# I made an appt to get Gracie Spayed



## Feralpudel (Jun 28, 2010)

You might want to talk with Chocolate Millie about her experience with having Millie spayed at 6 months. She (Millie!) has since developed some incontinence--sometimes a consequence of spaying before everything has had a chance to mature. 

You might also want to talk to your breeder about how quickly her lines mature. With many standards, you can wait until a year or more without dealing with a first heat.


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## lcristi (Feb 27, 2011)

Tuffcookie said:


> I made it for March 25th. She just turned 5 mos old and I wanted to have it done before she went into her first heat.
> 
> I have always had male dogs so females are all new to me!
> 
> ...


Tuffcookie,
I don't know about appropriate age for spay-except that it was recommended I spay my Standard before her first heat. I wish I had - Feralpudel's advice is sound. It never occurred to me that Standards mature later and that breeding lines are inherited.
A friend of mine brought her golden doodle home the same day as... it was a traumatic experience for her(my friend) to see her dog so drowsy and obviously out of it. My experience was very different. Chloe pranced in (after prelim blood etc. the day before) and pranced out the next day as "the darling of the practice".
Ear-plucking-my vet does not recommend it-it seems to be the current wisdom- "why is the hair there if they don't need it". I saw for myself how much hair there is all the way down the ear canal via a scope w/camera and computer screen. I don't pluck, but I do use a mild salicylic acid solution to dissolve the wax every two to three weeks, when I bathe her. No issues so far. no odor just hairy ears. Chloe is 21 months.


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## schpeckie (Jun 29, 2010)

I spayed my girls at 6 1/2 months. The Vet mentioned not to do it before 6 months as Feralpudle said - they need to mature a bit more.


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## lavillerose (Feb 16, 2011)

My mini girl was spayed just last month. I too have not had a female pet for a long time (my last was my old kitty who passed last year, and her spay was 20 years ago), so I was a bit worried. I was most concerned about Albi ripping her incision because she's so active, and I even bought her a comfy cone to be sure.

When I brought her home in the afternoon was, as expected, sore and groggy, and she slept most of the time. She ate and drank normally. The next day she spent mostly sleeping as well. She only occasionally licked at the incision, which is okay. My vet did a great job, her incision site was really tiny. Within two days she was back to her bouncy happy self.

It took most of the month for the bumpiness of the internal stitches to go away, and now it's barely noticeable.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Yes, my vet talked me into spaying Millie at 5 months. Millie always had a seemingly weak bladder and she proceeded to have a few incidents of incontinence after she was spayed. I had to treat her with one round of estrogen and it hasn't happened again in four months. 

The vet explained that this wasn't a direct result of being spayed, but rather spaying her early prevented her from developing those hormones (estrogen) that would have naturally "tightened" things up, allowing greater bladder control. This is why I had to treat her with artificial hormones.

The vet then defended her recommendation of spaying Millie because of the risks of cancer, etc. etc. And said that giving hormones for incontinence is less dangerous than the risk of cancer. Although, the articles I have read suggest that, yes, the risk of cancer does increase with each heat BUT it doesn't increase exponentially until after multiple heats. With this in mind, I will definitely always spay my female dogs after they have matured fully - meaning at least one heat.


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## Beach girl (Aug 5, 2010)

I've only had males, not females, but I'm convinced that waiting for the growth plates to close is a good idea. This happens around 12 to 18 months old. I would not neuter or spay before 18 months for that reason. A dog who is spayed/neutered later will have better bones and muscle development than one who is neutered before puberty.


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## pudlemom (Apr 16, 2010)

I just had my boy Hershey neutered at 15 month and I am in contact with a brother of his that was neutered at 4 month you can definitely see the difference in body structure between the two Hershey is much more muscled up, they are the same height but the other pup is more gangly.

I am getting ready to have his sister Kate spayed also she is now 16 month and has only benn in heat one time so if you do decide to wait a couple more months more than likely you will not have to deal with a heat cycle,as for my other two girls one came in for the first time at 8 months and the other was not till a year.
I would take the advice of the OP and contact the breeder and see what the lines say and give her a few more month to mature JMO.


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## Tuffcookie (Dec 22, 2010)

Thanks for your input everyone! I am waiting to hear back from the breeder.

I am also concerned because I will be out of town the first two weeks in May and I will be gone the last week-end in May and I'm worried that she could go into her first heat! I have never been thru that and I'm not sure what to expect.

I don't want to rush getting her spayed if it's better to wait.


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## Tuffcookie (Dec 22, 2010)

I finally heard from my breeder. She said that her vet recommends between 5-7 mos. Since Gracie will be a few days shy of 6 mos. by the time of her surgery, I think I will go ahead. I appreciate all your words of wisdom and I truly took them to heart when making my decision. I realize there are pros and cons. Thank you all, again!


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

That's exactly how _I_ ended up doing it earlier than I should have!


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## Tuffcookie (Dec 22, 2010)

Well, today was the big day! I just got a call from the vet. She said Gracie did beautifully! Dr. Rooks has completely fallen in love with my Gracie! (who wouldn't?)

I had decided to go ahead and have her stomach tacked while she was under and I had her micro-chipped.

I can pick her up after 5:00 PM today. Everything is in place...ramp, crates, collar...lots of TLC!


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## faerie (Mar 27, 2010)

i spayed all my females at 6-7 months.


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## pudlemom (Apr 16, 2010)

Glad to hear everything went well for Gracie,sending healing ~ vibes~ for a speedy recovery ((((hugs))))


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## schpeckie (Jun 29, 2010)

Yes, us girls too hope Gracie has a speedy recovery! I'm sure she will be fine! Just keep her in a quite area and she will recupe within the next day or so. The girls are finally getting their first haircuts after their surgery back on Feb. 5. They are getting quite woolly!


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## taem (Mar 5, 2011)

ChocolateMillie said:


> Yes, my vet talked me into spaying Millie at 5 months. Millie always had a seemingly weak bladder and she proceeded to have a few incidents of incontinence after she was spayed. I had to treat her with one round of estrogen and it hasn't happened again in four months.
> 
> The vet explained that this wasn't a direct result of being spayed, but rather spaying her early prevented her from developing those hormones (estrogen) that would have naturally "tightened" things up, allowing greater bladder control. This is why I had to treat her with artificial hormones.
> 
> The vet then defended her recommendation of spaying Millie because of the risks of cancer, etc. etc. And said that giving hormones for incontinence is less dangerous than the risk of cancer. Although, the articles I have read suggest that, yes, the risk of cancer does increase with each heat BUT it doesn't increase exponentially until after multiple heats. With this in mind, I will definitely always spay my female dogs after they have matured fully - meaning at least one heat.


Thank you very much for sharing that. This is such a tough issue, because there isn't one right way, but my gut instinct was to wait one heat and hearing about your experience makes me feel much better about that decision.


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## Tuffcookie (Dec 22, 2010)

I took Gracie yesterday to get her staples out. She seems to be healing nicely. She has been very difficult to keep still the last week! Add to that, the fact that "cousin Max" is staying with us thru Sunday while my oldest son & his family are out of town.

She is scheduled for her next grooming next Saturday, which she is in need of badly.


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## star (Feb 20, 2011)

Glad that Gracie is feeling better. I booked my Lola in for her spay this Wednesday morning.


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