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Why should I spay my small female dog? Addressing concerns.

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Maltese | Female | unspayed | 3 years and 6 months old | 4 lbs

Mum and I have been discussing a lot about spaying our tiny little angel. Mum's against it since her friends told her not to and I don't know. Help me

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on November 24th, 2016

There is absolutely no reason not to spay your pet, unless of course you are purposefully wanting to breed Bella. Spaying pets early (before their 1st heat cycle), reduces the chance of mammary cancer to less than 3%, which is a huge deal. There is no decrease seen after the 3rd heat cycle. However spaying Bella will still prevent her from ever having a spontaneous infected uterus or Pyometra event int he future. Which is an emergency situation that would require immediate surgery if Bella ever developed this. And considering that a Pyometra event is much more common in small breed dogs like the Maltese, this is reason enough to highly consider spaying her.

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    Answered By Angel Alvarado, LVT

    Licensed Veterinary Technician

    Published on December 8th, 2016

    If Bella will not be shown or bred, she should be spayed. It will prevent uterine infection (pyometra) and will prevent male dogs from seeking her out when she is in season. She also will no longer drip blood in your house when she is in heat. At her age, the risk of developing mammary gland tumors is the same whether she is spayed now or not. If you are going to spay her, don't wait any longer.

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    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on November 24th, 2016

    I'm not sure either why your mom is refusing to spay Bella. If you aren't planning on breeding her, it would be a good idea to spay her. When dogs aren't spayed, they can develop a life threatening infection of the uterus called a pyometra. A pyo is extremely serious, and can be fatal even if it's treated. Removing the uterus will prevent a pyometra from happening. If she did develop a pyometra, spaying is the recommended treatment anyway, but the surgery is much more expensive at that point, and it has more risks. Maybe discuss with your mother the health benefits from spaying her to see if she may become more open to the idea.

