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Spay before or after first season?


merledogs

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I've only had one bitch previously and Milly was spayed at around six months old, before her first season.  The rescue I got Lily from said their vet advised spaying after the first season. There's so much conflicting information about and even vets' opinions vary.

Any thoughts/experiences please?

I obviously have Jac, who we are fairly certain has been neutered, but can't be 100%, so they would need to be separated if she came into season.

When I got Jac the rescue originally said that they weren't sure whether he had been neutered or whether his testes were retained.  Then they checked again with the rescue that passed him on and they said that he had been castrated.  To be on the safe side, when he was having double dew claws removed from his back legs, the vet scanned him to see if they could see any 'lumps' inside him. Vet didn't find any but said this didn't mean 100% that they weren't there and the only way to be certain was to open him up for an exploratory operation, which I declined.

It's fun having baby dogs :rolleyes:

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Right enough Alex, there is such a lot of conflicting information. It's not a decision I've had to make as my last female was adopted at around 3 or 4 years of age and we had her spayed shortly after (and that in itself is a story!)  

However the Dog's Trust advise spaying before the first season although you may know that already.  Different vets within my old vet practice had different views on it so I'm not sure how an owner is supposed to make an informed decision.  

I hope someone with experience of this will come along shortly, though there aren't an awful lot of us left posting here. 

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Good grief Alex..where have you been? You seemed to have dropped off the planet!  To answer your question...my vets always said a male should be left until at least a year old so they are mentally mature, and a bitch should have one season before being spayed.

None of the vets we've has subscribed to the idea of a bitch needs to have one litter.

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All my bitches are spayed before first season...only issue I have had is incontinence in Deagan..no issue just medication twice a day and she would have got this anyway as she aged with hormone levels dwindling. My vet advises before first season and he treats his own dogs the same so good enough for me

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