Neuter/Spay at younger than six months?

DiamondPuppy0809 · November 2011

My aunt had a puppy for only about a month after their other dog was hit by a car and killed. They got her spayed at 14 weeks. A few days later, she was having seizures and salivating at the mouth and seemed to have gone blind or something. They decided to put her down. How can a dog be developed enough to be spayed at 14 weeks? My aunt told me that a puppy can even be spayed or neutered at 8 weeks old. I absolutely do not believe this at all and would never do it.

Opinions? Facts?

Garnet · November 2011

We had my Chihuahua spayed when she was 5 months old and shes almost 7 years old now and has never had any problems 0.0

Alabama · November 2011

I have always spayed and neutered my animals as soon as possible. For males, it means as soon as their testes have dropped and they've reached a weight acceptable for anesthesia. My newest dog was ready for neutering by 4 months. Buddy, my big dog was neutered at I believe it was 3 months. For females, it's always been based almost exclusively on weight and health. My larger breed females have usually been spayed by 3 months. Mammals have all the equipment necessary for reproduction at birth. It isn't until hormones start up that they are able to actually reproduce. Looking around on the internet, it seems most major animal associations, including the American Veterinary Medicine Association and the American Kennel Club advocate early neutering/spaying. The health and welfare benefits outweigh any unfounded myths about waiting until an animal is older. As long as it has reached the necessary weight to survive anesthesia and is healthy, it's as safe to endure the medical procedure as waiting until the animal is older. That the dog developed other symptoms that caused it to be put to sleep doesn't mean it was in any way related to the neutering. The symptoms you describe actually sound like an anti-freeze poisoning. I'm not saying that that's what happened, but I would have ruled out everything else before pointing the finger at a procedure that vets do thousands of on a daily basis with no complications.

Kholran · November 2011

Pediatric spay/neuter is becoming a more and more common practice at US shelters, because they simply don't have the resources to foster puppies for six months, and keeping puppies in a shelter environment during their formative months can be disastrous to their adult behaviour. In many states, laws require that all animals adopted from shelters MUST be spayed and neutered prior to adoption, so that doesn't really leave shelters with many options. Either spay/neuter early, or put down puppies that are just going to eat up resources. There are actually some benefits to it. The reproductive organs in young puppies are smaller, therefore the incisions required to spay/neuter are smaller. That also means that the procedure takes less time and requires less anesthetic (allergic reactions and complications due to being under anesthesia are some of the most common causes of surgery-related death). Puppies also grow so quickly that their healing time is less than even a puppy at 6-7 months. Some resources: <a href="http://www.columbusdogconnection.com/PedSpayNeuter.htm"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://www.columbusdogconnection.com/PedSpayNeuter.htm</a>; A comprehensive resource of testimonials, history, and additional links <a href="http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/vetmed/Surgery/An-overview-of-pediatric-spay-and-neuter-benefits-/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/709366"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/ve ... ail/709366</a> Long article discussing benefits and risks <a href="http://www.bestfriends.org/archives/forums/pediatric.html"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://www.bestfriends.org/archives/for ... atric.html</a> Another article, and Q&A with the author <a href="http://www.danesonline.com/earlyspayneuter.htm"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://www.danesonline.com/earlyspayneuter.htm</a>; Includes the results of a clinical study on pediatric S/N <a href="http://www.darlenearden.com/artclespay.htm"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://www.darlenearden.com/artclespay.htm</a>; Another article with input from various vets and breeders who have started doing pediatric S/N There are plenty more out there, if you google "Pediatric Spay/Neuter". As always, it's up to the owner of the animal when to spay or neuter their pet. Before first heat in females is still the most beneficial time due to the fact that even a single heat cycle increases the risk of both mammary cancer and uterine infections, but with a privately owned animal, it doesn't really matter if it's done at 6 weeks or 6 months. If an owner is worried that it might be a problem, then it's completely their right to wait until 6 months. But the data that's out there doesn't really support NEEDING to wait that long, and certainly shelters and rescues don't have that luxury. It's unfortunate what happened to the puppy, but the symptoms you're describing don't appear to have anything to do with being spayed at a young age. Those symptoms are more indicative of a toxin of some sort. Thousands of shelters are now performing early spay/neuter, and reporting LOWER mortality rates than among older puppies. It is still surgery and it does still carry risks, but there's no evidence at ALL that it's more risky than spaying or neutering at 6 months. I spent about a year working in a shelter that routinely performed pediatric spay/neuter (our only requirement was that animals needed to weigh at least 3 lbs to be spayed or neutered). I only remember ONE case where the surgery went wrong (the kitten had a bad reaction to the anesthetic and did not survive), out of a few hundred puppies and kittens. The rest were up, playing, and often out on the adoption floor within hours of being spayed and neutered.

DiamondPuppy0809 · November 2011

I wasn't actually saying that the puppy's death was due to being spayed. They don't know the cause and won't know until later. It was just the first time I'd ever head of a dog being spayed or neutered under 5-6 months and I was wondering if it could've been the cause. I'm actually really surprised that I'd never heard of spay/neuter under 5-6 months because I'm normally really into everything to do with dogs. o.o One of the reasons I probably didn't know by now is due to our vet being paricular to spaying/neutering at no less than 5-6 months, depending on the animal. He recently told us that Czar shouldn't be neutered until 6 months because of his size (Chihuahua) and it'd just be safer.

Dark Flame · November 2011

Well at the vets over here they wont spay animals under the age of 5months, cause my mum was getting her cat & dog done, and both had to be over 5months

Jellybeanjoe · November 2011

We had our older boy neutered at 9 weeks. However it partly had to do with a bad hernia and a bad ear infection (easier to give thorough clean with the pup knocked out), so we opted to get him done at that time then. No complications, or 'growth problems' (I've read in various places that people think that neutering/spaying messes with growth. Our older boy is bigger than most Cavaliers - all genetics). Our young boy, 4.5 months old, is going in tomorrow to get the snip actually

Since his . . . bits, have dropped, we opted to get him done now, before the holidays and Christmas rush. That and it would mean when we go away early January, he'll be all healed up and good. And we won't have to deal with a crazy young male should we cross paths with a girl in heat

I think the age of neutering/spaying partly depends on what the vet is willing to do. Some may refuse to do it under a certain age/weight (for routine operations I mean) because of a younger, smaller animal has it's own set of potential risks and problems. Around me? As long as the animal is healthy, not suffering any problems that could mean that the anesthesia (or other medications, etc) could potentially kill it, or abnormally small, then the vets would probably be more than happy to perform the operation.

Zagari Wolf · November 2011

A dog or cat can be spayed/neutered as soon as they are 2 pounds or 8 weeks old. Many vets don't agree with that and will not do it until 6 months. My pit bull was spayed around 5-6 months old. My Yorkie mix was spayed at 3 months when I adopted her from the shelter. We've taken in animals much younger than that and we've never had an issue.

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Neuter/Spay at younger than six months?

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