Help, I have to spay my sheltie and I am really terrified to do this to her

S

Spirit dog

Forums Regular
OK, s
So I joined the Sheltie forum just so I could maybe start a discussion and find some help to at least put this subject in a bit of perspective. I have an 11-month-old really sweet sheltie, and because of all the controversy I read about Spaying, it has made me so scared to do this to her. I mean the possibility of spay incontinence, the risk or should I say the increased risk of other kinds of cancers other then mammory, uterine and ovarian that are of course eliminated because of cutting out there sex organ.I am so scared of the risk of cardiac tumors that I read about, her coat getting dull and maybe thicker, and a possible skin problems that could arise as a consequence of the spay. Female dogs may get hypothyroidism and then have to go on hormone replacement anyway. I know there are many benefits of spaying, most important to me is that she would never get pyometria. I am definitely not interested in bringing any more puppies into a world that is already so crowded with unwanted puppies. The reason that I am reaching out to people is because it just seems so unnatural to have to do this to her. But I do have to spay her by contract, I have no choice anyway. So that is why I hope I can just start a discussion on this as I say to give me some perspective. I have always gotten my animals spayed/neutered as I thought it was the most responsible thing to do. However these days there is so much new research on it by Vets and scientific research and everything like that, and just so much controversy about this subject I was wondering if anybody out there would be so kind as to tell me their stories of their females being spayed. If they saw any of the problems with the coat changing, their sheltie having weight problems or joint problems that may have been related to spaying or incidence of spay incontenence, that anyone may have seen, or any other comments or discussion that you could have to help me? My sheltie has been through one heat already at 10 months which is supposed to be better to let them at least have their first heat. I will get her spayed when she reaches 14 to 15 months, because I thought it was best to wait until I was sure she was finished growing As far as an answer to my post here I'm hoping that I will get an email to let me know and instructions as to how to read comments on this post as I am pretty new to this and don't really know how to use it . Thank you to anybody who takes the time to read my post and answer me. I really really appreciate it!
 
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I had a female Sheltie years ago and did have her spayed after she had one litter of puppies required by the breeders contract.

I never had any of the adverse side effects you listed. She lived to be 14!
I have all boys now and had them fixed as well.

I am sure others will chime in offering up their insights!
Welcome, and congrats on your new little girl!

You will get an email link so you know someone has responded.
 
I have a 3 year old female sheltie who was spayed, and I also have a 9 month old sheltie puppy who was recently spayed (I had her joints xrayed and her growth plates were completely closed, so we went ahead with the spay). Neither dog has had any kind of problem and actually, the puppy came home from her spay with a teeny tiny incision, without a cone, and tried to jump up on my bed THAT NIGHT! My adult sheltie has a spectacular coat - thick and full and gorgeous, very bright and shiny. I too, was afraid of pyometra and feel so much better now that that risk is completely eliminated. And by the way - my adult dog is named Spirit :-)
 
I adopted a female sheltie who was already spayed- she did not have any of the issues that you mentioned other than hypothyroidism which is common in the breed anyhow.
I got a second female sheltie and she was spayed before a year and so far, no issues with her- she's 7 now.

I don't believe that you get emails when people respond to posts in threads unless there's a new setting that allows that. I have only gotten emails for private messaging.....
 
Actually, I always get an email on threads I have started or forum posts I have responded to. Only one that is until I login and then there maybe more posts after that alert. Maybe because I have a premium membership? Maybe Kelly can clarify?
 
I have both spayed and intact girls. I can tell you that one of my biggest fears is pyo with those that are intact. I know too many people who have either needed emergency spays or even lost a girl to it. I believe that it's important to wait until dogs are at least a year old before spaying or neutering, as the current research indicates. Some of mine have been spayed around age 7 after having litters, others earlier. Here's what I've found:

The older they are when you spay them, the less it affects the coat. Spaying my females as puppies made their coats thinner and more drapey, with far less undercoat than their intact housemates. Other than that, the quality of your dog's coat depends largely on the quality of the food you give them and genetics.

I have not had any issues with incontinence, illness or tumors in my spayed girls.

Spayed girls tend to gain weight easier, so it's important to keep an eye on that.

I think if your pup is nearly a year old, she'll be fine. If she hasn't had a season yet, you might wait for that. Then you should wait two months after her season before spaying her. Hope this helps!
 
I think everyone gets scared when they have to put their little one through surgery. In the end it's probably not worth over thinking it, particularly as you have it written in your contract.

I've never had any issues with spays or neuters. Back in the day when de-sexing wasn't common I had an intact male sheltie die from testicular cancer, so from then on I always had my pets desexed. My current male was a little more complicated because he had retained testes. My current female was bouncing around once the anaesthetic wore off - had to tie her down. Tully was a show dog, however I ended up getting her spayed because she kept getting attacked, and the vet pointed out it may be because, as a small, intact female she was a target for aggressive dogs. Sure enough, she was never attacked again. Ended her show career but she was much happier doing flyball than prancing around the ring.

Over here desexing is pretty standard, I'd say 90% of dogs are spayed/neutered. Australia is always held up as an example for longevity and health of dogs so it doesn't seem to be causing too many issues; and we're talking of millions of dogs.
 
Hello Spirit dog and welcome to SN. I also was concerned about the risks of neutering my dog because of the health risks so I waited until he was 2 years old, my last dog was a female cocker spaniel who I hadn't spayed and she developed Pyometra at age 8 (we caught it just in time). Have you asked the breeder if she's ok with you waiting a bit longer? Piper's breeder was fine with me waiting until he was a bit older.
 
I spay, period. Having seen the horrors of pyometra, I would never take that risk. Most of the debate I've seen is not whether or not to spay, but when to spay.
 
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