Bone Cancer In Dogs

Spaying or neutering a pet, which helps in the pet overpopulation crisis in the country, involves visiting a veterinarian to set up an appointment for surgery when the animal is around 6 months of age. Get a dog or cat spayed or neutered to prevent reproduction, prevent certain medical problems and deter bad behavior withhealth information from a veterinarian in this free video on pet care. Expert: Dr. Aimee Beger Bio: Dr. Aimee Beger works for McClintock Animal Care Center in Tempe, Ariz. Filmmaker: Ryan Quinn
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Question by Groovy Camel: Mini Schnauzer 6 mnths female pup – Early Spay?
Need help here, I own a 6 months old female Mini Schnauzer and am getting her fixed tomorrow. Been doing a lot of reading regarding early spay, it says that it would increase the possibility of getting bone cancer later in the dog’s life and could develop urinary intraction?? I’ve ask 4 vets from different clinics, 2 pro early spay and the other 2 suggested that I wait until she gets over her 1st heat since if its too early they won’t be able to get the organs completely out. Is there truth in this explanation?

Personally I would like to get it done as early as possible since I live in an area where there are more male dogs than females. And also I do not want to be burdened by the prospect of her getting into an “accident”. Question is how early is early and am quite worried that after the surgery the wounds won’t heal well and develop side effects from the surgery e.g urinary intractions etc. Is 6 months safe for a mini schnauzer or should I wait till she gets over her 1st heat?

Best answer:

Answer by Bonzie12
As far as I know 6 months is not considered an early spay. I think they are referring to the dogs who are spayed at about 3 or 4 months.

Add your own answer in the comments!

Hi!

It’s soooo hard to know what to do sometimes, isn’t it? We just want to be good puppy parents! Ever since we started thinking about getting a dog, we agonized over the breed, the sex; etc. And ever since we picked her up we agonized over what food to feed, how to transport her in the van, when and whether to take her to the dog park, etc. Argh!

Well, now we’re struggling with when to have our baby spayed. She’ll be 6 months old in mid-October. We’ve heard that it’s best to do it before the first heat in order to reduce the risk of certain cancers. But then we’ve heard that it’s best to wait longer (not sure how long) in order to reduce the risk of bone/joint issues. We’re not worried about just “stunting” her growth, but we do want to make sure we do what’s absolutely best for her overall health.

If you have expertise, experience with giant breed pups, or if you know where I can find good research on the web, I sure would like to hear from you.

Thanks!

First of all, I want to make it clear that I’m all for the spaying/neutering of people’s dogs. So, no biting my head off xD

I’m looking into adoption a Siberian husky puppy from a rescue and the only part of their adoption application that troubles me is the statement about spaying and neutering. It states that you must have the puppy spayed between the age of four and five months. Personally, I think that a bitch shouldn’t be spayed until she reaches maturity, or at least before she turns one year old, for health reasons.

I want to clarify that I’m not thinking this way because I want to try and breed her or because I think its somehow helpful for her to have her first heat before being spayed. I just worry because, when spayed that young, it causes the chance of bone cancer to skyrocket (four to five times more of a chance than if spayed after maturity) and I’ve read where the lack of sex hormones can mess with a puppies growth and, in some cases, lead to hip displasia over time. I understand that the risk of mammary cancer is significantly reduced if spayed early (50%), but the 4-5x jump in bone cancer concerns me more. I’ve also read of a few other misc things, but those are the risks that seemed most important to mention.

I’m also more than capable of keeping a dog in heat “safe,” so to say, from wandering males.

What do you think the best age is, weighing the different risks? And, how should I approach the rescue person with this? I don’t want it to sound rude or like I don’t intend on ever having her spayed, I would just like to hold out until she’s older than 5 months old because I don’t want to do something that will ultimately harm her.
“Once the dog has been spayed or neutered; for a pup this means at 4 to 5 months of age & for an adult this means two months from the date of signing this paper, we will change your status from “foster” to “adoption”. There are no other fees involved. IF the dog or puppy has not been spayed/neutered in the time mentioned above then Husky Rescue will be at liberty to take the dog back to the rescue without compensation.”

That’s the policy copied/pasted from the contract, minus the rescue’s name. FYI, I suppose.
With your recommendations, please tell me why you think so =] Thanks!

Even if that dog is kept inside, and the owner knows the signs of the dog being in heat, and knows how to be extra careful at those times?

I always hear of the health benefits (which seem to be few… a reduced chance of mammary cancer and no chance of the dog getting pregnant, oh, and no pyometra… which is actually false as well)…

They’ve linked early spaying to an increased chance in bone cancer… and spaying only reduces the chance of mammary cancer if done before the first heat, but if you spay before the first heat, the dog grows funny, and looks puppy-ish, and lanky for the rest of it’s life… there’s also a higher chance of incontinance as the bitch ages, and she can still get pyometra (stump pyometra)…

If the owner has the full ability and knowledge to keep an intact bitch that is not meant for breeding purposes, doesn’t it really make more sense to leave them as nature intended, instead of screwing with their insides?

I’m sorry, I’m just curious… it’s bizarre to me… I mean, spaying makes sense if you aren’t able to keep males away, and you don’t know when the dog is in heat, and all that… but if you know how to keep her “locked down” durning the few weeks out of the year she can get pregnant, isn’t it better for her health in the long run?