neutering

[Rubysmum]

hi all . ruby is six months old tomorrow im going to have her spayed but am having a hard time deciding when is the best time .ive heard many different opinons , some say before her first season ,others after some say leave it till shes about 2 years and others say dont do it!! another factor is she was really poorly after her injections and im scared the vet wasnt concerned and said he expected her to be lethargic but she was yelping all night whe she moved and didnt know where to put herself . i was thankful she survived tbh and thinking the same could happen when she is spayed . if anyone can give me some advice as to when is best id be grateful . years age ihad a rescue dog i just had her done no problem but somethings making me wary this time round !

[Karlin]

That is not an unusual reaction to injections, so if it was mostly discomfort, I wouldn't worry -- it might have looked uncomfortable, but wouldn't have been a situation of her ever only just surviving . If the dogs are actually reacting seriously to an injection this is not what happens; they would be quite ill -- that is why your vet wasn't too worried. If you have ever had a tetanus shot or injections to travel to developing countries, you would probably have had this kind of reaction to at least one of the injections -- the injection site can really be sore and you can feel under the weather for about 12 hours to 48 hours as your body creates antibodies in reaction to the injection. Same for dogs! One thing to keep in mind the next time is to always ask vets to give cavaliers injections in in their thigh, not in their neck, because most already have the skull malformation that can cause some discomfort in the neck area, and so many will eventually develop syrinxes and neck injections can therefore cause pain (I have no doubt this is why so many vets say cavaliers always yelp more than other breeds from injections ). if you are worried about injections, then I would go back and talk to your vet for some reassurance. Believe me, a dog with parvo, coronavirus, or distemper, where its life hangs in the balance and where it is experiencing acute pain, is not the trade-off you want out of fear of giving injections. There is lots of information on vaccinations in the Library section, with links to the recommended three-year vaccination protocol. You do not need to get an injection every year for the core vaccines.

On spaying -- please listen to your vet. If you do not spay her, she will have more than a one in three and almost a one in two chance over her lifetime of pyometra, a very serious infection of the womb which has a very high death rate. The only way to save the dog is to do a risky, emergency spay which will cost considerably more than doing it when she is healthy and may not actually save her life. According to a Swedish study, Cavaliers have one of the highest rates of this infection amongst all the breeds studied.

An un-spayed female also has a one in four chance of developing mammary cancer over her lifetime. This is one of the most common cancers in female dogs and also can be lethal. The longer you postpone a spay, the higher the risk. That is why most vets recommend spaying between six months and one year. You should definitely not wait until she is two, and you definitely should not consider not doing it at all for both health and welfare reasons (including the fact that when she comes into heat she generally will be trying to escape your house and can travel for miles, easily becoming lost).

She won't have the same reaction from the injections for a spay -- her reaction would have been due to discomfort of the core vaccines themselves, or the fact that she had the injections in her neck. The only injection she would have for a spay would be possibly for a pain killer afterwards. But all the same, I would ask them not to give injections in the neck area.

There is a lot of information with the facts and statistics here:

http://www.cavaliertalk.com/forums/s...spay-or-neuter

In general if you spay right now, before she has her first heat, she will be at zero risk for mammary cancer. If you wait till after her first heat, the risk jumps to 7%. You also will have to manage her through a heat, which means keeping her entirely indoors with no walks and absolutely supervised 100% of the time even in the back garden, for four weeks. She is likely to spot some blood, so you may want to get special indoor panties to prevent this and other discharge from getting on furniture or carpets if you decide to wait. Some people feel waiting until they reach adult size at about a year to 14 months or so allows them to reach their proper size and shape, and this is the main argument for waiting til about 12 months, before the 2nd heat. There are some studies that indicate they may gain a tiny amount of additional height, in a cavalier perhaps half an inch or an inch. However, whether this outweighs a 7% lifetime risk of cancer has to be considered by the owner -- it really becomes a matter of whatever seems most important in weighing up the various small issues, and some feel very passionately one way or another . Having neutered many dogs before they have reached adulthood, I must say I've never really noticed any difference, seeing them as adults.

[Soushiruiuma]

If you are concerned about pain during/after surgery ask your vet what painkillers your dog will get. Traditionally no painkillers are given during surgery, I believe most vets give a small amount of painkiller afterwards. I don't know where you are, in the US some vets are moving towards using painkillers during surgery, and doing thorough pain management afterwards. I have seen many vets who identify themselves with a sticker on the door, or statement on the counter that they are members of IVAMP (something like that, I can't remember the acronym offhand), and believe in controlling pain in their patients. This drives up the cost of surgery, though. A low cost spay/neuter around here can run as low as $25, with a full complement of painkillers prices can easily be $200-300 for the procedure.

[Rubysmum]

thanks for that very informative reply karlin i feel reassured and will phone the vet for a chat tomorrow . sorry but can i ask another question -if i get an appointment for in the next month say , what if she is already in season -will the vet know and postpone or go ahead ,iv heard the bleeding can be worse in that case . im due a holiday for easter so was hoping to have her done then(im a childminder and though im home anyway the house will be empty of kids so she can have peace and quiet) or should it be now in your opinion..soushiruiuama thanks for that i will definately talk about pain control with the vet ,im in the uk . i dont mind paying a lot more if it means she is more comfortable aarghh just cant bear the thought lol shes such a happy little thing but i know it needs doing !!

[Brian M]

Hi

Three of my four were spayed midway (as near as you can ) between the end of their first and the start of their second seasons.

[Mindysmom]

I had an appointment to have Mindy spayed the week after we got her at 8 months but she came in season the day after she came to us. I believe vets like to do the surgery halfway between seasons. It wasn't an issue to postpone. I can only speak from my one experience but her heat wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated. Her bleeding was light and we were never chased by male dogs. Our yard wasn't fenced so she always was out with me on a leash anyway. I did have to take her for short walks because at her breeders she had always done her business on cement and refused to do ANYTHING on the grass.

[Cathy Moon]

I believe vets like to do the surgery halfway between seasons.

Yes, our vet says to do it halfway between seasons. He explained to us that spaying a bitch at the wrong time in her estrus cycle can cause her to have problems with false pregnancy.

Our vet prefers to spay before the first season, for the reasons Karlin mentioned.

People do tend to have varied and very strong opinions about this topic.

[Rubysmum]

thanks all -well phoned the vet today and booked her in for next friday ! just hope she doesnt come into season in the next week lol .. aother question sorry would i notice the early signs if she did ?