4mo pup IMHA

[Amy E]

Thank you Patrice! I printed your response and I will bring it with me to our next appointment.

[Amy E]

I would like to get everyone’s thoughts on getting coal spayed. Don’t forget this happened to her when she was 4 mo. So we never had a chance to get her fixed. When do you all think would be the right time? I am so fearful but I don’t want her to get infections or have other complications from having her girl parts intact while not being bred. If she were your pup what would you do?
Amy & Coal who could go into heat :(

[Vally]

Amy, I believe there’s a lot of good reasons to spay and equally a lot of good reasons to not spay. I remember Dr Jean Dodds did an article last year about it. Try googling “Jean Dodds spaying”. I must admit if it were me today, I would have a very hard time deciding.

Years ago we were all told responsible ownership meant desexing, but I’m just not sure any more. All rescue dogs are automatically desexed before being rehomed and I do understand why.

See what others say.

Vally & Bingo (ouch)
xxx

[Amy E]

Well Vally… That article just made me more confused! LOL! I guess for me I don’t want to deal with the heat cycles. My concern really is can her body handle the stress of the operation and will it cause a relapse. She is on a low enough does now that it shouldn’t interfere with her healing. She has not had a heat cycle yet and doing the surgery will decrease her risk of mammary tumors. SIGH…. What to do.

[Vally]

Amy, having confused you, I’ve been emailing with Patrice who did a lot of research into spaying, and I said I’d post her email, as she ran out of time, so this is from Patrice …

“Search “canine mammary tumors” and you will find site after site that reports the number one risk factor is not being spayed and number 2 getting to older age. The risks are quantified with authority and statistics.

I take the middle road, spay after one heat. It does slightly increase the risk of mammary tumors, but only about 5% greater in old age. I can live with that. To completely eliminate the risk, spay before the first heat. Once a female has had their third heat the risks rise significantly and there is no going back even if you do spay. The cells are “set” in motion to possibly develop these tumors.

Sex hormones help the body develop properly. Every organ, every system, is dependent on them to mature correctly. But unless a dog will be used for breeding, continued exposure to sex hormones year after year only accelerates abnormal cellular growth.

It’s hard for some people to understand this, and they compare what they know about humans. But dogs have an accelerated metabolism. They rev their engines and burn them out much quicker, a large dog living until maybe 15 at the most. But even in human females our exposure to sex hormones leaves us at greater risk for breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

As far as autoimmune disease goes, read Dr. Dodds page again,
THE CANINE IMMUNE SYSTEM AND DISEASE RESISTANCE By W. Jean Dodds, DVM
http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/ImmuneSystem.htm

“The four main causative factors of autoimmune disease have been stated to be: genetic predisposition; hormonal influences, especially of sex hormones; infections, especially of viruses; and stress.”

“TABLE 1. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE

Sex (2:1 females)”

That’s an amazing statistic, females have twice as great a risk of autoimmune disease. That’s directly related to their sex hormones.

I do feel the facts are out there that shows this is a safe procedure for a sexually mature dog.

I do not however believe the literature being passed around that “proves” it is safe and ok to neuter and spay rescue animals at a very young age.”

Patrice’s first email said:

“Premature neuter spay does not allow the dogs body to mature properly. I
have read all the literature, positive and negatives and I do not agree
with 6m or even younger surgeries except in unusual situations, for
instance a dog that is in a shelter and will be homed.”

Vally
xxx

[Amy E]

Thank you again Patrice! We have decided to Spay Coal on July 1st she will be 8 1/2 months. She will still be on steroids. This is one reason the vet felt it would be a good thing to do it while she is on a low does of the steroids. She felt if the stress of the surgery caused any issues with the IMHA she would still have some help from the steroids even at a low dose. So she will be on her every other day dosage by then. Thanks for everyones input.

[Amy E]

OK I messed up! I missed a dose on Tuesday night and I have been a hot mess ever since. She didn’t seem to have any ill effect. Still pink and still her sassy self. I was so exhausted I fell asleep on the couch and missed giving it to her. :( Please tell me if I have caused any harm. I am worried and checking everything every hour!

xoxo Coal and her totally stressed out exhausted Mommy

[Sheena]

Amy – stop stressing right now! We have all messed up & the drug effects are cumulative, so I very much doubt missing one dose will make any difference at all. Forget it happened. She isn’t on a high dose anyway. Get some well deserved rest & stop worrying.
Love
Sheena, Worzel & Ollie xxxxxx