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Related Questions

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We were disgusting spaying my Maltese and why is mom refusing. We both are scared for the little one. I'm not sure what to do. Any advice?
I'm not sure either why your mom is refusing to spay Bella. If you aren't planning on breeding her, it would be a good idea to spay her. When dogs aren't spayed, they can develop a life threatening infection of the uterus called a pyometra. A pyo is extremely serious, and can be fatal even if it's treated. Removing the uterus will prevent a pyometra from happening. If she did develop a pyometra, spaying is the recommended treatment anyway, but the surgery is much more expensive at that point, and it has more risks. Maybe discuss with your mother the health benefits from spaying her to see if she may become more open to the idea.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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Why would our veterinarian ask me am I gonna spay our little pooch? I'm just wondering because it kind of came after Bella's check up. ( We might spay her next year and I'm still scared)! What's your opinion?! Thank you for your help.
If Bella will not be shown or bred, she should be spayed. It will prevent uterine infection (pyometra) and will prevent male dogs from seeking her out when she is in season. She also will no longer drip blood in your house when she is in heat. At her age, the risk of developing mammary gland tumors is the same whether she is spayed now or not. If you are going to spay her, don't wait any longer.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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She's scared of her being too dependant and stuff. She says how my cousin's dog wasn't spayed and lived a long life but her dog had cancer and died.
Being spayed doesn't make a dog dependent. In addition, not being spayed doesn't guarantee a long life. Dogs who haven't been spayed are prone to cancer just like dogs who are spayed. In facts, dogs who are spayed before their first heat are at a significant less risk over developing mammary cancer than dogs who are spayed after the first heat (0.8% vs 8%) and after their second heat (0.8% vs 25%). In Bella's case, however, she would still have a 25% chance of developing mammary cancer because if she is spayed, she will have had at least two heats. In my professional opinion, it's best to have a dog spayed if you aren't going to breed her. It prevents her from developing a pyometra, it keeps her from accidentally getting pregnant, it eliminates the often annoying behaviors that occur when a dog's in heat, it saves you from dealing with male dogs who want to mate with Bella, and it eliminates the mess and small from a dog in heat.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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I'm getting concern about getting my pup spay or not. Chihuahua are not prone to cancer, from what I read and she's not agressive, we live in an apartment not surround by other dogs. Why should I put her throught that amoung of stress an pain?
It's not true that Chihuahuas are not prone to cancer, every dog has the chance of developing cancer. The problem with keeping Peanut unspayed is it will increase her chances of getting mammary tumors, 50% of which are malignant, and she will be at risk of developing a pyometra. A pyometra is an infection of the uterus that is fatal without treatment. When a dog develops a pyometra, it requires an emergency spay which can cost thousands. If you spay her now, it would only be a couple of hundred dollars. As I said above, if you keep her upspayed, you will actually be increasing her risk of cancer. A dog who is spayed before her first heat has a 0.8% chance of developing mammary tumors. One who is spayed after her first heat has an 8% chance, while a dog who is spayed after her second and any subsequent heats has a 25% chance. You can see that's quite an increase in risk. It's best for her health to have her spayed, and I strongly urge you to get it done. Best of luck.
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Is it absolutely necessary to spay my dog? I am not going to breed her. We live in an apartment with no yard. She is always on a leash. What age is the oldest that I can spay her?
IT is highly recommended for a few reasons. If your dog hasn't yet gone into heat or has only had one heat cycle, we can reduce the risk of her developing mammary cancer in the future by spaying her. After several heat cycles spaying doesn't affect this, so that benefit will be lost the longer you wait to spay her, but there is no age after which spaying isn't allowed, and the other main benefit to spaying is to eliminate the chance of pyometra, a dangerous uterine infection that can be life threatening and require emergency surgery. For this reason alone, it is recommended to spay all female dogs.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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Hello, my dog is gonna be 8 years next month , she has been healthy and never had any problems. She never had puppies but she hasnt been spayed either. Someone sugested me that I should do it now to reduce the chances to have cancer. What do you sug
Hello and thanks for using Boop by Petco! The more heat cycles a dog goes through the more likely they are to develop mammary (breast cancer). At Fifi's age there may be less of a reduction in risk by spaying her now but it is still probably worth spaying her. By spaying Fido you will also eliminate the risk that she develops a life threatening uterine infection called a pyometra. That in itself is enough to warrant spaying at this time. Best regards to you and Fifi!
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Is it worth the money getting my whippet/bedlington neutered??
Yes, absolutely it is worth getting Banba spayed! It has many health benefits including eliminating the risk of a pyoemetra (a life threatening infection of the uterus) and a significant reduction in the chance of mammary tumors if you get her spayed before her next heat. If she has gone into heat once, her chance of developing mammary tumors will be 8% versus 25% if you spay her after her second or any subsequent heat. There will also be behavioral benefits as well. I highly recommend getting her spayed!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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Precious is suppose to get spayed Wednesday but I’m afraid. Are these true? I don’t want her to get pyometra but I also don’t want her to get hemangiosarcoma. I also want to keep her around as long as I can & as healthy as she can be. Maybe most of t
I'm not sure where you have gotten this information, but most of these things are completely untrue and fear mongering statements. While you can see an increase in urinary incontinence in spayed dogs, that usually happens in older dogs who have been spayed earlier in life. I've always spayed my dogs, and never had any of these things happen to them. In addition, I see no scientific references to back up these claims. Spaying Precious is a good option for her, you do not want her to get a pyometra. The people who write these things typically have no veterinary training at all, and everything they said is anecdotal evidence with no scientific evidence to back it up. You are making the right decision to have her spayed. Don't pay attention to random facts you find on the internet. I hope this helps!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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We will probably spay her in summer next year. But Dog trust BIH is giving free procedures for shelter dogs and for owner dogs. And I'm not sure if it's safe for her? I'm kind of scared for her.
As long as a physical exam and bloodwork is done prior to confirm Bella can undergo anesthesia, she should be fine. Every anesthetic procedure has risks but it is much safer these days. It would be preferable to spay her now as a healthy dog than to have to do emergency pyometra surgery on an older, sick dog.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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My 12 yr old 4 lb Morkie has 2 mammory rumors at the lower half of her breasts and they are hard. She is still intact. What’s the life expectancy once the tumors are removed? Should I get her spade during the surgery? Do you think she’s too little
Mia's life expectancy after the tumor removal depends on if the tumors are benign or malignant, and if the cancer has spread should they be malignant. If the cancer has spread, the extent of the spread determines the outcome. I think having her spayed is a good idea, as she will still be prone to developing a pyometra with her uterus left. A pyometra is an infection of the uterus that is fatal without treatment, and that would require another emergency surgery to fix should she get one. No, she's not too little to get this surgery, and I strongly recommend it. Best of luck.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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