# spaying after a litter



## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

those of you that have spayed a bitch after a litter, how soon after weaning have you done it. Just out of interest.


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## kodakkuki (Aug 8, 2011)

Personally, we waited for missy to have another heat cycle before spaying- she was clockwork 5 months, so just over 4 months or so (im almoat sure) after her litter left we had her spayed...


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## Sleeping_Lion (Mar 19, 2009)

I asked the vet to see if it was feasible to spay Tau at the time of her emergency c-section. To be honest, I'd maybe think twice about that now, not because I ever plan to breed from her, but because the more evidence comes to light the more convinced I am that it's healthier in the long run for a bitch to remain entire.


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## jo5 (Jun 22, 2011)

I am with Sleeping Lion on this one, I am unconvinced that it is always in the best interests to routinely spay every bitch, I wonder whose best intersets are served? I had a Cavie bitch who was never to be bred from but I never had her spayed. I always felt I was putting her through a major op for my own convenience i.e not wanting the mess, I was never convinced of the vets recommendations , I was a responsible owner she was never out of my sight when she as in season and never walked during her crucial time, garden games only, she had to be pts at 10 due to SM she never had a problem regarding her seasons etc. also is it totally necessary to remove everything. As in dogs a simple vasectomy would solve reproduction issues do they really need to be castrated. My entire boy is soft as pudding and didn't need to be castrated to be that way. I know most will disagree with me and I am aware of the rescue situation etc but I do wonder if its strictly in every bitches best interests to 'have it all removed' or societies? I for one have been made to feel like an irresponsible owner for letting my bitch go unspeyed but as I say she was never in a position where she could have been 'caught' and never had a problem in 10 yrs??
Sorry I know a bit off topic but its a subject I struggle to find the 'right' answer to .


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## bluegirl (May 7, 2012)

I don't routinely spay and the only one who ever needed an emergency C section was because she had uterine torsion (extremely rare situation for dogs) and the situation was dire, but even then the vet knew my feelings on spaying and managed to unravel the uterus, keep a blood supply to it and sort her out. I would never dream of breeding from her again and it was the vets call at the time but he tried to save her uterus because of my previously voiced views on the subject.


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

I was not asking whether it is right to spay a bitch. Just for the record I feel strongly that it is and would love to know what new evidence there is to put anyone off doing it. Rather like not vaccinating babies and then have your child die of whooping cough.

My question was when does anyone who has had their bitch spayed after a litter have it done.


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## Malmum (Aug 1, 2010)

My vet said to wait for three months after the birth, much the same as after a season really. Kali was fine with her spay. 

ETA - Just for a waffle, lol. I have been thinking about spaying and as I work in Gynaecology wonder what the effects of spaying on the bones could have, particularly the developing young bitch. If a woman has a hysterectomy plus removal of the ovaries she has to have HRT, even more so if she is young to protect her bones from brittle bone disease. After the menopause with no progesterone/oestrogen being present in women they too often get brittle bones. Could this be the case in spayed bitches - I would think the same would apply, after all we're talking about the same hormones aren't we?


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## Staff (Oct 27, 2012)

I would let the bitch have a normal season and then wait the three months after the season end. I think its healthier to have her hormonal state balanced, and three months after whelping it is not balanced and the dog is not at peak health/fitness either.


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## Bea (May 7, 2010)

mine was done 3 months after, all ok no problems.


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## chaka (Feb 19, 2012)

I had my bitch spayed yesterday. She whelped a litter in March this year and I waited for her to have a season after and then the recommended 3 months, as in my (and my vets) opinion, to wait until she was fully fit after the litter would have brought her a little close to her next season (she was regular every 6 months).She is 4 and a half. 
I haven't always routinely had bitches spayed but the majority of them have been done as they have given me cause for concern (e.g. very heavy seasons or false pregnancies) as they got older. I had one bitch who was never bred from but had very easy regular seasons, at nearly 13 she was a picture of health and looked several years younger than her age. Then she developed a pyo and despite my spotting it early and an emergency hysterectomy she was pts 3 days after the op as she failed to recover from the effects.


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## Sleeping_Lion (Mar 19, 2009)

Blitz said:


> I was not asking whether it is right to spay a bitch. Just for the record I feel strongly that it is and would love to know what new evidence there is to put anyone off doing it. Rather like not vaccinating babies and then have your child die of whooping cough.
> 
> My question was when does anyone who has had their bitch spayed after a litter have it done.


I never said it was right or wrong to spay a bitch or not to, I merely told you my experience that having had a bitch spayed at the actual time of her c-section doesn't seem to have been any detriment to her, only time can tell in all reality though. As for not spaying at all, there is new evidence coming to light, there have been posts about it previously which I'm too tired to look up but the information is out there if you want to look for it.


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## chaka (Feb 19, 2012)

I had a bitch spayed at the same time as an emergency section, she was haemorraging (sp) and it was the best chance of saving her. She was 3 at the time and lived till she was 13 with no ill effects.


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

Sleeping_Lion said:


> I never said it was right or wrong to spay a bitch or not to, I merely told you my experience that having had a bitch spayed at the actual time of her c-section doesn't seem to have been any detriment to her, only time can tell in all reality though. As for not spaying at all, there is new evidence coming to light, there have been posts about it previously which I'm too tired to look up but the information is out there if you want to look for it.


You were not the only one, but you did at least have a bitch that had had a litter and been spayed. I still do not know what the new evidence is, there have always been people (for many years) with 'scientific studies' that prove it is detrimental to spay bitches. Personally I have seen far to many run into problems from not being spayed and as the vast majority of pet bitches are spayed nowadays it would be hard to know whether any problems they run into are due to being spayed or would have happened anyway.

I too have had a bitch spayed at the time of a caesarian. The vet did not want to do it when I asked initially but the state of decay of the puppy (totally the vets fault as they completely refused to intervene for a whole week after I told them something was wrong) meant that he was more than happy to do it and not have to treat the infection. She was fine and had no ill effects at all and did not have pups to rear.


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## Sleeping_Lion (Mar 19, 2009)

I've had the oppposite experience, with friends with entire dogs and bitches, that don't die from testicular cancer, or pyo in old age. I did hear about one friend whose bitch developed mammary cancer at the age of 12 I think, she'd had two or three litters from memory. Not sure what she actually died from in the end, neither of my two oldies that were entire died from pyo either. 

I was lucky with Tau, the vet was incredibly helpful, which was good after sleep deprivation and facing such a big decision for a first time litter. He didn't push me to decide one way or the other, but after looking at all the evidence we had, and speaking to a couple of people it just had to be a c-section, and it was the right decision definitely.


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