How young is too young to spay & neuter?

[AdrianneIsabel]

I'm seriously considering farming him out if I have a friend who's reliable when Sloan is in heat next time. I have a few sport friends who do that, pass around boys when females are in heat, and it's pretty tempting.

Arnold loves Sloan in heat but it's more of a goofy happy love and he's definitely gone to town on her (which infuriates Denis and makes me laugh). I really however feel like a crappy owner with Backup when she's in heat, he's just so freaking miserable.

 

[Aleron]

I'm seriously considering farming him out if I have a friend who's reliable when Sloan is in heat next time. I have a few sport friends who do that, pass around boys when females are in heat, and it's pretty tempting.

Arnold loves Sloan in heat but it's more of a goofy happy love and he's definitely gone to town on her (which infuriates Denis and makes me laugh). I really however feel like a crappy owner with Backup when she's in heat, he's just so freaking miserable.

I almost suggested seeing if you could board him with someone. I did that once with Jagger...and it was the only time I had an Oops litter. Apparently Loki was in season fairly early that time :yikes:

Otherwise, boys here stay usually upstairs and girls down stairs, which minimizes the bad in season stuff until the girls are in standing heat. Feeding the bitch chlorophyll tablets or putting them on a spirulina supplement can help minimize the in season odor too.

 

[AdrianneIsabel]

Feeding the bitch chlorophyll tablets or putting them on a spirulina supplement can help minimize the in season odor too.

That's cool to know, thank you!

Yeah, we almost had a whoops this last time. I was dreadfully sick and ran out to do something and left Backup upstairs in our bedroom and Sloan downstairs in a crate. Somehow Sloan opened her crate side door and Backup pushed open the door upstairs. I came home and was greeted by two dogs when I shouldn't have been greeted by any.

Anyways, an hour of panic, a vagina smear, an obsessive crash course of research and we found her basal reading to tell us it would have been too late even if they had bred which he was pretty sure never happened. Thank god. Even still we re-checked at day 21, just in case we needed to abort. It wouldn't have been the end of the world but definitely not something we wanted at all.

The best laid plans and gluttons for stress. lol

 

[Aleron]

That's cool to know, thank you!

Yeah, we almost had a whoops this last time. I was dreadfully sick and ran out to do something and left Backup upstairs in our bedroom and Sloan downstairs in a crate. Somehow Sloan opened her crate side door and Backup pushed open the door upstairs. I came home and was greeted by two dogs when I shouldn't have been greeted by any.

That is definitely a big downfall of having intact boys and girls together. Just the stress of having to worry for weeks and remember not to let dogs out together who always go out together...then coming home to something like this! Life would be so much easier with all boys or all girls.

When Jagger bred Loki I had no idea until she was obviously pregnant. Two weeks later, she had 7 pups

 

[sillysally]

Except if it ends up being a problem with stones. If you have a Dal, that is a really big deal actually but I imagine it'd be an issue with any stone forming dog. And girls being underdeveloped there are prone to chronic vaginitis. I have known quite a few early spayed girls who needed surgery on their vulva because it was under developed and causing them some very real issues.

Nope, still won't change my course of action. I would still get a rescue dog if that's what we were looking for even if it meant the dog had to be altered early. If I got a dog from a breeder (and I highly doubt it would be a dal), if it were a male I would keep him intact until about 2 years if possible and with a female I would likely let her go through a heat or two before altering.

 

[Linds]

Except if it ends up being a problem with stones. If you have a Dal, that is a really big deal actually but I imagine it'd be an issue with any stone forming dog. And girls being underdeveloped there are prone to chronic vaginitis. I have known quite a few early spayed girls who needed surgery on their vulva because it was under developed and causing them some very real issues.

Kaylee's super prone to UTI's and never fully developed down there; super tucked up. I've always wondered if that made her more susceptible to UTI's.

 

[sillysally]

In these discussions it seems that many of those same people who complain about dog owners attributing tons of behavior problems to a dog being intact jump at the opportunity to blame health issues on a dog being altered. Just as there are plenty of other factors governing behavior there are often lots of other factors governing health.

