What are the risks of spaying my female dog before her first heat?

Not really, at least not a proven benefit. some believe that it can prevent incontinence in the future which is more common in spayed females in general but this has not been proven. at out surgery we usually recommend having a female dog spayed at the age of 6 months, before her first season.

Hello, female puppies can be spayed when they are 12 weeks old. I always suggest spaying before her first heat cycle unless she has viginitis issues. In dogs, spaying before the first heat cycle reduce chances of mammary cancer by over 99% . If spayed after first or second eat cycle, there are still some great benefits. You should call a few veterinary office close to you for an estimate. Prices often vary depending on sIze and can vary very much between veterinary offices. I work for a non profit organization in north Florida, we charge about a $100. This does not includ pre anesthetic bloodwork and may not reflect prices in private practices around the country.I hope this helps,

The veterinary world is still undecided upon the benefits of waiting until after a pet has had a heat cycle relating to the ligaments. For smaller breed dogs, there may not be benefit. We do know there is a benefit as far as cancer reduction in dogs spayed before their first heat cycle. It is true that spaying a pet will decrease the sex hormones and this affects the joint physis. This however tends to be more of a concern for large breed dogs. At only 6.5 kg at four months old, Luna is not very likely to be a big dog. For the most part, when waiting until later to spay or neuter a pet it is involving dogs who are expected to be 34kg or above. I recommend to discuss your concerns with your primary care veterinarian as they will be the best to advise you. In general, maintaining good health of the joints involves maintaining a healthy body weight and feeding an appropriate food. Luna should eat a puppy food until she is about a-year-old. I hope this answers your questions and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hi there. You're right that the question of when to spay a large breed dog isn't as simple as we might like! It sounds like you've done some research on the pros and cons of spaying at different ages, which is great. In general, for my large breed patients, I recommend spaying at around 10-12 months of age (as long as the owner doesn't mind dealing with a heat cycle, since most dogs will go into heat for the first time prior to this). This still gives us an extremely low risk of mammary cancer, but also minimizes the risk of orthopedic issues since she should be finished growing by then.

I usually recommend to have the spay done before the first season, although in her case she is probably so close the her first season that you might not have time to have it done. however it's not a major issue, it's absolutely fine to have it done after the first season as well.

It would be better to wait until after the heat as during the pre-estrus and heat the uterus is very well vascularized and the extra amount of female hormones increase bleeding. So in order too minimize the surgical risk it is better to have her spayed during anestrus, ie when not cycling.

Unfortunately I don’t have a firm answer for you either. There is some evidence that waiting until a dog has reached skeletal maturity, which for a Saint Bernard like Lissie might be around 1.5 years of age, could be beneficial for bone and joint development. On the other hand dogs that go through even one heat cycle are more likely to develop mammary tumors later in life so many vets recommend spaying before the first heat cycle around 6-9 months. Ultimately it’s a decision for you to make along with your family veterinarian.