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Dangers of Early Spay and Neutering

What are the Facts

  1. Spaying and neutering too early will deprive your dog of the sex hormones necessary for its maturation. These hormones are responsible for skeletal growth. If the procedure occurs too early, it may take much longer for your dog's growth plates to close.

  2. There is a significant increase in the risk of osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in dogs neutered before 1 year of age and other cancers. As with spayed females, this is common cancer that occurs in larger breeds with a poor prognosis. There is an increase in the risk of cardiac hemangiosarcoma by a factor of 1.6m and a tripled risk of hypothyroidism.

  3. Early spay/neuter causes loss of bone mass.

  4. Dogs who are spayed/neutered before 6 months have a 70% increased risk of developing hip dysplasia.

  5. Dogs who are spayed/neutered too early have an increased chance of developing undesirable behavioral issues such as phobias, fear aggression, and reactivity.

Early spay/neuter triples the risk of developing hypothyroidism and becoming obese.

 

Males

Males start getting their hormones at 7 months of age.  At this point in time, they MAY start to lift their leg and mark.  With the latest information, if you can hold off until at least 12 months to 18 months that is preferable.  A belly band will help with the leg lifting problem. Amazon sells them online.  AMAZON MALE BELLY BAND LINK

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Females

My recommendation is one year because most of my dogs have reached their maximum weight by a year. The rule of thumb is that you never spay your dog when she is in the middle of a heat cycle.  Most females will come into heat between 9 months and 14 months, and then every 6 months like clockwork.    The recovery time is a bit longer for females.  A lot of vets are now using internal stitches and surgical super glue on the outside which is a nice option. I’ve found that instead of the “cone”, you can use a recovery onesie to cover the surgical area. AMAZON RECOVERY SUIT LINK

 

The Female Heat Cycle:

When females are coming into heat they normally will bleed for 10 days.  The blood will go from bright red to pink and then to clear.  Once the blood is in the pink to clear stage, their vulva is very swollen and that is when they are actually “in heat”, and if impregnated could get pregnant.  This stage lasts another 7-10 days.  Many miniature schnauzers keep themselves so clean that you may not realize they are in heat until you notice their vulva is very swollen.  Once the vulva has returned to normal size, your female is no longer in heat. During that first 10 days, your female can wear washable diapers that you can purchase on Amazon HERE.  Just make sure to purchase the ones with heavy-duty Velcro.  You may also need to use a large safety pin to make it tight enough that they can’t get it off. 

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