# What age did or will you neuter/spay?



## civano (Sep 29, 2014)

What age did or will you neuter or spay? Javi is 6 1/2 months old now and I know I need to think about it in the future. I've heard many things about waiting until they've stopped growing or at least wait until they are 8 months old at the earliest. Javi also has retained his baby canines and will need to have them pulled when he gets neutered so I don't know if I need to do it sooner because of that or if it will mess up his adult teeth somehow? My veterinarian is of the mindset the sooner the better and the easier the recovery and scoffed at me when I discussed growth plates. She believes the benefits outweigh the negatives. I'm not so sure.


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## Hsusa (Dec 21, 2014)

Sheba was six and a half months when she was neutered. She needed some teeth removed but that wasn't what I was thinking about. I just did what I'd done with our other female dogs, who all lived long, healthy lives. I know now that there are good reasons to wait longer... until the growth plates have closed, I think? Someone will be able to give you a good explanation of that. 
To be honest, I am grateful that we have it over with! I think I would be worrying all the time that she would go into heat without my knowing it. I definitely wouldn't be able to handle male dogs waiting around for her, or a litter of puppies. I'm just about keeping up with Sheba!


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

I would be careful about waiting too long to remove the retained canines, especially if you see the adult teeth trying to poke through. Molly's adult teeth around the retained baby canines ended up coming in at the wrong angles and she actually had to have two adult teeth removed because of it. She was spayed at 7 months old.


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## civano (Sep 29, 2014)

Thanks Diane and Helene. I sent a picture to my breeder of his mouth and she thinks they are coming in at the right angle but maybe I'll make an appointment with my veterinary office to see what they think. I would hate for him to lose any adult teeth.


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## Sassy's Mom (Feb 4, 2015)

Sassy was a little over 6 months when I had her spayed. I was afraid she would go into heat and wanted to get it done as soon as possible. She also had a cherry eye that I wanted fixed at the same time.

She did very well with both surgeries. 

Nadine


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## Deacon Blues (Nov 22, 2013)

It's a complex, personal decision with lots of different factors. You might find this video of interest: Havanese World: The Truth About Spaying and Neutering.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Hsusa said:


> Sheba was six and a half months when she was neutered. She needed some teeth removed but that wasn't what I was thinking about. I just did what I'd done with our other female dogs, who all lived long, healthy lives. I know now that there are good reasons to wait longer... until the growth plates have closed, I think? Someone will be able to give you a good explanation of that.
> To be honest, I am grateful that we have it over with! I think I would be worrying all the time that she would go into heat without my knowing it. I definitely wouldn't be able to handle male dogs waiting around for her, or a litter of puppies. I'm just about keeping up with Sheba!


That is a VERY good reason for neutering early... And the one that vets worry about most. Unplanned and especially early pregnancies are a MUCH bigger health risk than early spay/neuter. So if you aren't POSITIVE you can handle a heat cycle without keeping your girl out of trouble, it is better to spay them early. You also have to weigh the risks of an extra anesthesia (for the teeth) against the possible risks of an early spay. While I have no fear that I could handle a heat cycle, I'd have to think hard about whether I wanted to risk a second anesthesia to do the two procedures separately. Fortunately, I have a great holistically minded vet who I know would help me weigh the risks and benefits of each option and then let me make the decision.

For most small breed pet-only dogs, it probably doesn't make a huge difference. If you will be putting stress on a dog's joints for sports, it is better to wait at least until they are fully mature... At least a year, some people say two. If I had a large breed puppy, between the joint protection of putting off spay/neuter AND the fact that those who are spayed/neutered later have less risk of some very bad cancers, I would CERTAINLY hold off. Fortunately, our breed has low risk of these cancers, but there are a number of dogs on the forum who have had CCL tears, which have been clearly linked to early spay/neuter.

The "best" answer and the acceptable risks are going to differ for every dog in every family. Read as much as you can before making your decision, but don't feel bad, whatever you choose, as long as it's an informed decision.


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Scout was neutered at six months. I waited until Truffles was one year to spay. Both neuter and spay were uneventful. After the day of surgery they were back to their old self. Either one touched their incision.


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## whimsy (Apr 3, 2010)

Whimsy went though her first heat and we had it done not too long after.


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## rocky14 (Dec 25, 2014)

Sassy's Mom said:


> Sassy was a little over 6 months when I had her spayed. I was afraid she would go into heat and wanted to get it done as soon as possible. She also had a cherry eye that I wanted fixed at the same time.
> 
> She did very well with both surgeries.
> 
> Nadine


I am having Rocky neutered on Thursday, he is 5 1/2 months and also his cherry eye fixed. How did Sassy do following the surgery? I'm not looking forward to the 2 weeks with the cone.


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## CherryO (Apr 6, 2015)

Cherry is only 5 months but I plan on having her neutered at 6 months. Like my vet suggested.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

rocky14 said:


> I am having Rocky neutered on Thursday, he is 5 1/2 months and also his cherry eye fixed. How did Sassy do following the surgery? I'm not looking forward to the 2 weeks with the cone.


The cone is for the cherry eye. I've never heard of a dog needing to be in a cone for 2 weeks for neutering. It just doesn't bother them for that long.


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## Sassy's Mom (Feb 4, 2015)

Yes, the cone is for the eye. Sassy didn't bother either surgery sites. We left the cone on just in case. There is a failure rate in the cherry eye surgery so I didn't want to take any chances.

