The month of February brings out the annual call for spaying and
neutering of pets. February is designated
”
Spay/Neuter Month
”
and the Humane Society and other organizations are doing all
they can to get the word out.
The month of February brings out the annual call for spaying and neutering of pets. February is designated “Spay/Neuter Month” and the Humane Society and other organizations are doing all they can to get the word out. They are even offering special discounts for pet owners to make it less expensive to get a pet altered. So if you have an intact male or female cat or dog, what better time than right now to do the right thing?
The pet overpopulation problem is well-documented. Each year, tens of thousands of dogs and cats are euthanized because they cannot be placed in a home. This is truly a tragedy that we can all help to alleviate. If you have a dog or cat, please call to have that pet spayed or neutered. Do it today or tomorrow. Do it right away. Besides helping to lessen the overpopulation problem, you also will be doing something healthy for your pet. That’s right. Your pet will be healthier if you have her spayed. As you read our first letter this week, you’ll see why. The answer might surprise you.
Q: I am told it is best to let a female dog go through her first heat before having her spayed. My female lab/rottweiler mix has been in her first heat now for 10 days and is still bleeding. How long is the heat cycle for a dog and when should I have her spayed?
A: The average length of estrus (or “heat”), is about 3 weeks in most dogs. Some dogs may take as long as a month to finish the cycle. Veterinarians prefer to wait until at least 2 weeks from the end of estrus before performing an ovariohysterectomy (spay) procedure. This is because blood vessels in the uterus are enlarged during the heat period making the risk of hemorrhage much higher. These same engorged arteries and veins shrink to their normal size within 2 to 3 weeks after the dog goes out of heat, thus reducing the risks of problems. So wait a few weeks after she goes out heat before calling the vet.
But another fact is more important here. For decades, people have passed along the idea that a female dog should go through her first heat before she is spayed. As the story goes, early spay procedures can stunt the growth and development of a female dog because she is too immature. She can only reach full maturity if she goes through her first estrus.
There is absolutely no truth to this statement whatsoever. And, in fact, there are several very compelling reasons to spay a female dog before she starts her first heat cycle. Here are two of those reasons.
First, studies show that if a dog is spayed prior to her first estrus, she has almost no chance of ever developing breast cancer at a later age. That’s right. Cancer of the mammary glands never seems to occur in dogs that were spayed before their first heat, even when she becomes very old. So the simple spay procedure can make your little girl safe from the most common cancer in female dogs. If she is spayed at a young age and never has that first estrus (where the estrogen levels rise to high levels), she will never get breast cancer, which can be a real killer.
Second, if you spay a dog before she starts her first heat cycle, you won’t have to live through the long ordeal in which you find yourself right now: your dog spotting blood as she attracts many of the male dogs in the neighborhood. Life is much simpler when a dog doesn’t ever come into heat.
I wish you had known all this before your dog had started her estrus. Both she and you would have been a lot better off had you made the decision to spay her earlier. I hope people will learn from your story and take their puppy in early for this very routine procedure.
Q: I am wondering if we can have our kitten neutered earlier than 6 months of age. He is maturing very quickly, and has gained lots of weight since we got him. Do vets go by age all the time?
A: For many years, veterinarians waited until kittens and puppies were at least 5 months old before recommending spay or neuter. But studies have shown that earlier spay/neuter surgery has no harmful effects if performed on a healthy pet. Some pet rescue shelters even perform these procedures on kittens that are 2 to 3 months old! Everyone agrees that it is very important to neuter male cats before they start showing aggressive male behavior. Male dominance aggression can begin to develop in the months of February and March, the same time that female cats begin their seasonal estrus cycles. As long as he is healthy, your kitten should be neutered right away.
Pete Keesling is a veterinarian at San Martin Veterinary Hospital and co-hosts Petpourri, a weekly show about pet health on KTEH in San Jose and a bi-weekly column for The Times. If you have any questions about pet care, please mail them to The Times, Attn: Vets, 30 E. Third St., Morgan Hill, CA 95037.