 

[Aleron]

In these discussions it seems that many of those same people who complain about dog owners attributing tons of behavior problems to a dog being intact jump at the opportunity to blame health issues on a dog being altered. Just as there are plenty of other factors governing behavior there are often lots of other factors governing health.

Well it's pretty well known that early spaying can cause the vulva to be under developed, which can led to health problems. That's not me or any one else "blaming" it on altering - it's what the dogs I have known with the problem have been diagnosed with by vets. I think it's also pretty well known that if you have a girl puppy who has chronic vaginitis, the best course of action is to allow them to fully mature and come in season once before spaying.

 

[Emily]

In these discussions it seems that many of those same people who complain about dog owners attributing tons of behavior problems to a dog being intact jump at the opportunity to blame health issues on a dog being altered. Just as there are plenty of other factors governing behavior there are often lots of other factors governing health.

Indeed. I prefer being able to rule out an unnecessary surgery as the cause of health issues, however.

 

[Southpaw]

In these discussions it seems that many of those same people who complain about dog owners attributing tons of behavior problems to a dog being intact jump at the opportunity to blame health issues on a dog being altered. Just as there are plenty of other factors governing behavior there are often lots of other factors governing health.

This x10000.

People are so opinionated on this subject that everything comes out seeming so black and white; but really, whether or not a dog has balls is not the underlying reason for every problem he might have.
Your dog humps? It's because he's not neutered. Your dog's fat? It's because he's neutered. Your dog's incontinent? Must be because she was spayed. Aggressive? Better get him fixed. Arrrgggghhhh.

 

[Linds]

In these discussions it seems that many of those same people who complain about dog owners attributing tons of behavior problems to a dog being intact jump at the opportunity to blame health issues on a dog being altered. Just as there are plenty of other factors governing behavior there are often lots of other factors governing health.

Kinda similar to how if a dog has bad teeth, a bad coat and it's fed Bil-Jac the food is blamed.

I don't know for sure if Kaylee would still be fat, have bone cancer and lots of UTI"s if she was still intact. And I'll never know. I can't put her uterus back.

But, since depriving a female of hormones at a young age is proven to often lead to under developed girly parts and her's is so far tucked up there you have to dig to find it, it's not a giant leap to wonder about it it at least partly leading to her susceptibility to UTI's.

 

[sillysally]

Well it's pretty well known that early spaying can cause the vulva to be under developed, which can led to health problems. That's not me or any one else "blaming" it on altering - it's what the dogs I have known with the problem have been diagnosed with by vets. I think it's also pretty well known that if you have a girl puppy who has chronic vaginitis, the best course of action is to allow them to fully mature and come in season once before spaying.

Yes, but I have definitely seen plenty of conjecture on these kind of threads. Dog have weight issues? Must be the spuetering! UTIs? Must be the spuetering! Dog have a comformation issue? Definitely the speutering! Any other random health issue? Must be the spuetering! Never mind that in many cases (unlike what is mentioned above) there is little proof that altering caused the issue, and often the dogs in question are individuals where the owners have limited knowledge of the dog's family health background.

Jack had a UTI while he was intact, was neutered a few months later and hasn't had one since. He also never marked until a year after he was altered. By some of the logic I see applied in these threads I should therefore conclude that altering prevents UTIs, and causes marking...

 

[Emily]

Kinda similar to how if a dog has bad teeth, a bad coat and it's fed Bil-Jac the food is blamed.

Yeah, ain't THAT funny. One's ok, because, well, everybody likes to say it. LOL.

 

[Linds]

Naw, Kaylee had UTI's before she was spayed. She's prone to them. I have a stock up of Cipro and Cranberry juice.

But, if she wasn't spayed and had been allowed to have that extra edge those hormones would have given her in allowing her to develop fully I do wonder if they wouldn't have continued to happen with such ferocity.

Anecdotal evidence is just that, but I do find it interesting that slowly those anecdotal evidences are becoming backed up by more than "My papa always said..."

 

[sillysally]

Yeah, ain't THAT funny. One's ok, because, well, everybody likes to say it. LOL.

