Is there a specific reason for spaying a dog.. and is it bad to not spay them?
 

My Chloe is 4 months old. I don't have a problem with caring for her when she gets her first heat. My question is though, does not spaying bring any health problems or complications for her own well-being? She is not around any male dogs. Also, how does pregnancy work in dogs, can she only get pregnant during heat.. or she can get pregnant at any time? Since she is small I would definitely not want her to get pregnant. I have heard spaying changes their personality. I wouldn't want to put her through procedures that she doesn't need, I only want to do it if it's for her own well-being. If someone could explain this to me I would appreciate it. I want to be prepared to know what to do when her heat comes. Thank you!

The chances that she will get mammary (breast) cancer goes to almost zero if she is spayed before her first heat so that is one major health reason to do it. She also wont get ovarian cancer or uterine cancer. I spayed mine before 6 months old and she is now 13.5 years old. I would spay or neuter my yorkie at age 6 months today. I don't think any of mine have a personality problem because of altering them. They are loving and spunky yorkies.

Everything the above poster said plus there is also a possibility of pyometra (infected uterus) in unspayed females. I would spay her.

Is it okay to spay her now if she is only about 2 lbs? Is it a long procedure and what happens afterward.. will she be tired or mad?

P.S .. Your yorkie is GORGEOUS, I love her hair!

One of my Yorkies was spayed after her first heat, and I worried it could affect her health. She lived a month shy of seventeen. From what I know now, I would wait until after the growth plates have closed. You should wait until he adult teeth come in so your vet can pull the baby teeth that don't come out on their own. Once more doctors start doing tubal ligations, I would probably look intro that so that the hormones remain. The risk of pyrometra in. unspayed females is high, but with tubal ligation and spayed females it's not something to worry about.

http://www.caninesports.com/uploads/...tions_2013.pdf

If you spay before there first heat it reduces the risk of mammary cancer a lot but you don't want to spay before 6 months old. They can get an infection if not spayed that is very serious and can cause death if not treated quickly. Male dogs can also smell a female in heat from very far away so she should not got outside alone when in heat. Spaying doesn't change there personality and I think people think this because normally it's puppies that get spayed and they are still developing there personality. Most yorkies have to have baby teeth that haven't fallen out pulled when they get spayed.

From what I understood from that link is that the dog should not get spayed until after 2 heat cycles, so about at least 1 year of age? I think that all of her baby teeth are in right now, when do all the adult teeth finish coming in? I don't want to increase her chances of any type of diseases, and with the information that each heat gives a higher chance of mammary cancer, I'm a little bit confused at what exactly the article is saying - it seems like he says its more dangerous for a female to not get spayed but to do it after 2 heat cycles, not before... but isn't that increasing her risk for mammary cancer? At the same time he also states high risks for OTHER diseases with spaying. :confused:

I definitely think that from the information I got from the responses and the article.. I should not spay right now at her age for sure, she is too little.

From what I've read, it's best to wait until growth plates are closed. That may happen for Yorkies by eight or nine months old, and an X-ray can confirm it. Spaying pups too early increases urinary incontinence.

I've had five female Yorkies who were all spayed. Their personalities didn't change, but it's more of a struggle to keep them thin, even with a lot of exercise, because of the loss of hormones.

This is another YorkieTalk thread:
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...n-if-ever.html

Crystal is 13 months old and as far as we've noticed has not had her first season, or if she has it's gone unnnoticed? I am going to have her spayed whilst her Mom's away in early March. She's also down to be micro-chipped at the same time.

I'm so desperately nervous of anything happening to her and seeing her groggy afterwards has decidedly made me put it off so far. But she can't wait any longer, so the dreaded day approaches.

We do have a fine Veterinary practice five miles distant which is some comfort...:(

Thank you very much lisaly for your very informative posts and links, I really appreciate it. I found this link in the link you gave me: http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongT...uterInDogs.pdf

After reading that article, what it looks like is by spaying we eliminate the risk of some diseases but at the same time bring elevated risk for other diseases which is scary. One thing is for sure though, I will take your advice along with the others who have posted about waiting until Chloe is older, if anything.

Docmartin I understand what you mean about being paranoid, I'm the same way with my little fur baby. I just want the best for her because I love her so much. She makes me happy, it's that type of happiness that only dog owners can understand.

