Having my puppy neutered

Arbiter of Good Taste

My Lola is 4 months old and I want to have her neutered around 6 months - her day care requires all dogs over 6 months to be neutered.

My question is, do I need to wait 6 months (and hope that she doesn't go into heat before then) or does a couple of weeks early make a difference?

We are planning to go away for 10-14 days at the end of September and want to kennel her, so definitely want to have her neutered by then. But I want to leave a good period of time between any operation and us leaving - so she will have plenty of time to recover and get loads of hugs and kisses. So, ideally I would like to get her done around early September. She will be 6 months around 15 September.


If we need to delay our trip a few weeks, so be it.

Nody

What breed is Lola (as in general large dogs should be neutered later than smaller dogs)?

lorebringer

Ask your vet - depending on breed and maturity, it will be up to them whether it is ok.

Arbiter of Good Taste

Thanks both. She's a Bichon/Havanese cross, so she's teensy weensy

tk123

Arbiter of Good Taste wrote: »

her day care requires all dogs over 6 months to be neutered.

Afaik as they require dogs to be neutered but not bitches to be spayed - obviously you can't leave a dog in heat into daycare. I'd ask the owners if/when they got their own dogs done - you might be surprised by the response. I can think of 2 daycares I know where the owners own pets are intact yet they still give outdated advise that you should neuter/spay at 6 months! My retriever is 13 months and going thru her first heat. I decided to wait and let her grow/mature and have 1 heat before getting her spayed for health reasons.

Knine

lorebringer wrote: »

Ask your vet - depending on breed and maturity, it will be up to them whether it is ok.

Vets will all say spay/neuter early. Its their bread & butter afterall. Personally I would not neuter a 6 mth old. I allow my bitches to have one heat if not breeding from them.

I guess none of mine will be going to doggy day care!

tk123

Knine wrote: »

Vets will all say spay/neuter early. Its their bread & butter afterall. Personally I would not neuter a 6 mth old. I allow my bitches to have one heat if not breeding from them.

It depends on the vet. Mine asked what my plan was at Lucy's 6 month check up - when I said I wanted to wait she said she was glad because that's what she would have recommended

Knine

tk123 wrote: »

It depends on the vet. Mine asked what my plan was at Lucy's 6 month check up - when I said I wanted to wait she said she was glad because that's what she would have recommended

Mine know not to ask me!

Rips

I agree with the others who have said to consult your vet, you could bring her in for a free weight check and see what they think.

She will be checked over as part of her pre-op regardless and if she is still going to be a really tiny dog (<5kg) you could discuss perhaps taking extra precautions like having a pre-anaesthetic blood work up.

Ideally you should have her spayed before her first heat though. It will reduce her chances of having mammary tumours to 0.5%, negate the risk of pyometra and other problems.

As difficult to believe as some posters make out, some vets actually care about the health and welfare of your dog.

Some vets would say there is less risk during the actual operation before the first heat as the organs are less vascular, where others perhaps would say that after they have had a heat cycle, the organs are more pliable and therefore easier to manipulate.

Knine

Rips wrote: »

I agree with the others who have said to consult your vet, you could bring her in for a free weight check and see what they think.

She will be checked over as part of her pre-op regardless and if she is still going to be a really tiny dog (<5kg) you could discuss perhaps taking extra precautions like having a pre-anaesthetic blood work up.

Ideally you should have her spayed before her first heat though. It will reduce her chances of having mammary tumours to 0.5%, negate the risk of pyometra and other problems.

As difficult to believe as some posters make out, some vets actually care about the health and welfare of your dog.

Some vets would say there is less risk during the actual operation before the first heat as the organs are less vascular, where others perhaps would say that after they have had a heat cycle, the organs are more pliable and therefore easier to manipulate.

Spaying/ neutering large breed dogs before they are fully mature can result in bone & growth issues & thick woolly coats. For example my own breed the early neutered males end up tall, rangy & not anything like the males allowed to mature. Also they seem at a higher risk of dying very early from bone cancers. Not so with the entire males.

tk123

Rips wrote: »

Ideally you should have her spayed before her first heat though. It will reduce her chances of having mammary tumours to 0.5%, negate the risk of pyometra and other problems.

There's plenty of risks when you spay too early though - delayed growth plate closure(probably not an issue for the OP since it's a small dog) bone cancer, incontinence, ACL rupture, hip dysplacia etc etc You'll find as many arguments for as you will against.

OP just on the recovery time I'm 99% sure that we're going to go with keyhole surgery. There's only 1 external stitch and the recovery is a lot easier.

bluejelly

I would suggest asking the opinion of more than one vet so you can weigh up various pro's/cons.

I highly recommend laproscopic spaying, when I picked my lab up after her surgery she was flying around the place. she did spend a good part of the following day in bed but there is just no comparison in recovery time & pain. My older dog had the old style op & she was crying when I picked her up & so uncomfortable afterwards.

tk123

bluejelly wrote: »

I would suggest asking the opinion of more than one vet so you can weigh up various pro's/cons.

I highly recommend laproscopic spaying, when I picked my lab up after her surgery she was flying around the place. she did spend a good part of the following day in bed but there is just no comparison in recovery time & pain. My older dog had the old style op & she was crying when I picked her up & so uncomfortable afterwards.

Oh that's great to hear! Did you have to restrict her much after the op?

bluejelly

Not really, apart from no walks but i cant remember how long this was for. she took it easy herself for a couple of days, spent more time in her bed than usual but that was it whereas my other dog didn't know what to do with herself, couldn't sit comfortably, couldn't lie down so was restless & whimpering which is hard.

Arbiter of Good Taste

Thanks all

There seems to be quite a bit of debate around the whole topic. I will speak to my vet and see what she recommends