Spaying before or after first heat?

[ShowGirlLola]

Lola needs at least 5 baby teeth pulled.

Originally Posted by lisaly

I personally would wait for the growth plates to close before spaying a little one.

About how old are yorkies when their growth plates close?

[gemy]

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...n-if-ever.html

Here is a link to this topic, where-in you can find further links to studies and articles.

Growth plates can close anywhere from 7 mths on up for the toy breeds. There is no guess work. Take a lateral Xray view of the tibia, as the tibial plate is the last growth plate to close.

There is much research in recent years that challenges the assumptions of spaying/neutering at 6mths old. It is all there in the articles linked; as well there are at least 9 studies currently on-going on this topic with publication dates out in he next year or two.

I share what I take right now believe to be the best practices on this question. For females allow maturation to take place, which usually means one heat for the toy breeds, and more heats for the large breeds. For males, there is no clear benefit health wise for neutering at any age, for a normal male. A case is justified if the male does not have two descended testicles.

You as the guardian and health care advocate for your dog, need to understand the ramifications, and to weigh other considerations in your decision; a very very important one, is to not breed and make sure breeding can't happen if you elect to keep your dog(s) intact. That means you need to educate yourself on how best to do this.

One day I would hope general vets will keep up on the current research and begin to advise the clients accordingly.

[lisaly]

Originally Posted by gemy

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...n-if-ever.html

Here is a link to this topic, where-in you can find further links to studies and articles.

Growth plates can close anywhere from 7 mths on up for the toy breeds. There is no guess work. Take a lateral Xray view of the tibia, as the tibial plate is the last growth plate to close.

There is much research in recent years that challenges the assumptions of spaying/neutering at 6mths old. It is all there in the articles linked; as well there are at least 9 studies currently on-going on this topic with publication dates out in he next year or two.

I share what I take right now believe to be the best practices on this question. For females allow maturation to take place, which usually means one heat for the toy breeds, and more heats for the large breeds. For males, there is no clear benefit health wise for neutering at any age, for a normal male. A case is justified if the male does not have two descended testicles.

You as the guardian and health care advocate for your dog, need to understand the ramifications, and to weigh other considerations in your decision; a very very important one, is to not breed and make sure breeding can't happen if you elect to keep your dog(s) intact. That means you need to educate yourself on how best to do this.

One day I would hope general vets will keep up on the current research and begin to advise the clients accordingly.

I was hoping you'd post. I just found one of your posts that I think really explains why closure of the growth plates is so important.

Post 14
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...ot-neuter.html

[Connie]

I recently read an article that compared US dogs to European, and how the cancer rate and other problems is so much higher in dogs in the US than in Europe, where most dogs are left intact. It seems spaying/neutering at an early age decreases the risk of some cancers, but increases the risk in others. Here's a link to an article similar to the one I mentioned. Spayed or Neutered Dogs Have Higher Disease Rates

[cherry14]

Gah. Ok so I'm back to square one!
Gemy- thanks for the links. I will read through them!

[buffy512]

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88

Yorkies are known not to lose all there baby teeth on there own. Callie had doubles of some teeth because the baby ones just did not come out so they where pulled when she was spayed. Not having them pulled can cause food to get stuck between the teeth and then rott. It also will mess up the alignment of the mouth and teeth.

Thanks for that information. I have been wondering about this.