Spaying

Is it general practice to let females have one heat before spaying? Otherwise they have urinary problems and will start going to the bathroom in the house?

(yes, I :rofl1: <--- at the last part, too)

Well, I don't think it has anything to do with having one heat or not, but spay incontinence does happen in younger puppies that are spayed, as far as I know.

This.

Upendi is actually going in to be spayed tomorrow (it was supposed to be Mina, but ironically enough she came into heat after being on the wait list for three months so Upendi is going in instead), and she's been in heat three times (I think). I personally wanted to wait until she was done growing and mature. It had nothing to do with worrying about peeing in the house.

^^ That.

This is a 9 month old. So not a really young pup. And a smaller breed. Maybe 15-20lbs.

A quick search brought up that about 20% of dogs have spay incontinence. But if it does happen it can be easily control with supplements.

Didn't know that!

Lucy and Juno were spayed at 6 months. We adopted Molly when she was 8 months old and she was already spayed, so I'd imagine hers was done at about the 6 month mark as well. Neither of them have had any issues because of it.... and I don't think they're in the minority.

I just can't imagine dealing with a heat. Maybe it's not as bad as I picture it would be, but I just don't want it.

Not always.

But incontinence wouldn't be high on my list of reasons to not spay. Actually would be last on the list if at all.

I waited to spay until Enzo was mature. I was a bit worried about spay incontinence, but that wouldn't have stopped me from spaying her. She only had one heat, and I wanted to wait until she was two, but I did NOT want to deal with another heat, so we spayed at like, 18 months I think? She didn't have her first heat until she was well over a year old.

CP, I had never heard of a spay continence before.

Mia was spayed at 10 months... youngest of any of our dogs. It really just depends on the individual person and what they're comfortable with. I have never had a dog have spay incontinence before.

I hadn't heard of spay incontience either. We've never spayed our girls, we did Sophie at age 12 beause she kept getting minor infections and we didn't want to risk full on pyometra, we were really worried it would nkock her around but she handled it better than Harry handled his neuter at age 1.
My sister is likely going to spay Mac soon aswell, she's 4 now and not going to be bred, but everytime she comes on heat suddenly she can't sit on laps, can't be in bed etc etc and it just messes with her head.

Quinn will be spayed but I want to wait till she's fully mature, I don't like dealing with heats but one or two won't kill me.

iirc, spay incontinence is more of a concern when you're talking about spaying itty bitty baby dogs, not so much the 6 months and up group. although luce was a year-ish when she was spayed, and she's incontinent. *shrug*

Incontinence is a problem in females spayed before 12 weeks of age (for a giant breed it may be 16 weeks). The incontinence won't happen before five years of age and probably later than that. It can be helped with supplements related to the bladder, but not all dogs will benefit. Some dogs can have incontinence in their old age, their food should be changed to reflect this. Unfortunately, most vets aren't well versed in nutrition so the owner would need to do their own research into changing food or adding supplements.

The wait one heat is for spay incontinence and for if they have a prolapsed vulva. Supposedly the one heats hormones will make the vulva go however it is supposed to be,lessening the risk of constant UTIs with the inverted one.

A heat or two is really not a big deal. You buy panties for the dog and she wears them for a few weeks. You don't let your dog off leash in parks etc during that time. Thats it.

Personally I think waiting till a dog is mature (which means likely a heat or two) should be a serious consideration for anyone wanting a long lived healthy dog.

I've had two dogs with spay incontinence. Bonnie, my Lab was about 7 months old when she was spayed. At around 8 or 10 years old, she started dribbling pee. An estrogen suppliment was all she needed. Toker was spayed much later....I forget how old, but I think she was over a year. She now, at around 10 years old, is also leaking urine. Estrogen is what keeps the sphincter muscle tight. When it is depleated because of spaying, the muscle often tends to relax and pee can leak out. It's more common with larger breed dogs, I think. It can also lead to other problems because they lick and lick and lick...sometimes leading to UTI's, not to mention, it is distressing to dogs that are housebroken.

I'm completely with Dekka on this, adamantly with a large breed or a very athletic breed.