Sake Spay Questions...

KFontaine04

Okay, I am having a delema.

Sake turns six months old on February 3, 2009. I want to get her spayed, but we will be away on our honeymoon (finally) from Feb 9th to the 15th. I could get her spayed on the 3rd and take a few days off, but I would much rather wait until after we get back to make sure her recovery goes smoothly.

Now here are my questions...is it okay to wait until the end of Feb to get her spayed? Will she go into heat? If that happens how long is heat and how long do I have to wait until after she is done with heat to get her spayed? (I've only had rescue dogs before who were already spayed so I am new to this process!)

Thanks!

lindsayt

Whenever you spay her, make sure you are able to spend a few days with her. From personal experience, boarding facilities and kennels don't really want the responsibility of looking after a fresh spay (male dogs will be very interested in her still and the activity is bad for the healing, also the other dogs will be licking her incision and she could pop some sutures.) If you can leave her with a relaible family member during your vacation for post op, that should be ok. By 6 months, shibas are smaller breeds and are more likley to go into season by then so I would personally have her spayed no later than 6 months, 5.5 months would be great.

KFontaine04

My vet won't do the surgery until 6 months. They always stay at a friends house when we go away and are with someone 24/7 (they even go to work with the friends!) so Im not worried about that. Plus she will have Miso to take care of her I think I am going to have it done on the 4th that way I can spend the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th with her and then she will go to Peggy and Steve's where they can watch her from there. Thanks.

lindsayt

That is dumb, they should know smaller breeds go into heat earlier, in addition, knowing it's better for your girl to have your time after her spay to recover, they should be willing to coordinate around that. There is no exact rule of thumb, but the vet should not have an exact mandatory time frame applicable to all breeds. The best thing to follow is the breed standard-you would want to spay for the average first onset of estrus. Anyways, I didn't mean to critize your choice of vet. I am glad you are looking after her.

tsukitsune

Our vet wanted to wait until 6 months, too. Its standard procedure and I trusted their judgment.
If you have friends who are willing to watch her and bring her to the vet incase her incisions come open or infected, then do it early. It takes a good 2-3 days of making them be still and not jump to get a good start on recovery, more than likely Sake will be back to normal on day 2 but giving them limited mobility helps the recovery. Its a much more serious surgery than a neuter, so those first few days are vital.

If you can wait so you are with her during recovery, chances are she won't go into heat that fast, but there is always that possibility. Its not a horrible thing, you'd just have to wait 2-3 months more to spay her and be DILIGENT about keeping her from contact with intact male dogs.

KFontaine04

Yeah I worry about the heat thing because I don't want to wait and let that happen. I think the plan I have is a good one. That way I will get at least 4 days with her to recover, and then she can go to the friends house and be watched. They are very good and are knowledgeable dog people. I trust them completely when they watch my kids, just as they trust me when I watch their dogs. They ALWAYS have my vet info and we leave our credit card info with them in case of emergency vet visits, that way they can go to the nearest emergency animal hospital. Im sure that Sake will be fine. She is just my little girl and I worry about her :P.