neutering

[shan]

molly is now just gone the six months and i have to decide whether to neuter her or wait till after her first season has anybody on the forum neutered there female before the first season and if so how did it work out with coat and such afterwards obviously i want to do the right thing for her but feel a little nervous the cavalier book i have says under no circumstances to neuter before the first heat what is everybodys thoughts on this subject thanks in advance

[Cleo's Person]

We neutered before Cleo's first season. I was afraid that she might develop cancer if I left it too long. She doesn't seem to have suffered any bad ill effects from being spayed at 7 months. Cleo's coat looks a bit scruffy, not as long or as pretty as Pauline's Dylan, who seems to have a lovely coat, but I think Cleo is just a scruffy doggie, and we love her lots! It is a very personal decision about when to spay your pet. Hopefully some other will have more useful information, but for what it's worth, it worked well for us.

[Karlin]

Most vets will recommend to do this by 6 months. You can wait, but if you do you will need to keep her totally confined for the 4 week stretch of her season and there's a slight increase (7%) in her chances of developing mammary cancer over her lifetime than if neutered before her first season (0% chance).

More info: http://board.cavaliertalk.com/showthread.php?t=21755