Eh, I'm not a big fan of dog food Nazis either who think that every issue a dog has is attributed to food. After Jack had his elbow dysplasia surgery (which he developed while intact ), I was told by several people that even having him on prescription food for a short time would give him cancer, kidney failure, etc. It was a horrible experience and you will never catch me telling someone that all of their dog's issues are due to food, barring a particularly horrific allergy, and even then that's something best left to a vet. Actually I have fed Sally Bil-Jac (gasp) because she has tons of food allergies and it's one of the few foods that she's not allergic to, and I did get a few looks of horror when I mentioned what she was getting.

 

[JessLough]

Eh, I'm not a big fan of dog food Nazis either who think that every issue a dog has is attributed to food. After Jack had his elbow dysplasia surgery (which he developed while intact, btw), I was told by several people that even having him on prescription food for a short time would give him cancer, kidney failure, etc. It was a horrible experience and you will never catch me telling someone that all of their dog's issues are due to food, barring a particularly horrific allergy, and even then that's something best left to a vet. And I have fed Sally Bil-Jac (gasp) because she has tons of food allergies and it's one of the few foods that she's not allergic to.

Yep, most of her life Rosey was on Pedigree (with the exception of a trial basis when we tried kibbles and bits and science diet) and at nearly 16, other than not seeing things close-up and some back arthritis, she has no health problems. Sure, you can blame it on the food (and some try).... but it's much more likely the fact that she's a nearly 16 year old collie type of poor breeding

 

[Linds]

That would be my point about food. Some dogs live long, healthy (or even healthier) on pretty gross food. But a lot of dogs don't, especially those already prone to bad teeth, coat, allergy, weight gain etc.

So while many dogs handle being on grocery store brand foods perfectly you still find many don't and when issues arise you can typically, pretty easily switch foods and solve the problem.

You can't put testicles or a uterus back to see if it fixes the issues.

So yes, I do wonder, I speculate and that's all I'll ever be able to do and I know that. Which is why I don't say for 100% certainty anything.

 

[AdrianneIsabel]

She's 16 & healthy, chances are they were doing something right breeding her.

 

[rubygirl]

I honestly don't know how old a dog should be when spaying. However I know one thing- spaying/neutering prevents litters of unwanted puppies.
Ruby is 14 months old and she has not been spayed yet. We are going to get her spayed 2 months after her second heat (I think she will be coming into her second pretty soon).
Removal of a body part isn't a particularly natural thing to do, so we have been delaying it.... kinda scared actually.
I have only ever had male dogs and we have had them all neutered at around 6 months. All but one of my childhood dogs who was intact his whole life. If I ever got another male dog it would be done at 6 months again. Spaying is a much more invasive surgery and we are a little wary....

 

[ihartgonzo]

I know a girl who just adopted a puppy, who was spayed at 4 weeks!!!! That just breaks my heart. Why?!?!

I feel that rescues/shelters should adopt out on a spay/neuter contract at 6 months. Owner has to prepay for the surgery at the shelter or their own vet. I did that with Fozzie and he still seemed way too young. I know that shelters want to make sure the puppy doesn't reproduce, but I don't feel that makes it ok to put an infant puppy through surgery and remove all of their sex hormones just weeks after birth. Screening of puppy adopters needs to be thorough just to ensure that pup is raised right and doesn't end up back in the shelter system, and that should include people who are educated and agree to get their puppy altered at 6 months. There are far worse consequences with a puppy going to an unscreened home - death, abuse, abandonment, etc.

One of the Pit puppies I fostered, my FAVORITE, was taken in to be neutered right before going to his new home at 4 months. I was very upset... he was still a little dude! And what a horribly stressful ordeal for him. Going through surgery, getting his balls removed, and going to a new home in 2 days. Ugh!!! The family he was going to was awesome, I got to know then, they lived near me and I'd completely trust them. Luckily he grew up to be healthy, just a bit feminine. I can spot an early neuter/spay from a mile away!!! I swear. They all tend to be very leggy and top heavy, with no obvious gender at first glance. The boys have tiny shriveled up weens and both sexes tend to be prolific humpers.