[Barbara Winters]

Female dogs at risk
October 14, 2004
By Michelle Gerhard Jasny, VMD

 

[Betsy Iole]

When I read about all these unspayed bitches going into season, I could cry, because their risk of mammary cancer goes up so significantly just by going through that first heat cycle. If they had only been spayed before their first cycle, they'd have almost no risk.

 

[pinehawk]

i don't believe that you have to spay a bitch for that reason.our field bitches can NOT be spayed if they are competeing in a AKC Field Event.i have pedigrees from 1963 to the present and only one of the bitches died from this type of cancer,maybe.she did have cancer but i don't now what it was and this was just last year(my father's dog).i think it was more from her bloodlines,Genetics i feel is more of a cause of cancer,if it is prevalent in the bloodlines maybe those lines should not be bred.Environment could also be a factor, i don't recall reading any of these things mentioned.when is the last time anyone has had there water tested? house tested for Radon? sprayed any thing on your lawns lately!!! it is a good story,but i'm a little skeptical.A lot of Anti-Hunters and Vets don't think like i do and feel that i should not use and BREED my dogs for what they are bred to do!! Now my brittany's dam died of this type of cancer,which was not caught by her owner.this is where a GOOD BACKYARD BREEDER like myself makes a mental note.2 years later my Britt gets a lump from out of nowhere and big real fast,2 months after her yearly check up.(remember my mental note!!) my wife and i checked her bi-monthly for 2 years b/4 this happened so we were looking for it to happen.cancer was removed and she was spayed at this point.2 yrs.later at 12 years of age the only reason why she no longer hunts is she is losing her hearing,but other than that she is fine.oh and i never bred her either.

 

[Betsy Iole]

Here are the stats:

PROTECTION FROM SPAYING

A female puppy spayed before her first heat cycle can expect never to develop a mammary tumor of any kind. The incidence of tumor development in this group is nearly zero.

If she is allowed to experience one heat cycle before spaying, the incidence rises to 7% (still quite low).

If she is allowed to experience more than one heat cycle, the risk is driven up to one in four.

I personally feel that a risk rise from a fraction of a percent to almost 10% isn't "quite low".

 

[Barbara Winters]

I think the article has merit both for breeders and pet owners. I posted it because I was impressed with the article appearing in a weekly newspaper and it applies to everyone on this forum that has female dogs (maybe males too to a lesser extent). But actually I had the pet owner who just doesn't get around to spaying before that first season and the owner of a rescue dog who may not have been spayed as a pup, in mind. It's been a while since this topic has come up and figured it was time for a reminder. Check for lumps and when you get a puppy make that appointment for spaying the first time you go to the vet. No need for bitches to go into season if they're not going to be part of someone's breeding program.

Now Billy I've got a question for you? How come your're calling yourself a Backyard Breeder? BYB's don't breed Field Champions.

[ October 17, 2004, 09:37 PM: Message edited by: Barbara Winters ]

 

[pinehawk]

Barb,i did not say i was a BYB,i said i was a GOOD BYB.Field Champions are made by time in the Field,you can breed two dogs that are Field Champs,but the whole litter can be a FLOP.now as for the BYB title,y'all have a different vocabulary than me,cause anytime i breed dogs it's in my BACKYARD!!! or at a trial or at the other dog owners house in their BACKYARD!!! i don't get our dogs a MOTEL room,do you? hahahaha!!! p.s. i know what you call BYB,i'm one just a different definition.

 

[LuvnmyDaisy]

Quite frankly I had NO idea of the risk to puppies who were not spayed. We got Daisy when she was 7 weeks old and we were going to breed her (before we came to Ctberhound and discovered that we would be the "backyard breeders" we had been reading all about). We then decided that there is a lot more to breeding a Basset than just having cute little puppies but by that time Daisy was already in ehr first heat. We have an appointment in two weeks to get her spayed. I would lose my mind if anything like that happened to ehr because of my ignorance. I love my puppy. We are adopting a rescue dog for her to have as a companion. He is already neutered.
Thanks for the article!