Hey gang,

So I found the thread about what to expect post-op. I have been cautioned as to be very particular about who spays my girl. I was told that a vet could really mess up a girl with this surgery....causing incontinence issues.

We asked our vet about this and she stated that girls can have incontinence issues but it is more due to a lack of hormones as they get older and therefore less control of the sphincter.

1. Has anyone heard of this?

2. Anyone had any issues with this?

3. What age did you get your girl spayed?

Thanks for all of your help. She is our little girl and we are being extra cautious with everything (1st time parents)

Thanks,
Sonora

I got my girl spayed when she was around 5 months old (this was 7 years ago). We had zero complications with it and healed very nicely. There are risk's with every surgery, but they are minimal. There are a lot more terrible things that could happen to you're girl if you don't get her spayed. I had my male pup neutered 3 weeks ago and they also did a GI surgery on him (which they told me was like a female spay, because they opened him up the same way) and he did absolutely wonderful! The stitches are the dissolving kind and it healed beautifully. He has a scar from it, but over time it is hardly noticeable (the fur grows over it anyway). Good luck with getting you're girl spayed, I'm sure she will be just fine!

Spay incontinence from my understanding is more common in dogs that get spayed earlier in their lives.

I don't have a problem with it because Bella is still intact. She will be getting spayed within the next year. She was just cleared to be able to be spayed but she has to have special monitoring because she has a heart problem.

Most (all?) vets advocate spaying before the first season (around 6 months for the spay).

I'd agree with Ceara. Before the first heat and around 5-6 months is about right to me. You decrease the risk of cancer in your dog by spaying before or as close to the first heat as possible.

I got Kya fixed right after her first heat. I agree with the two previous posts. I have normally gotten ALL dogs (and cats) spayed or neutered at or around 6 months. Kya was late because we got her at 6 months and she needed all of her shots first. Rio will be late as well because she is already 8 months old.

I have HEARD of the incontinience issue, but I have never experienced it. Kya was great after the surgery. She was kinda mad at me and ignored me for the first few days, but she healed nicely and can't even tell that she has a scar.

Niraya wrote:

Spay incontinence from my understanding is more common in dogs that get spayed earlier in their lives.

I had never heard of the incontinence in female dogs after being spayed.

Our previous dog was female we had her spayed very early at about 5-6 months old.

She did great until she was about 13 years then she started have incontinence problems until she passed away at a out 16 years of age.

Buster( know the name doesn 't fit a femaie) was a large dog half boxer and half GSD.

Spay incontinence is usually found/most common in dogs that are spayed at like 8-10 weeks old. Shelters who get litters of puppies use this practice and will spay/neuter as soon/early as possible. I forget the proper term.

I also found this while trying to locate the proper term:

Myth #4: It will make a bitch incontinent and she will have more problems with her vulva than normal.

Fact: Spay incontinence is another multifactorial problem like obesity. No one is really certain why some bitches develop incontinence. It is probably related to decreasing estrogen levels and their influence on urethral sphincter tone. Some bitches develop it very soon after surgery, others may take years to develop the problem, some never have it whether they are spayed early or late. It occurs in bitches spayed early and late. Bitches spayed early on do have a more infantile vulva than bitches spayed at an older age. Occasionally, this can present a problem in an obese bitch where a fold of skin and fat drops over the vulva and causes dermatitis. Usually this condition can be resolved with weight loss. In instances where weight loss isn’t enough or isn’t feasible, the fold can be removed surgically. The procedure is similar to the removal of excessive facial or nasal folds in Pekingese when the folds are so large that they rub on the dog’s corneas.

From the Newfoundland club of America

http://www.ncanewfs.org/newfs/pages/earlysn.html

Violet my Doxie has incontinence issues. We adopted her when she was a year to a year and a half from a local shelter. She was spayed before we could bring her home, so she was and adult when she was spayed. She only dribbles when she is sleeping really heavy, but now that she is on medication (Proin) there have been zero accidents. I'd rather have incontinence issues that are easily treatable than mammary cancer.

Thanks to everyone. I had never heard of spaying incontinence but both my husband and I had male dogs as kids...so that obviously didn't apply to our childhood dogs. All of the information is very helpful.

I know we will get her spayed....just a matter of getting all of the facts and doing our research!

Our girl Kitty has spay incontinence. She was completely normal before the spay, but started dribbling urine about 2 or 3 weeks after the spay. Its doesn't happen all the time, it usually occurs about 10 minutes after she has gone to the bathroom. She was spayed at 6 months, however, she also underwent jaw surgery at the same time. She needed a second surgery to fix her upper jaw after a dog attack that occured prior to me getting her, and I didn't want to have her put under twice, so I had both surgeries done at the same time. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it, but I know the jaw surgery took a while, and maybe due to the time she was under, the vet moved quickly for the spay and caused some sort of damage. The vet I went to was one of the vets I worked for as a vet assistant for three years, and he is a great guy. But things can go wrong, even for great vets. He felt really bad, and ran a whole bunch of tests for us free of charge, just to rule anything else out. He came to the conclusion that it was truly was spay related incontinence. We now have her on some natural incontinence medicine, and she hardly ever leaks. There is persription options if she would ever get worse. One of the dogs I had growing up was incontinent, not spay related, but having a "leaking dog" wasn't a big deal to me because I had grown up caring for one.

To make a long story short, yes it can occur, and while picking a good vet will help, mistakes can always occur. The benifits of the spay for me will always outweigh the risk of incontinence.