To spay or not to spay?

Okay, so the question is simple… the answer is not.

I have always spayed/neutered all my animals at 6 months old but I am considering holding off at least for now on Chloe. She will be six months old soon enough though, so I don’t have a lot of time to decide.

1. She will NOT ever be bred, NO QUESTION.
2. Armani is neutered so there is no separation issue.

She is small, only weighing about 3 pounds… there is some indication that she may have a mild incontinence problem although there doesn’t appear to be any indication of a biological abnormality, so this may be a phase that she will grow out of. However, it does have me thinking that a spay could aggravate the issue.

So… here goes… I want to hear the pros and cons of NOT spaying her now, possibly never.

spaying your dog

I have always had female dogs and never ever spayed them, dealing with manstuation twice a year is no big deal as opposed to the problems and complications she might have during surgery..... Female dogs are not like males they don't hump when they are in heat infact all of my females almost had to be forced to mate, so running away like males to mate is not an issue either. I am very anti the spaying campaign that says its good to decrease the dog population !!!! You also have other alternative methods such as the contraceptive shots that are given every 6 months, I really think you should reconsider spaying her..... Now I have a male and everything I am reading on the net tells me I should spay him but I am very scared of him gaining weight and losing his playfull self which will devestate my boys, so do you have any advice for me.. He is a golden retriever he is a year and 7 months and he does not go around humping anything, the vet is very pro spaying but I just think its unfair to his body... Could definately use your advice

I wouldn't. I wouldn't want to put her through that kind of surgery, little chloe is just so tiny and especially with the other health concerns going on with her right now, I wouldn't

neuters are so much less.. invasive. the incision is tiny and ive seen many a small dog go through it. but spays are a more major surgery, recovery is harder and the incision is quite big. of course, anything with anestesia, there is a risk

dog being in heat is annoying. but they make doggie panties for that. and as long as your careful to keep her away from intact males.. then she should be more than fine

so i vote no

I think there are valid reasons to at least wait a while for Chloe or at least consider it. I'd be concerned putting a 3 lb pup under. I know with Mia's breeder you're not allowed to spay until they reach 5 lbs just for safety issues.

The worry I have with bitches is pyometra, which occurs more often than issues that could arise from having a male intact.

Personally I choose to spay bitches after the first heat and we tend to keep males intact. Nikki was kept intact until she was 6-7 and we had no problems. Summer was spayed at 4 years, Rose at 2 years. Mia will be my first one that is fixed at under a year.

Not exactly. I'm not on the "spay the world" wagon but female dogs in heat will hump and some go as far as to jump fences and be escape artists to mate.
Lily was like that, you couldn't let her out without a leash when she was in heat because she'd be over the fence ASAP and out trying to convince the neighbors male to get some. She also humped everything and everyone and was in general, very nasty about it.
Lacey is not spayed, she humps the other dogs when she is in season as well, she's just not as inclined to escape for the sake of procreation.

If the risks of being put under outweigh the pro's of having a dog that you don't have to worry about getting pregnant, I'd say not to spay her. It's an individual decision and as long as you feel you are up to making sure she doesn't get pregnant, then I think it's fine to leave them intact.
From what I've read there are some differences on opinion on it, that things like mammary cancer are more prevalent in intact bitches. There's also the concern on growth hormones being removed when a dog is spayed, but I think that's a larger concern in large/giant breeds.

With that in mind, I've seen dogs still develop mammary tumors/cancer even if they were spayed young. It's not the cure-all (except for pregnancy) that a lot of vets make it out to be.

So with that in mind I've decided not to spay Lacey (and since the only male I have is neutered, no biggie) unless there's a problem like pyometra.

I'd say go ahead and wait. Rosey is now 11 (well, will be on Thursday) and is not spayed. We were willing to take the precautions to make sure an 'oops' didn't happen. With every bitch, but especially a bitch at only 3lbs, there are lots of risks to the surgery, and it is really an individual choice whether the pros out risk the cons for you. yah, sure there are some health risks that are more prevelant to intact bitches, but there is also some for spayed bitches. really think it is an individual choice, and what works for some may not work for others. I do not believe that the choice of spaying your bitch or keeping her intact says anything about you as an owner, does not make you a better owner either way.

if you have concerns, I would say to wait it out for a bit and reconsider it in a while, if you so choose to.