Question about Julie's Upcoming Spay

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by Hrossen11

I would wait just to see if teeth need to be pulled until 8 months, mine has two canines that might need to be pulled.

They can still pull baby teeth at 6 months.

[Starlette]

Good morning.

So, from what I am understanding on this thread is that baby teeth and growth plates are pretty much the determining factor as to when a puppy should get spayed, am I correct?

QUESTIONS:
1) Honestly, I never even knew that puppies (like humans) have baby teeth that should be pulled. How would I know that the adult teeth have come in and how do I determine that there are some baby teeth that have remained?

2) When should I consider taking Julie to the vet to get an x-ray to check if her growth plates are fully developed?

The majority of the posts that I am seeing seem to indicate that spaying should wait until these two issues are resolved.

Thank you.

[OwnedByJezebel]

If she just turned 5 months old, she is definitely still teething. Look in her mouth, you will probably see some larger teeth coming in, and maybe even some "empty" spots where the adult teeth have pushed the baby teeth out and are coming in. There could be some "double" rows of teeth where the adult teeth are coming in but haven't pushed the baby teeth out yet.

The adult teeth are larger and not needle-sharp like the baby teeth.

If these baby teeth don't come out on their own, you will need to get them pulled or your pup have dental decay, gingivitis, and very bad breath.

I waited until my girl was 8 months until her spay. I gave it time but her upper baby canines just would not get loose. I think it was because there was plenty of room in her jaw (adults came in front of the baby canines). The adult canines appeared to be completely in, so I went ahead with the spay.

You can try to help them along, and your while your pup teethes, they are going to want to be chewing a lot anyway. Give her bully sticks, etc, stuff to chew on, and you can also play tug-of-war with rope toys. Do whatever you can to avoid two surgeries.

[MandiesMom]

Originally Posted by Starlette

Good morning.

So, from what I am understanding on this thread is that baby teeth and growth plates are pretty much the determining factor as to when a puppy should get spayed, am I correct?

QUESTIONS:
1) Honestly, I never even knew that puppies (like humans) have baby teeth that should be pulled. How would I know that the adult teeth have come in and how do I determine that there are some baby teeth that have remained?

2) When should I consider taking Julie to the vet to get an x-ray to check if her growth plates are fully developed?

The majority of the posts that I am seeing seem to indicate that spaying should wait until these two issues are resolved.

Thank you.

I'm not sure that Julie's breed has an issue with retaining baby teeth. I recall googling it a few weeks back and I never saw anything mentioned about it. You can ask your vet to take a look at Julie's teeth for you. But, I can tell you that dogs teeth until around 7 months of age (give or take a few weeks). This is why we recommend that Yorkies wait to get spayed until the earliest - 8 months. By then, the vet can tell what teeth are just not going to fall out on their own.

If I were you, I would discuss this with the vet.

Now, the growth plates and such are a different matter. This is info I'm not well versed on because I never heard of this until I joined YT. I will let someone else discuss that issue for us both ( I would like to read more about this, also)

[Starlette]

Julie will be 5 months old this Saturday (I was mistaken on the date) shih tzu.
As for the scheduled date, I will go ahead and cancel it.

Starlette

[OwnedByJezebel]

Any toy breed can have problems with retained teeth.

I googled "shih tzu retained baby teeth'" and this was the first result:

Shih Tzu Dog Breed Information, Pictures, Characteristics & Facts

Under the health section, it states:

Retained baby teeth and tooth and gum problems are not unusual because the Shih Tzu's baby teeth may remain intact when the permanent teeth emerge. Sometimes it is necessary for the veterinarian to extract the baby teeth. Because of the Shih Tzu's undershot jaw, he also can have missing or misaligned teeth. It's important to brush puppy teeth regularly and report dental problems, such as bad breath and loose teeth, to your veterinarian.

Here's another thing stated on that page that I've never heard, probably because I've never had a breed that is brachiocephalic:

Snuffles may plague the Shih Tzu because teething tends to be difficult. At about four months, the gums swell; since the gums are directly under those pushed-in noses, there isn't a lot of room. Puppies may snort, snuffle, snore loudly, or wheeze during this time, and may even have a clear nasal drainage.

It doesn't say how long the gums stay swollen, but if this is the case I sure wouldn't want to put a shorter-snout dog under anesthesia when they are not breathing perfectly. I may be way off base on this one, but why take the chance?

[MandiesMom]

I'm glad you posted this. I swear I googled the breed. lol I didn't plug in the "retained baby teeth" though..that is where I went wrong.

[gracielove]

I have been through a few trends on this issue over the years. At first the vets were saying that a dog should be at least 6 months in order to be spayed/neutered. Then with so many animals being adopted from shelters and then having puppies and kittens despite the owners signing spay neuter contracts it became necessary to start doing the procedures much younger. I guess I can understand why they would go that way but in recent years studies have shown it is better for the pet to wait until the pup has achieved a more mature bone growth. Of course if waiting means a pregnancy it is not really better.

I almost lost a little Maltese puppy when she got a uterine infection during her first heat. After that I tried to get my females spayed before their first heat until Gracie came along. She was a tiny slow growing pup. She needed to mature more so we went through the first heat and waited for her to grow. If the owner is a responsible pet owner there certainly are benefits in waiting.

[Starlette]

I rescheduled it for 7/26/2013. Then 2 weeks prior, I will have her checked for the following unless you all suggest anything else:

X-ray her growth plates
Check if any baby teeth need to be pulled
Snuffles

If everything checks out OK, then we'll proceed with the spay in two weeks.

Starlette