everything 107barnbey posted plus not spaying can cause Pyometra infection in uterus, if not detected early infection causes puss in uterus which could erupt, causing puss to get into blood, which can cause DEATH. If you mate her one time all the above is eliminated. If you are not going to mate her spay her. At one time they advised spaying after females first heat, that was changed to spaying BEFOFE FIRST HEAT, so age is not a factor, usually females go into heat about 6 or 7 mos. Speak to your about proper time. My first 2 yorkies I did not spay due to ignorance of Pyometra, my 3rd and 4th yorkie I had sMy 2nd payed before first heat as advised by my vet. My 1st 2 babies came down with Pyometra first one was age 11 y/o it was full blow (the vet I had at that time is not the vet that I have been with now 20 + yrs ) I took her to the vet because she had a foul odor coming from her, I thought it was a urinary infection, turned out t be full blown Pyometra, vet gave her a full hysterectomy, she died 9 days later. 6 months later my 2nd baby 12 y/o came down with it, again it was a foul odor, I took her to a diff, vet, they operated, operation was successful, but she died 6 months later reason not known, but was not from Pyometra. My 3rd baby died from a bad heart at age 13 and my last sweet heart died at 16 y/o from pancreitis, spaying my dogs did not change their personalities at all, they were energetic, playful , healthy appetites, sweet loving babies. I recommend spaying if you are not planning on breeding your female. I also had a poodle that I did not spay she had many tumors all removed when discovered, she died of breast cancer at age 11 y/o. Do not fear, if you are not going to breed PLEASE spay her. Check with your vet as to the proper age & time. Good luck and enjoy your lil baby, yorkies are a awesome breed.

forgot to answer, females can ONY get PREGNANT when they are in heat or in season, same thing diff. wording lol. which is 2 times a year, every 6 mos.(6 months from time of last heat) it is a 3 week process, one week coming (Light bleeding or spotting,staining) one week full blown heat (male dogs can smell a female in heat for miles, she will also try looking for a male, you have to be vigilant with them when they are in heat) 3rd week bleeding is spotty, but they can still get pregnant. PLEASE SPAY for health reasons if you are not going to breed her. ALWAYS CONCULT YOUR VET we as members can only give you our experiences, knowledge and advise, there are NO VETS on this site. ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR VET PLEASE.

The chance of getting mammory cancer is higher after the first heat and then it increases after every heat. I would spay before the first heat but no earlier then 6 months. All her adult teeth are not in by 4 months old so by at least waiting until 6 months most will have come in and the vet can pull any baby teeth left.

They can still get pyometra even if bred.

They can still develop pyometra even if they've had a litter of puppies. If you decide to not to spay her, you need to read up on this and familiarize yourself with the symptoms. This can very quickly become an emergency and cause death if untreated. I would wait until she's at least 6 months old and if she's really tiny then maybe even longer. If you get her spayed before her first heat, you significantly reduce the risk of mammary tumors. If you decide to spay her, you want to make sure she's not in heat when you schedule the surgery. Your vet will probably still do it but it increases the risks of complications and they bleed more during the surgery.

As far as the surgery itself, it's a fairly simple procedure. It generally takes about 30 minutes. Of course there is a risk with anesthesia but complications are rare. Pre anesthetic bloodwork is never a bad idea to make sure everything is functioning normally even in a young dog so that may be something you want to discuss with your vet. They normally recover very quickly especially in young dogs. Your vet will probably send her home on pain medications and if not, you can always request them if you think she needs them. She'll need to have decreased activity for a couple of weeks and that is usually the hardest part -getting them to sit still. ;-) I hope this helps answer some of your questions.

My girl will be 14 this fall. She's never had any issues due to her early spay. She's also never had mammary cancer or pyometra or a litter of unwanted puppies. Sadly I just ran I to a lady whose dog was fighting for it's life because she didn't spay her and she was full of mammary tumors. I have seen it a few times now going to the vet. There is only one reference ever posted to say early spaying is bad yet a wide body of information going in favor of spay. I would spay a female against 5-6 months if I had a new puppy.

:thumbup:

I had my first yorkie for 16 years, very healthy. I never did spay her nor did I breed her. I just watched her very well & her heats were never a problem.
I did spay my last yorkie at about 7 months & she did not do well with it. No health issues from it but I felt so sorry for her. She must have been in so much pain because she would stay in the back of her crate and shiver. I did give her pain meds but as a mommy I was beside myself & sorry that I did it. It is a personal decision but if I do decide to do it next time I will do a tubal. There is nothing concrete but there have been some studies that are looking at early spaying as possibly causing "Cushings". Do your homework & I am sure you will find the decision that is best for you and your little one. All the best Bobbie Jo

A lot of dogs act like that for a day after any anesthesia. Massive amounts of dogs are spayed young with no issues. Callie didn't feel good the first night but I was not sorry I did it because I saved her from getting certain cancers and infections that would have been A LOT more painful then a spay. I also had to put her under and have knee surgery done plus ACL surgery and she hurt a whole heck of a lot more then a dog does after getting fixed but I wasn't sorry I did it yes I felt bad for her pain but it had to be done to save her from completely tearing the ACL and to continue having pain with her knee. Some pain can save them from massive amounts of pain and even death.

my first yorkie was spayed after 1 heat and did develop a mammary tumor.

My yorkie now was spayed today (4 days short of 7 months). At just before 6 months the vet wanted to wait a bit because she is only 4 lbs and said this would be a good time. She was trying to wait as long as she could before she went into heat, which she said is cyclical and likely to happen in the spring, so she suggested April (she was born in December). The surgery went well and other than getting a bit of the cold shoulder from my girl, I think she will be fine.

My most recent dog is a rescue who is 4 and was spayed two weeks ago. She had a MUCH harder time recovering from her spay. The vet said something about the size of the blood vessels being larger at that age, and there being more pain (he told the rescue, not me directly, so I didn't get to ask any questions)