Spaying your dog too early can result in health problems later on since her hormones should have some time to work. Early spaying can increase the risk of hip dysplasia, torn ligaments, bone cancer, and urinary incontinence.
An age of six to nine months of age may be appropriate for neutering or spaying a toy breed puppy or small breed puppy but a larger or giant breed may need to wait until they are near or over 12-18 months of age.
Generally, it is safe to spay or neuter most kittens and puppies at 8 weeks of age. However, be sure to check with your veterinarian and have your pet evaluated before scheduling spay or neuter surgery.
It has been demonstrated that earlier neutering does not cause any long-term health implications, and that the procedure can be performed safely in young kittens as long as the patient is properly prepared, monitored and recovered.
Research shows that kittens neutered before 12 weeks of age have fewer complications from surgery than those over 12 weeks. Also, kittens rebound much faster after the surgical procedure, with less stress than their counterparts over 6 months old. Early-age spay/neuter has a positive impact beyond your cat at home.
For females, spaying before the cat reaches 5 months of age would eliminate the behaviors displayed when in heat as well as unwanted pregnancies. For male cats, neutering before 5 months of age would substantially reduce or eliminate male territorial marking, fighting, and roaming.
Having your dog spayed or neutered early will not stunt your puppy's growth, but it might affect the joints of large breed dogs. Studies show that early spay/neuter does affect the growth plate, delaying its closure and causing dogs to grow taller than they should have.
If we spay a female dog before her first estrus, or “heat,” we essentially eliminate her chances of developing mammary cancer. This benefit holds true for any female dog spayed before the age of 2, yet incidence of mammary cancer increases with each estrus period.
Kittens can be safely spayed or neutered at 2 months old or as soon as they weigh 2 pounds. Also called pediatric spay and neuter, this policy ensures kittens are “fixed” as soon as they're ready, which benefits cats and the communities where they live.
A: Medically, it's better to spay your dog before their first heat. It greatly reduces the risk of mammary tumors. People who wait to spay their dogs until after their second heat greatly increase the risk of mammary tumors in their pets.
When to Spay a Puppy. It's generally recommended to spay puppies between the ages of 4 to 6 months, says the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA). By that age a female puppy's sex organs are fully developed but she hasn't yet experienced her first heat cycle, during which she could become pregnant.
Spaying: A spay procedure should be done at 4-5 months old. This is before your dogs first heat cycle, which typically falls around 6 months — this helps decrease the risk of serious health issues, such as mammary cancer.
Some retrospective studies have recently been published that show very early sterilization may delay closure of growth plates in big bones, meaning the animal gets a little bigger or longer. In some breeds, like German Shepherds and Golden Retrievers, this may lead to hip or joint issues.
Spaying is considered a major operation and requires general anesthesia. With any anesthetic the risk of serious complications, including death, is always possible. With modern anesthetics and monitoring equipment, the risk of a complication is very low.
In fact, the studies show that spay actually increases aggression, fearfulness and anxiety in the recipient, as well as making them more difficult to train.
In general, in small breed dogs (less than 50 pounds) we recommend spaying around 6 months. In large breed dogs (greater than 50 pounds) we recommend waiting until after skeletal maturity but before the second heat cycle(usually 12-15 months) in spaying female dogs or anytime after skeletal maturity in male dogs.
Your female pet will live a longer, healthier life.
Spaying prevents uterine infections and decreases the incidence of breast tumors, which are malignant or cancerous in about 50 percent of dogs and 90 percent of cats. Spaying your pet before her first heat offers the best protection from these diseases.
Basically, we are seeing that delaying spaying and neutering until after maturity lessens the risk of hip dysplasia, cruciate ligament tears, other bone and joint abnormalities, and some cancers. Behavior disorders, including aggression and noise phobias have also been related to hormone status.
NOPE! Although, without some changes in behavior, it can happen. Spaying or neutering your dog or cat doesn't cause your pet to become overweight or obese. However, neutering is linked to an increased risk of weight gain if no change is made to what and how much you feed your pet after the surgery.
Early spay/neuter may have some effect on bone growth and therefore on a dog's propensity to develop hip dysplasia. Some studies have shown that certain breeds of dogs may benefit from delayed spaying/neutering because of this effect.
It can take a few weeks for the hormones in her body to completely go away. If she is still showing these signs, It would be best to have your pet seen by a veterinarian, as they can examine them, see what might be going on, and get treatment for them. My dog got spayed almost two weeks ago.
We recommend spaying or neutering your indoor cat around five to eight months, but all ages should receive this care.
Cats have their first estrous (reproductive) cycle when they reach puberty. On average, puberty, or sexual maturity, first occurs in cats at about six months of age, but this can vary slightly by the time of year (length of daylight hours). The estrous cycle is better known as a cat's heat cycle.
Is there a point where a cat is too old to be spayed or neutered? The honest answer is no. No matter what the age, with caution and preparation, even cats in their late teens can successfully be altered. In most every instance, the veterinarian will require blood work before doing surgery on a mature cat.