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Early spay


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The is a what amounts to a vigilante vet tech on one of my neighborhood forums that insists that all dogs must be spayed before 6 months to make sure they never come into heat and that not doing so greatly increases the chance of pyometra, as well as memory cancers in dogs that were spayed late or not at all"

I was always told large breeds should wait until at least nine months for growth plates to close.  I am fuzzy on the whole thing (especially what in the heck a memory cancer would be - a mammary cancer cousin?)

Would welcome any information.  Thanks.

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I think it’s a typo and should be mammary cancer. I always thought that bitches should only be spayed after their first season, and a very quick google search suggests that early spaying is linked to a 0.5 % chance of mammary cancer, increasing to 8% if spayed after the first season - considering the possible detrimental health effects of spaying too early, these are odds that I would find acceptable. What evidence does she have for early spaying? Can she refer you to a study?

Buddy Molly 🌈 5/11/10-10/10/23

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i do believe that the new findings go with pam.  and i agree about waiting w/ large breeds. many larger dogs do not come into season until well after their first birthday. so, it's really up to the vet and what the owner feels comfortable with. pyometra is awful, but not all females will get it. the same with mammary cancer. i know spaying a young pup is rediculious. with felix i really did intend upon neutering him well into his second year. hormones and behavior told me - no way! he was neutered at 9 months. the girls in the litter around 7 months. my new whippet is 2 yrs, 5 months and still hasn't come into season.

pam, i think all of us over 60 have memory cancer- benign, we don't ever remember that we have it!!!

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10 hours ago, cleptogrey said:

wdpam, i think all of us over 60 have memory cancer- benign, we don't ever remember that we have it!!!

:rotfl:rotfl

I asked a fairly well respected  vet the question and received this answer _

"If you spay a female dog (or cat) b4 she EVER comes in heat, she will never get mammary cancer, which is the most common cancer of female dogs, just like in people. It is fairly protective to spay after one heat but after that the protection factor fizzles out. Obviously a dog spayed at any age won’t get a pyo.
As long as they are responsible (and smart) owners who will not let her get bred (you’d be surprised at what “smart” people think will work), they will probably choose to take a small risk and wait".
 
Edited by Hubcitypam
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If I have this right, the growth plates in young dogs - the part of the bone that actually grows longer - remains "open" and actively growing until they are "turned off" by hormones that occur when the dog reaches maturity.  If a dog is spayed/neutered early then those hormones don't happen and you run the risk of the dog not reaching their potential in growth - either too big or too small.  But this maturity happens at different times for different breeds and even different individuals, so there's no way of knowing from the outside when their growth has stopped.  Fortunately it's fairly easy to snap a xrays of the ends of the long leg bones to check on the status of the growth plates there.

The issues of mammary cancer and pyometria are separate from the growth plate issue.

Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora)

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Angels: Libby (Everlast), Dorie (Dog Gone Holly), Dude (TNJ VooDoo), Copper (Kid's Copper), Cash (GSI Payncash), Toni (LPH Cry Baby), Whiskey (KT's Phys Ed), Atom, Lilly

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With cats, and especially ones that are part of a trap-neuter-return, they can do it as early as eight weeks! Of course, every pet is different, so work with your vet.

Current Crew: Gino-Gene-Eugene! (Eastnor Rebel: Makeshift x Celtic Dream); Fuzzy the Goo-Goo Girl (BGR Fuzzy Navel: Boc's Blast Off x Superior Peace); Roman the Giant Galoot! (Imark Roman: Crossfire Clyde x Shana Wookie); Kitties Archie and Dixie

Forever Missed: K9 Sasha (2001-2015); Johnny (John Reese--Gable Dodge x O'Jays) (2011-19); the kitties Terry and Bibbi; and all the others I've had the privilege to know

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On 9/29/2019 at 5:44 PM, Hubcitypam said:

Still figuring that out but think if you don't have to  might not be wise.  I think people do it in part to avoid the mess of coming in heat.

I funny you should say this a good long time friend and I were talking about dog ownership in the 70s vs now and how spay/neuter has changed and the influence of rescue groups.

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