You're not over thinking!

By delaying OHE until after 1st heat, you increase the likelihood of developing mammary carcinoma by 8 times what it would have been by spaying prior to first heat. Rate of mammary carcinoma in dogs spayed before first heat is less than 1%. Waiting until after first heat is 12%. Waiting until after 2nd heat is 25%. I'd much rather have a less than 1 in 100 chance of developing cancer than a 1 in 12 chance.

Mammary carcinoma kills; vaginitis is annoying and *may* eventually cause an ascending UTI, but you seem to have that under control. And waiting until after first doesn't necessarily change vulvar conformation enough to eliminate vaginitis anyway. Mild cases with no other problems (ectopic ureter, hooded vulva, perivulvar dermatitis, etc.) usually resolve itself whether or not you spay.

Personally I'd get her spayed before first heat and avoid the life-threatening disease.

I was waiting (and hoping) to hear what Meghane said because we also dealt with this with one of our pups. Our vet also recommended waiting through one heat cycle. Then I asked her "what would you do if it was your dog?" and her answer was "spay her now".

She told us that the veterinary regulating society (I don't know the name) issues recommendations (this is true in human medicine as well) and that vets are *supposed* to follow those recommendations. The recommendation, at least at that time, was to delay the spay. However, when I asked the question of what she would do with her own animal, she was able to answer that she would not follow the recommendation. Like Meghane, she felt the risk of cancer was too great to postpone the surgery.

That was seven years ago, Meghane, I am curious whether this is still the recommendation by AVMA and if so, why?

Does your vet know what the cause of the vaginitis is? From what I understand (and I'd have to read a lot more about it if I had to decide this) depending on the cause there is a chance that a heat will or will not fix it.

I am a strong advocate of spays and neuters, but if the research indicates that a life-long problem can be resolved by going through a heat cycle, I would wait with the spay. Of course you would have to be extremely careful during and after the cycle to avoid a pregnancy, that's very important. But I really think you need more information on this first.

I am old enough to remember that the "common theory" about 35 years ago, was to have the dog spayed at around 8-9 months, preferably before first heat. This for health reasons already stated.

This theory has changed (for reasons good and bad, mostly bad as far as I'm concerned) to having the dog spayed at around 3-4 months.

Vets have different opinions on all types of animal health issues. I have learned the hard way, to research everything and ask questions about medication. I specifically ask for a time limit on when I will start to see positive results.

I make sort of a check list, and then compare that to what vet recommends. If research goes against what the vet wants to do, I ask her why she wants to do it.

I think the subject in general is very complicated. After tons of research, I was really disturbed and worried about reconstructive surgery my vet recommended for one of my dogs that has a history of UTI and an inverted vulva. After I made this statement to her, I told her that I would never put my dog through the process. Mainly because there was no guarantee that the surgery would fix the problem. Further research and consulting with two other vets, put me on a path to where she has been fine for the past 7 months.

BTW make sure one of the cleaningÂs you do is just before bed time. This is when the bacteria is most active, when the dog is asleep for the night.

Good luck!

SG

Sorry it took me so long to get back. I spoke too soon about UTI's. Both the pups have them now. The youngest has the worst one. Needless to say, I think our household is keeping Nature's Miracle makers in business. She was doing so well with house training until now. We still haven't made a decision as to when to spay, but we have to get them over this round of UTI's first. I do value everyone's opinions.
Thanks,
Linda

Bummer about the UTIs. It's a tough decision- there are pros and cons both ways, so its definitely something for which there isn't a right answer. Good luck with the girls.

Sorry to hear that you are dealing with UTI.

If you havenÂt already, you will discover that there are lots of opinions about how to deal with this.

I am blessed with a country and city vet that I consult with. My regular vet is aware of this and has no problem with it. If the issue is severe, such as a UTI, I consider everyoneÂs advice and take the path of least resistance.

When consulting, my city vet said to change food because it can have things in it that will trigger a UTI. This confirmed my research that indicated diet can be part of the problem. I switched her to Venison and Potato IVD in September last year, and started to clean her "lady part" twice a day because she just does not do it enough, plus she really can't get to things properly. My country vet said it was most important to clean her just before bed time, because the bacteria travels most then when dogs are sleeping.

Dog has been fine since the diet switch and cleaning. I used to clean twice a day, now I'm down to once in the evening. Having dealt with this three times, I am very aware of her situation and will start to clean her twice a day again if I need to.

Good luck!

SG

Hi. I have a 4 month old Chihuahua, Miley. She has been diagnosed with puppy vaginitis. She urinates rather frequently and will often urinate and go right back to her puppy pad and urinate again. She "drags" her hiny across the floor or rugs. She doesn't seem to be in pain but how would one know if she were pain or not? She eats Blue brand dog food. This a holistic dog food and contains no soy, corn, or wheat; no artificial preservatives and no animal by-products. This brand also has lactobacillus acidophilus.

The Vet did a urinary test w/sediment and says she doesn't have a urinary tract infection. She put her on Amoxil. Miley weighs 4 pounds so her dosage is .5ml twice a day. The Vet has suggested if the problem doesn't clear up after the treatment to wait until after her first cycle to spay and this should clear up the problem.

After reading all the responses here, I'm very confused. Some say antibiotics are not the answer, some say not to wait to spay, others say wait. I want to do the best thing for Miley.

If anyone has any updated information regarding this topic, please let me know.

Thanks