age. (She's a Dalmatian, 22kgs so not a large breed but definitely a breed that I feel should be allowed to mature before desexing)

It's hard to explain exactly how I think it's different, I would say more "mature" but i'm not sure if that's the right word. Her nipples are larger than if she had been desexed younger (she also had a phantom pregnancy) and she also "marks" particularly over the places my puppy toilets.

I know a lot more now than I did in early 2012 though and I will now never desex early unless I sell a dog that I never want bred from (i.e a deaf dog, a problem in my breed). There are also a couple of options where surgery is not done but the animals are unable to get pregnant/impregnate but the hormones are still present - these are also viable options.

[dancinbcs]

I always advise about 4 months after a season if this is possible and there is no chance of any dog getting to her. Keep in mind dogs can jump 7' fences so a bitch in season needs to be completely confined in a roofed run or in the house and watched when in the yard on the key days. If something does manage to mate her, then just go ahead and get her desexed as soon as her season is finished.

[JB1824]

I haven't done the research myself, but at uni, we've been taught that basically the longer you delay desexing (the more seasons she goes through), the higher the risk of cancer will be. I don't know how small or large the risk is in intact females, but that's what we were taught!

I'll see if I can find any journal articles if you're interested in finding out more? :)

So, I read a few articles for those interested: Apparently, mammary gland tumours are the most common tumours in female dogs, with an incidence of 3.4%, 50.9% are malignant, and 77% metastasise. An old article(from 1969!) reported that dogs spayed before their first estrus have a 0.5% risk, dogs spayed after 1 estrus have an 8.0% risk, and dogs spayed after 2 estrous cycles have a 26.0% risk of developing mammary gland neoplasms when they get older. A systematic review published in 2012 however found that the evidence for this is weak, due to poor reporting in the journal articles (they generally didn't show how the calculated the percentages, and didn't control for other variables like age, breed, etc.)

There are obviously many other benefits/disadvantages to desexing, but I would tend to agree with the other posters here, especially if you are responsible and can safely keep her while she's in season (as Haredown has said below)

Edited March 25, 2014 by JB1824

[Salukifan]

If you can safely keep a bitch in season, I would wait for one season and then desex.

It allows for physical maturity and can assist with preventing hormonal incontinence. The mammary cancer risk of waiting for one season is negligible IMO.

[*kirty*]

JB1824, are you studying to become a vet? I recently had an argument with a new grad regarding desexing and she couldn't accept that there are valid reasons to delay desexing. Seems that the 'desex everything asap' mentality is rammed down vet students throats.

[kelpiecuddles]

I recently had a fairly animated discussion with a group of people on a local facebook page when someone asked for advice on when to desex their dane. Some of the responses were downright scary(such as letting her have a litter first!) but so many people said their vets insisted on desexing at 5 months regardless of breed factors, etc. Myself and another lady did our best to give her some links where she could get some advice from people who had actual breed experience rather than just taking the advice of a bunch of randoms on facebook.

[Dame Aussie]

I prefer not to desex at all if possible, but yes I would wait till she has matured first :)

[JB1824]

JB1824, are you studying to become a vet? I recently had an argument with a new grad regarding desexing and she couldn't accept that there are valid reasons to delay desexing. Seems that the 'desex everything asap' mentality is rammed down vet students throats.

Yep! I wouldn't say their ramming it down our throats, I think it's more like there's so little time and so much content to cover that they can't really go into much detail or discussion about it. They've certainly mentioned a few disadvantages of desexing such as increased risk of hip dysplasia with early age desexing (which is 6-16 weeks). I guess one of the problems is, in practice, it'll be hard to tell if an owner is actually going to be responsible and prevent unwanted litters, etc. But I'd say everyone on these forums are more likely to actually know what they're doing.

There's plenty of stuff for us to learn and kind of little time to do extra research on things like these, so it's good there are these kinds of discussions here! You should show her some journal articles next time :p

[ronja]

Thank you guys so much for all your informed replies. I think I am fairly convinced now to wait until she had had her first heat cycle, especially if the increased risk in her getting cancer is only negligible :) .