Should dogs be spayed before or after their first heat?
What vets these days are saying to wait until after the first heat? That is such old-fashioned and baseless advice. People like that bring the whole profession into disrepute. Dogs do not need to have a heat to reach ‘mental maturity’. They mature mentally as they grow. I’ve never actually heard that reason before – usually people say they won’t grow properly unless they have a season/litter – this is also rubbish. Spaying does not remove growth hormone. In fact, recent studies show that testosterone actually suppresses growth a tiny bit – if you castrate early, the growth plates actually close later so the dog grows (imperceptively) that little bit more! Spaying before the first heat all but prevents mammary cancer, and that is a fact. With every heat the dog has, her chance of getting mammary cancer in later life increases. Unspayed dogs have a 1 in 4 chance of getting mammary cancer, and considering how horrible the disease is that’s too high a chance for my liking. Pyometra is a bi