Nadine


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## Hsusa (Dec 21, 2014)

I've had three dog spayed at 6 months or so and it was completely uneventful for all of them. Except for being tired the first day after I got them from the vets, they were all fairly normal. (All spent the night after surgery at the vets.) None of them needed cones or onesies and didn't seem interested in bothering with their stitches. I hope the puppies who are having this done now have the same experience.
About spending the night at the vets… I trust our vet but I wish I'd asked if I could bring her home the night after the surgery. I'm sure he would have let me. I just didn't think of it. She was so sad and upset when I picked her up the next day.


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## rocky14 (Dec 25, 2014)

krandall said:


> The cone is for the cherry eye. I've never heard of a dog needing to be in a cone for 2 weeks for neutering. It just doesn't bother them for that long.


Yes I was told by the doctor he would have to wear the cone for 2 weeks after surgery for the cherry eye.


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## dridur (Dec 9, 2014)

*conflicted*

I'm actually kind of conflicted about when to neuter Muthu too. He has an undescended testicle so it's of utmost importance with him. His vet doesn't think he'll be done teething until month 8 (but vet has also been really wrong about breed related things before) and doesn't recommend doing it until then. On the other hand I'm really worried about him starting to lift his leg/marking especially because he mostly pees on a pee pad indoors. Thinking of getting a second opinion.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

dridur said:


> I'm actually kind of conflicted about when to neuter Muthu too. He has an undescended testicle so it's of utmost importance with him. His vet doesn't think he'll be done teething until month 8 (but vet has also been really wrong about breed related things before) and doesn't recommend doing it until then. On the other hand I'm really worried about him starting to lift his leg/marking especially because he mostly pees on a pee pad indoors. Thinking of getting a second opinion.


A second opinion never hurts. I have no idea what an undescended testicle does in terms of the neutering time-line. As far as leg-lifting is concerned, that is marking behavior, and typically different from just peeing to eliminate urine. Keep him away from vertical surfaces where other dogs have lifted their legs, and it will take him MUCH longer to learn.


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## midwifeheather (Jan 30, 2015)

I have smores scheduled for her spay, she will be 6mos old. I prefer to have it done before she goes into heat for the first time.


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## Zoe093014 (Jan 27, 2015)

Zoe is months old and I'm conflicted about when to do a spay. Her baby canines are still in next to her adult ones, so this is more of a concern for me. I don't want her to have to have dental extractions twice so not sure whether to wait or not.


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Molly's upper baby canines never loosened up on their own and had to be extracted months after her spay. Looking back I think the vet should have removed them during the spay surgery. Because Molly had the baby canines in place her adult canines did not come in properly. We have had to deal with more dental issues with her adult teeth because of all of this. I would certainly discuss with your vet the pros and cons of when to spay and how you will deal with the baby teeth she still has so you don't end up with problems like we did.


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## Zoe093014 (Jan 27, 2015)

Thanks, Diane. I'll make an appointment soon to discuss this. Helene, I hope that if I have her spayed at the same time that it too will be uneventful. I was also wondering if her mouth would be too sore to eat for a while after the extractions.


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Molly had dissolvable stitches after her tooth extraction. I softened her kibble with water for the first few days but she had no problem eating. My vet also advised not to give her anything hard to chew like her nylabones or himalayan chews until her mouth healed, which for us was about two weeks.


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## Zoe093014 (Jan 27, 2015)

Thanks again, Diane. I have an appointment tomorrow. I have a feeling she may need a lot of work.


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## CherryO (Apr 6, 2015)

Our appointment is officially 3 weeks from now for the neutering. I'll also be getting Cherry microchipped at the same time.


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## Hsusa (Dec 21, 2014)

We had Sheba microchipped too.


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## DaisyMommy (Feb 28, 2015)

Wow! You guys always come to the rescue when I have a concern. 
I'm planning on scheduling Daisy's spay in the next two weeks and this thread came in handy.


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## Zoe093014 (Jan 27, 2015)

We just got back from the vet and I decided to go ahead with the teeth/spay 
next week. The vet seemed to think there may be a risk of cancer with waiting and when I mentioned Dr. Becker's recommendations, she said that she was most likely referring to early spays, around 6 to 8 wks. Zoe weighs 7 lbs. at 7 months. Is this average or will she be on the small side? She said it was important that the teeth be extracted. So I bit the bullet and scheduled. I hope she will do OK.


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Molly is very small and was only 4.8 lbs. when she was spayed. She did just fine with the spay as well as her teeth extractions. Zoe will be fine at her weight for the surgery too!


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## Zoe093014 (Jan 27, 2015)

Oh, thanks, Diane, for your reassuring words. I really hope so.


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## DaisyMommy (Feb 28, 2015)

Daisy has one puppy tooth to be extracted too. The vet was recommending bloodwork to be done as an optional thing along with her spay to check her overall health. Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm thinking of doing it just to be absolutely sure.


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

It is a good idea to have bloodwork done before undergoing surgery with anesthesia. This would detect any problems that could cause complications with the procedure.


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## Zoe093014 (Jan 27, 2015)

Yup. We had blood work today. Thanks!


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## DaisyMommy (Feb 28, 2015)

Molly120213 said:


> It is a good idea to have bloodwork done before undergoing surgery with anesthesia. This would detect any problems that could cause complications with the procedure.


Thanks Diane!  I figured it was worth it. Did your vet tell you it was optional too?


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

No. My vet always requires blood work before anesthesia and I am ok with that, just to be safe.


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