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spiritual_gardner

Spaying to young???

spiritual_gardner
17 years ago

O.K. here goes.

Last April, I adopted a four month old female Shepard/Hound. Her life up to that point was pure turmoil. That said, she was also already spayed. Within the past 5 months, she has had two urinary infections (treating one episode now) and been diagnosed with "urinary incontinence" that requires lifetime medication, twice a day. My vet said that this could be from early spaying, but also noted that other factors could be the reason also. After we talked a while, she also noted that she has had to do corrective surgery because of early spaying.

I know there are good reasons for spaying. I have no issue with this. My problem is, the more I talk to people about this issue and read, the more concerned I get.

I well remember in my younger days, dogs were simply not spayed until they were at least eight to nine months old or before they had their first heat. 16 years ago when I got my first dog in many years, this was the case. My two other females who came along a few years later, also waited, and I might add, have/ had no urinary problems.

Yesterday, my groomer (who also breeds ShepardÂs) noted that when the dog is only four months old, they have not grown fully. This is a point that I had not really given much thought to. Now I have discovered that puppies as young as 6-8 weeks are being spayed.

Because I research subjects that have to do with my dogs thoroughly, and will ask anyone that will listen, I am now curious about what other people think. Having said that, I also know that some research indicates that there is no problem spaying when so young, however, research is not always correct.

Thanks!

SG


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