# When and How to Spay?



## mtuk100 (May 3, 2018)

Hi All,

I've got a 5 month old girl cockapoo (Lucy) and am in a quandary over having her spayed. Do I spay her at 6 months or after here first season? Do I go for keyhole or traditional spaying? As Lucy is out with lots of other dogs every day, I'm very keen to avoid undue attention/possible pregnancy and also to minimise the impact of the invasive surgery. Speaking of which, how long will Lucy take to recover after the op. Any advice much appreciated!


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## Danny1967 (Mar 13, 2018)

*Spaying*

Hi

Our Lola is a similar age to your Lucy, 5 months next week. Having discussed with our vet, they said that they have no recommendation over which is the best option and that its is up to the individual owner.
We have decided to book her in for a June operation, this then coincides when my wife and I can split a weeks holiday between us for her recuperation. Not sure whether she will need additional attention as others have said that their dog was back to normal within 36/48 hours, but we have the option if needed.
Our vet only performs the traditional surgery so key hole is not a complicating option for us.

I don't think there is right or wrong option, its just down to personal preference.

Danny


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## cfriend (Dec 22, 2016)

Hey! There are so so many opinions on when to spay and they do seem to differ a lot from country to country. I also felt very unsure about what to do and I can give you my "sort of" thought process and the information I was given. We got our first Cockapoo in the 90s in the USA and she was spayed, as was usual at the time, very early. There were several arguments at the time ranging from it takes them less time to recover to it reduces/ eliminates the risks for certain types of cancers and then of course the unwanted pregnancy argument. She lived a long and happy life without any complications. 20 years later we are back in Austria and got Zelda in January 2017. In Austria most vets won't spay a dog until at least after their first season (or not at all) because the opinion is that it is very important for the dogs development to go through the first season both hormonally and physically and there can be a lot of negativer side effects from spaying too early. Also apparently the research on cancer reduction isn't all the bullet proof. Of course it reduced certain cancers because the organs don't exist and but it can also increase the risk of others and others occur so seldomly anyway that it's basically not a risk. We got Zelda spayed after her first season in the end it took a couple days to recover fully but had to wear the cone for well over a week to make sure she wouldn't lick her Stiches. I am convinced waiting until after her first season was the right thing to do but as you can see we also had a dog that was spayed early and was completely fine. Sorry for the long reply 🙂


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## Caroline13 (Dec 14, 2014)

Hi,

I have a 5 year old cockapoo called Milly. We had her spayed at five and a half months old, before she had a season. She had no problems at all and recovered within a couple of days. A cousin of mine waited for her puppy to have a season and she has had lots of problems with her dog humping soft toys. I think it is a personal choice.


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## Tbss63 (Feb 11, 2014)

You are absolutely right, there is no ‘one answer’ but you are doing the right thing in gathering information. I can only relay my experience. We have two cockapoos Beau and Mabel, both girls. Four years ago we had Beau spayed at 6 months and immediately regretted it. She was far too young and took 3 days to recover from the anaesthetic alone. She had staples, we weren’t given a choice. When we got Mabel a year ago, we decided to let her have her first season. With great anxiety on our part, we had her spayed 2 weeks ago, she walked out of the vet and just didn’t look back, she appeared to cope much better. I know it’s a matter of opinion but I am so glad we let Mabel have her first season. Good luck, whatever you decide.


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## Vagabond (Apr 13, 2017)

Interesting thread. We had our girl spayed at seven months and before her first season because we intended to go to Spain for a couple of months and didn't want to have to cope with her going into season while we away. With hindsight, we regretted it because she had problems with swollen lymph nodes afterwards and was on and off anti-biotics for weeks and weeks. She still has occasional anal gland problems, although I don't know if that is linked to the early spaying.


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## GillianB (Mar 14, 2018)

Some interesting comments here. We are investigating having Amber spayed and are looking at the keyhole option. Obviously more expensive but less invasive and, hopefully a quicker recovery than traditional major incision. Has anyone else had their puppy spayed laparoscopically? Amber is now six months old and we would like to ensure we have chosen the best option. Any help/advice would be most welcome. Thanks.


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## Milliesdad (Apr 24, 2016)

We had Millie spayed after her first season, she made a rapid recovery which was good as we couldn't keep her from jumping onto the furniture. She never wore a collar as it wasn't needed because she never licked her wound and there were no stitches as the vet super glued the skin together which it seems is the normal thing to do these days. I think the reason for trying to keep them calm is because of the internal stitches.


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## GillianB (Mar 14, 2018)

We had Amber spayed on Friday last. She seemed to have tolerated the procedure very well. However we have had mixed advice from the vet practice regarding wearing the collar post-op. Amber was brought to us without wearing a collar. When paying the bill, I pointed out that a collar had been included in the quote and asked where it was. The assistant then checked with the vet and duly returned with a buster collar.

We asked if the collar had to be worn 24/7 only to be advised Amber could go without under very close supervision, which we have done.

Returning to the vet today for a check up, a different assistant checked Amber over then summoned the vet for advice. The vet took one look at Amber’s incision, which looked healthy enough, but there was some slight swelling around the site. She then said Amber should’ve been wearing the collar as there were signs of possible infection and we needed to put it on her to avoid any further chance of infection.

Rather than submit to the collar we have obtained a body vest from the vet, as an alternative suggestion.

I feel we have been given different opinions from the Practice and wonder where we might stand if Amber does develop an infection. Hopefully not. We did notice today that our vet’s demeanour towards us has changed...!


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## maggiePOO (Jul 13, 2018)

Maggie was spayed at 7 months before her first season which was decided so that she would be back to herself by the time we went on holiday. We got her the body vest to wear and never tried to lick the wound and was back to normal within a day or two.
Like above we found the hardest part was keeping her calm and not jumping.


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## GillianB (Mar 14, 2018)

Trying to keep an active puppy calm and prevent any jumping has proved very difficult indeed!! Amber had the body suit on today, but I wasn’t quick enough to gather it up before she pee ‘d all over it! As a result, she has been wearing the collar for the rest of the day, much to her dismay. She hasn’t liked it all, but eventually tolerated it in the end.

It’s been a long day today.....and it will be a long week until Thursday when we return to the vet. Hopefully all will be well by then.


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