Reasons to spay, very important!

[AkHerps]

Reasons to spay a female dog: Unspayed female dogs have a %25 chance of developing Pyometra after every heat cycle. Pyometra is an infection in the uterus in which the uterus fills with puss and bacteria and in a few short days can rupture and kill the dog, it's a horrific thing.

In addition to risk of pyometria, intact females are about 10% more likely to develop mammary tumors by the time they have had their first heat cycle. After the second heat cycle that risk increases to 25%. Mammary tumors can be very invasive and are often fatal.

Last reason: Go to your local shelter and see how many dogs are already going to be put to sleep because of unwanted puppies from people who didn't get their dogs fixed.

[slitheryz]

Pyometra is disgusting, my grandmas dog suffered and suffered and finally I took her dog while she was sleeping and her her spayed. Now the dog is totally different no more smell and she's so much healthier. I mean why have her like that every couple of months and then all that stinky infection if you aren't gonna breed her anyway. Aren't there plenty of dogs around that don't have homes as it is. Thank you for posting this

[filly77]

wait am i missing something here or misunderstanding something? your grammas dog would get pyometra every heat cycle? i had a dog years ago who came down with it after her heat cycle, luckily she started leaking that nasty brown fluid otherwise I would of lost her, as she wasnt showing any signs of feeling sick at this point. my understanding from the vet was, pyometra untreated will kill a dog? had my dogs blood count level had been just a little bit different, they wouldnt even had been able to do an emergency spay to save her. they gave her a strong shot of antiboitic and did her emergency spay the next morning after the antibiotics did their job enough to save her. it's a very serious thing and very scary.. I always thought I was doing good by not letting her get pregnant but I was NOT aware of Pyometra. this was about 10+ yrs ago, I was stupid and uneducated back in the day.

i agree, SPAY & NEUTER!

[bsash]

Pyometra is disgusting, my grandmas dog suffered and suffered and finally I took her dog while she was sleeping and her her spayed. Now the dog is totally different no more smell and she's so much healthier. I mean why have her like that every couple of months and then all that stinky infection if you aren't gonna breed her anyway. Aren't there plenty of dogs around that don't have homes as it is. Thank you for posting this

No, they don't just get it while in heat, it does not go away once they have it. Maybe it was just more noticeable while she was in heat? Either way, I am glad you intervened and did the right thing for the dog.

[wolfy-hound]

Where did you get the figures? 25% seems abnormally high to me, seeing as I'm in the pet industry (for the past 20 years)and I've seen thousands of dogs, with only a small handful of them having Pyrometria.

If the dog gets it, it needs immediate vet care. Spayed dogs cannot get pyrometria. Spayed dogs do not produce unwanted litters.

But that doesn't mean that every dog that's not spayed is somehow going to get pyrometria, mammary tumors or produce unwanted litters. Mammary tumors are often benign and dogs live for years with them with no ill effects(from my own experiances with dogs in my work). Dogs that are intact can be kept their entire lives without ever having them produce a litter of puppies or ever having a health issue.

Spaying and neutering can give health benefits, but it's not something I think EVERY animal should have done. I also don't think someone is a bad owner merely because they don't have it done.