I will answer your original question and this is what I this is best. Pebbles was 6/almost 7 months old when she was spayed. I actually wish that I had her spayed a little earlier because she has lost a lot of teeth. When he did the spay he found a puppy tooth right in the front on the bottom. When he removed it this left a huge space and caused all of her adult teeth to become lose over time. Since then she has lost all of her lower from teeth (the tiny ones) and several of the top teeth as well. Poor breeding I am sure but the space definetly contributed to her teeth falling out. No...they were not removed during dentals. Just fell out.

As for the argument about growth plates needing to close at the magical year old mark is a very broad statement. I've posted about this before and that GENERAL rule is for all different size dogs. Larger dogs growth plate take longer to close than smaller breed dogs. We own small breed Yorkies with much smaller bones VS a Great Dane.

IMO I think that you should chose an age that you feel comfortable with and if that's in the next few months so be it. It's not like you are planning not to spay you are asking what our opinions is regarding the correct age.

To the person who posted about Dr. Mercola.....well I'm sure most here know my thoughts on him. :rolleyes:

First I'm no expert, if you are not experienced you should have Vet check and discuss Spaying/Teeth around 4 1/2 to 5 months. The Canines can cause serious irreversible problems if the don't come in right and push/dissolve the babies. This usually starts happening around 5 months, especially the lowers, if they come up inside and the baby teeth are stubborn, you might wind up with the canines resting in the upper palate. If the canine is half grown and baby tooth is solid, check with Vet, the baby tooth removal allows the perm tooth to grow out into that empty space for normal alignment.

Pyometra isn't really that rare. I work in a vet clinic and I'd say we see at least 1-2 dogs a month that need emergency surgery for it. And it becomes A LOT more expensive than your typical spay. They need to be hospitalized for several days on IV antibiotics and sadly some of them still don't make it. I really wish more vets would talk to owners about the risks. My own dog had a mild case of it. Luckily I caught it early. At the time, I had no idea that could even happen (this was long before I started working in a vet clinic) and my vet at the time had never mentioned it.

Thank you for answering my question. My vet wanted to wait until October at least. He did not agree to do sooner but will do later. I have a week off during Thanksgiving and 2 off during Christmas. Felt like one of those times would be best. I will spay just trying to decide if doing it at 8 months vs 1 year is better. Thanks again.

In my opinion I would do 8 months so she doesn't go into heat. They bounce back and heal pretty fast as pups. If she goes into heat you have to end up wait three months after the heat ends I believe until you can spay.

Personally, I think that sooner would be better if she has any retained teeth. Other than that I'd say either is perfectly fine. If you were thinking that she would need 2 weeks for recovery IMO they bounce back very quickly after a spay. The other thing that you need to consider is that the longer you wait the greater her chance of being in heat and pushing the spay back even further. What I am saying is that if at Thanksgiving she is not yet in heat then a spay would be a go. But what if you happen to wait until Christmas and then she does go into heat. That wound leave you with having to push it back to a time that you would not be off. Something to think about as well. They will not spay if they are in heat. The longer you wait the greater your chances will be that it could happen. Just a little more to think about in your decision.

That was my point as well. I think the longer you wait the greater the chance of going into heat if the idea is to be able to spend time with her after her spay.


:thumbup:

Please remember they bounce back in two days or less sometimes, but you need to watch exertion for at least two weeks, I ddi three weeks with Ginger. The outer cut will heal in about a week, but it takes longer for the internal cut (Abdominal) to heal. You'll be able to feel it, swelling going down, sutures dissolving and such.

I have taken the time to do my research and I suggest you take the time to inform yourself before giving out advice that you have not checked out for yourself. Just echoing what you have heard someone else say is not a sound way of educating yourself.

Here you go Taylor:

Mammary Cancer in Dogs


It goes on to say:

I'm not echoing my dear but there will always be people who think there opinion is the only opinion I just hope and pray that when give the correct info and facts they chose to follow them rather then others opinion. I will not bicker with you anymore I know I have post facts with science to back it up unlike some.

Thank you, I couldn't find my darn link. I need to keep a book or something with my links lol

You need to get your facts straight. I have NEVER said that early spaying causes cancer in anyone!!! NEVER! I did say that the incidence of mammary cancer in dogs that have had one heat cycle is very low. Less than 6 percent. The facts are out there and maybe you should read more than one article. There are breeders that have bred dogs for years that have 0 incidence of mammary cancer. The statics show that most mammary tumors are in dogs between the ages of 6 and 10 years of age and that 55% of those tumors are benign. Those are facts and not opinion.

There are very sound reasons to wait to have a tiny dog spayed. Many times, but not all the time, they are not as strong as a regular sized dog just because of the kind of genetic manipulation that was done to develop a tiny. I would not risk putting a young tiny through a spay procedure not knowing if her heart could take it and also not being aware of future problems that may develop. That is my opinion and I have every right to state it. If your opinion differs then it is just your opinion against mine.

I will not be misquoted or misrepresented by you! I would advise you once more....there are opinions and then there are facts. If you have an opinion---FINE! State it as just that, an opinion! Attacking people for not agreeing with you is counterproductive

Not all dogs and not even a large percentage of dogs that go through a heat cycle develop mammary cancer so don't infer that they do. If you or anyone else does not believe me then look it up. The information is easy enough to find. I'm not going to do it for you. I am disgusted by you constant attacks on people who differ with you.

First off I never said you did but u did say this
Which is not true on so many levels one there are no study's in small dogs and two there is no science to back up that early spaying can cause "tumors" when getting the pre surgery blood work and nothing being wrong on it or with the dog anesthesia is perfectly safe and that is a fact. Most statistics are made up or have no real truth to them. Dogs who are not spayed before there first heat have an 8% chance of getting mammary cancer and it goes much higher after the next heat and then so on. It is quoted above if you need to see that. Again I am posting facts with science to back them up but a lot of what your posting just your opinion. I will never sit back and watch someone give the wrong info because it can be dangerous. I believe if any attacking is being done it's by you. Have a lovely day :)

The information that you are presenting to the forum is NOT FACTUAL. I shared a link previously that stated