[Ellie May]

I think too often spay/neuter is done for the wrong reason. Population control is not a good enough reason to put a dog under anesthesia in my opinion. While I was against spaying in a way before and I still don't like the idea of pulling body parts out, my decision is to have any female of mine spayed. A twenty-six percent chance of mammary cancer without great treatment options is just too high for me to not spay. If a small dog gets pyometra (and it is common), how are they going to get the uterus out without it rupturing? I would rather Ellie have an invasive surgery when she is healthy instead of when she has a raging infection.

I made my decision to do it when Ellie's vet strongly suggested it. It was a low cost spay, so it didn't have to do with the money. Ellie was not contributing to over population, so it had nothing to do with that. It was too late to prevent mammary cancer with the procedure, so it didn't really even have much to do with that. It was to prevent pyometra. Was it the right decision? I don't know. But I know she has a lot of experience and sees this all the time and I trusted with it. It all worked out.

I'm not saying spay/neuter is for every dog though and the timing issue is under researched in my opinion. For small dogs, I am personally fine with 5-6 months. For large dogs, I'd probably want to hold off.

There is a long list of things that should and should not be done during surgery and not all vets follow it. I wouldn't consider the surgery if I did not trust the vet...

If I had ever lost a dog during surgery, I would probably not feel this way. It is understandable that some just can't do it. And it is natural to be nervous about it.