A lot of vets can't agree on this, but nowadays it's generally accepted that spaying before the first heat will drastically reduce mammary cancer. I'll try to find a source.
Also remember that heat is typically messy and just generally annoying. That's another benefit to spaying before.
I just want to mention that vet recommendation of s/n at 6 months or later is simply tradition. There used to be a concern over anesthesia in young animals, since they have a slower metabolism and are more prone to hypothermia during operation. This is much less of an issue now, since anesthesia techniques have advanced. There is no more risk to spay/neuter at 2-5 months than there is at 6+. I found a good article about that here.
Personally I don't like spaying/neutering too young. I think it hurts their development a lot. We had Sassy (cat) spayed pretty young (3 or 4 months, I forgot) because of financial reasons and I'm pretty sure it hurt her growth a lot. Both her parents are 15lbs+ cats and she in no way was the runt of the litter. She's turning 1 years old on the 22nd and she's no more than 5lbs on a fat day.
My initial thought is that it would be easier to have them done at the same time. I don't think it will make a difference to them, but it will make your life easier since they will both be in their "keep quiet" phase at the same time. If you do them separately, you'll have to manage one being rambunctious while the other needs to be kept still to recover. Just my $0.02 FWIW.
Jessica: I'm sorta surprised that your holistic vet suggested 6 months.
You may in fact drastically reduce her chances of developing mammary cancer later in life if you spay her prior to her first heat. You may also INCREASE her chances of becoming incontinent. Clearly not a black and white issue as Dr. Zink presents in this article.
http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html
There are always two sides to every coin.
I guess it all depends on what your performance goals are for the dog...and how willing you are to deal with a messy girl when she is in heat as well as all the various management schemes necessary to avoid a mating.
I left my female intact until she was 5 1/2 years old. My boys still have their testicles.
I agree, you need to look into what your goals are for working your dogs.
For Shibas, Jindos and some of the smaller spitzy mixes under 35-40 lbs I would say you are fine at 6 months. Since a lot of the growth is done by then. For larger dogs it really depends on the assessed estimate of maturity looking at the parents. Bone growth on a larger dog is somewhat slower and you may want to wait 8 - 10 months. It just depends. It is really messy dealing with large dogs in heat and other animals that may hound them.
However, I would not wait 5 yrs since anything can happen even in a 5 minute time frame while a dog is in season. Also neutering males early may reduce some mounting and problem behaviors that tends to occur as they develop through the teen stage of 8 to 15 months. Who wants to deal with extra surge of hormones that bring on more of a "tude" when training or working.
Missy is 15.1 kg already and Ozzy is 17.5 kg already at four months, I would not be able to cope with the season as they get seperation anxiety when parted and I run the risk of mating what I have got to keep in mind is that they are brother and sister.
I have had all dogs speutered as soon as I could in rescue, if I came to them younger, like Tsuki at 3 months, we waited until she was 6 months old. This decision was in agreement with my vet and my conscience, I have no regrets because by doing so, I've reduced the pet population so greatly by going through so many speuters/recoveries.
But those that are in shows/working dogs/etc., I think consideration has to be made for your expectations, but me as the average dog owner, I let the spay/neuter be the only option for my dogs.
wow different points of view and opinions. well im not tinking in breeding Kiba, i got her because i do really love dogs and when i found out about the nihonkens i felt in love with the Kais. i just want to spend a great time with my dogs during their lifetimes. so guys help me out here. appreciate all your advices
I would talk to your vet, and considering any health reasons to hold off spaying, perhaps as the vet the benefits vs. harm of spaying around 6 months of age.
My vet recomended before first heat as well, they were done together. I cant remember how old they were, but I want to say no less than 6 months, no more than 9.
Oh...I recomend a victorian collar, shibas will get to the post op area and go to town while not supervised.
well the fact that shes a medium size dog and maybe she wont stop growing at 6 months, makes sence to me maybe somewhere between 6 and 9 ? im gonna ask my vet to se what she thinks.
Comments
Also remember that heat is typically messy and just generally annoying. That's another benefit to spaying before.
And here's a Yahoo Answers page on it... not the most reliable source, but worth the read in this case. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080612140447AAloy67
Quick Question which would be easier to have Ozzy neutured at the same time missy is spayed or to have them done separatly?
You may in fact drastically reduce her chances of developing mammary cancer later in life if you spay her prior to her first heat. You may also INCREASE her chances of becoming incontinent. Clearly not a black and white issue as Dr. Zink presents in this article.
http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html
There are always two sides to every coin.
I guess it all depends on what your performance goals are for the dog...and how willing you are to deal with a messy girl when she is in heat as well as all the various management schemes necessary to avoid a mating.
I left my female intact until she was 5 1/2 years old. My boys still have their testicles.
For Shibas, Jindos and some of the smaller spitzy mixes under 35-40 lbs I would say you are fine at 6 months. Since a lot of the growth is done by then. For larger dogs it really depends on the assessed estimate of maturity looking at the parents. Bone growth on a larger dog is somewhat slower and you may want to wait 8 - 10 months. It just depends. It is really messy dealing with large dogs in heat and other animals that may hound them.
However, I would not wait 5 yrs since anything can happen even in a 5 minute time frame while a dog is in season. Also neutering males early may reduce some mounting and problem behaviors that tends to occur as they develop through the teen stage of 8 to 15 months. Who wants to deal with extra surge of hormones that bring on more of a "tude" when training or working.
Snf
But those that are in shows/working dogs/etc., I think consideration has to be made for your expectations, but me as the average dog owner, I let the spay/neuter be the only option for my dogs.
Oh...I recomend a victorian collar, shibas will get to the post op area and go to town while not supervised.