Spadeing your dog ?

[sagapou]

heyy i have a 6 almost 7 month year old husky  who is very healthy although i have been told that it is in her best interests to spade her i read about it and i was wondering when the best time to spade her is and if it is in her best interests to spade her your help is aprecaitead thanks  !  i do feel bad about cutting out a dogs uterus

[ginger899]

Well I respect your choice. There is a lower incidence of breast cancer but not total protection, if she's spayed after her first "Heat". But I see the dilemma. It's difficult, isn't it? To make the perfect choice for your dog. Hormones do play a part in bone health. But then again, so does regular good exercise, and general fitness. But it is true that bone development, particularly of the leg bones, would benefit from some sex hormones.....
So maybe your choice sounds like a good one I think.

I live a little "fingers crossed" with mine because she has about 4 breast tumors (all benign, so far) I keep watch for any new ones, and each time she has to go through a needle biopsy which is quick, but not terribly pleasant for her. I hate the whole "lump-duty" thing!

[sagapou]

thanks ginger for your infromation it is very helpful  i do not plan on breeding her and do see the hard time it would be finding the puppies a good home i do plan on spading her i just wasnt sure what was the best time i been told that if you spade them before the first heat there is 0 chance of breast and uterus cancer although i read that you can have promblems with there bones due to lack of hormones developing .. i think iv decided to spade her right after her first heat that way she is full developed asewll as the chance for breast cancer and utrues cancer is still very small someting like 7 percent ! thanks for ur help and if you have any comments to what i plan on doing due let me know thanks - mike

[ginger899]

I know how you feel. I was always one for keeping things "natural". I figured a male dog should keep his testicles, and a female her uterus. After all...what could go wrong? Things didn't HAVE to go wrong! It was natural and probably wiser for them to remain entire.

Until I learned more about the serious problems that can and do, very commonly, occur, such as Pyometra (deadly) cancer of the uterus, and breast cancer. Now I'm told that prostate cancer in males can happen whether or not the dog is neutered, but I know that testicular cancer can occur certainly. My other dog was not neutered and he died of prostate cancer....so who knows?

Also I have learned more, over the years about the serious problems with unwanted puppies. I was told by a Shelter owner, that many times when people find "good homes" for the puppies, things can happen further down the line such as divorce, loss of earnings, moving home....etc etc which often means that puppy/dog ends up in an already crowded Shelter. (and if there simply is no more room, that dog gets put to sleep. Even getting INTO a Shelter can result in being put to sleep if the dog is hard to re-home for any reason) I was shocked to hear that as I didn't realize at the time that Shelters were so overburdened with unwanted dogs....

So all that taken into account I felt very differently, and knew that bringing new puppies into the world is a terrific responsibility, doesn't always work out the way it's imagined, and can cost an absolute packet of money!

So unless you know a heck of a lot about dog breeding, are wealthy enough that heavy vets bills don't faze you, are 100% certain your girl's health is sound enough to bear and nurse a litter of puppies, are prepared for anything and possibly everything to go wrong (which it could!) during pregnancy and birth, and are either going to keep all the puppies yourself and take care of them all their lives, and have the resources to do this......don't consider breeding her.

My dog always has been very strong, healthy and fit, and had been entire all her life, because I felt a little like you do about it... "I do feel bad about cutting out a dog's uterus"...That was exactly how I felt. After all, things might very well NOT go wrong! Well, they did. My dog developed Pyometra and certainly would have died had I not acted very fast, got her to the vet like greased lightning, and had her spayed by emergency surgery. Being fit and well counted for nothing. Pyometra can strike without warning, and kills many dogs within hours.
I learned my lesson.

By the way, if you had your girl spayed now, BEFORE her first Heat Cycle, she would be more or less protected against developing breat cancer in middle age or later life. I've forgotten the statistics now, but I think it's close to "nil".

You would not be depriving her of anything. You would not be taking away her essential personality, or anything....you would be making a well-informed good choice to have her spayed soon. You could speak to your vet about this.