Health risks of spaying your dog
I have an 18 month old Female German Shepherd, Sierra. I want to eventually get a male dog down the line. I don't plan on breeding her, but spaying is next on the list of to do or not. I know people will comment and say that she should be spayed in order to control overpopulation. I want actual health risks of spaying her versus if I left her all intact. This is my 3rd German Shepherd. My last female GSD was spayed after having a litter, she lived to 14 yrs old but her body weight, genetics, and probably some bad luck caused her to suffer from hip dysplacia. She would have continued on with life if it wasn't for the hips.
Your advice is kindly requested.
on Jan 17th 2012
in Spaying & Neutering
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Well, there are probably more "pros" than "cons" for spaying, but it's a pretty narrow margin if you count out pregnancy prevention.
Spaying prevents pyometra (bacterial infection of the uterine lining, the risk gets higher with every "empty" heat cycle a female experiences) which is often fatal if untreated.
Spaying also reduces incidence and severity of mammary tumors (breast cancer) because the tumors respond to estrogen, produced in the ovaries (which are removed during a spay.)
The possible negative effects of spaying include the surgical risks (anesthesia and wound-healing complications) and later down the road it appears to increase the risk of urinary incontinence, orthopedic problems, obesity, and certain rare cancers (but these cancers are less common than pyo or breast cancer, so you have to weigh the risks.)
This page has a good rundown of all the scientific evidence on either side of the debate:
Bruno CGC answered on 1/17/12. Helpful? / 0