Eska's Hips - Page 2

Hexe, I referred to my dog only and my decision. Mine played and was active and was never off of her food. SS will do what works best for her and her dog. Yes Joanro, best wishes to Eska and her future health.

Hasn't been a week, joan. She went off her feed the evening of 2/15. That would make it just five days today, and she's been on antibiotics since 2/17. Left untreated, most certainly a life-threatening situation. Precisely why, when asked on 2/16, I opined that she needed to be seen ASAP, with an allowance that an ER could be avoided if the pup wasn't febrile, since I know what the ER situation is like up in SS's neck of the woods. I was pretty sure this was a pyo that evening. Haven't changed my stance re: a dog being sexually intact isn't reason enough to breed it. I also believe that it's best to leave spaying and neutering until the dog is at least 18 months of age, better yet 24 months--and neither of these things contradicts the other position. I further recognize that my preference on the timetable isn't always possible for some owners--and that doesn't make them bad owners, either. Rather see them sterilize their dog earlier than to see more unintended litters being whelped. IF Eska continues to mature as she's done, gets her hips certified, and is found to be breed-worthy by SS & melba, it's not for me to say whether her owners should breed her or not. Treating this pyo medically doesn't mean the dog MUST be bred--it merely leaves that option for another 6 months, at which time if the decision is made to spay her she'll at least not have an infection already on board. Your mileage may vary.

Okay, Joan's post is still making me angry enough that I have to say this. I no longer own a kennel. I still have 3 dogs, 2 of which are neutered. I don't know how many dogs you're allowed to have in my current location, but I DO know I am either at the limit, or maybe even one dog over. Spaying Eska means abandoning any hope of breeding until either one or two of my dogs passes away. I am not going to get rid of her just because she can no longer be bred!

I would like to breed at least one litter of pups before I die, and I am going to do my damndest to make sure it's done RIGHT, which as you know, isn't easy. I've already spayed a dog with an extremely good pedigree because she was mildly dysplastic in ONE hip. (Okay, she had a few other issues, such as poor pigment, and structure that could have been a bit better, but that could have been fixed by picking the right stud.)

Eska's illness was a really nasty blow to that dream of having a litter, as her chances of having a successful pregnancy are now much less. But there is still SOME hope, and I decided some hope was better than none. Maybe that call was wrong, but that was MY decision to make, and mine alone. She certainly got the best veterinary care available in my part of Canada, once the diagnosis was finally made.

She has a great temperament, great drive and good genetics. And if I'm any good at reading hip x-rays, she's got great hips. Regardless of what the future holds for breeding her, I am going to see she gets her hips and elbows certified, and hopefully her BH before the end of the year.

So, Joan, take your judgemental attitude and shove it where the sun don't shine! 

Ouch. Lol.

SS,
You act like it was a tough decision to spay a dog that had a dysplastic hip.
A dog can have a perfect pedigree, extreme in the work, and a flawless temperament, but I would always take the dog's side if it came down to spaying or her health.
I hope your female continues to improve, and if it is safe for her to do so, produce you a nice litter.

Spaying is a better alternative to breast cancer, pyometra. I just spayed a five year old, very good female, good hips, elbows normal, very balanced, sound temperament with very strong nerves...never bred. In fact my vet couldn't believe I was spaying a gsd of her quality. I have two more scheduled for spay that are sound, very good females....breast cancer is real and not fun.

Breast cancer odds are, unfortunately, unlikely to be affected once a dog has gone through 2 heat cycles. I researched the heck out of that topic before deciding to do a hysterectomy on Capri as opposed to an Ovariohysterectomy. On the flipside, hormones seem to play a protective role in some of the deadlier cancers in our breed- osteo, hemangio, etc.

Do they have tumors currently, Joan, or are you saying you're just trying to eliminate some of the risk of mammary cancer?

No, none of these have tumors. They are very healthy. But over the years and recently I've had three intact females develop very aggressive breast cancer. In all my years of having dogs, they were the first with breast cancer. But I never kept any of my females intact. So, spay it is.

hntrjmper, the dysplasia was very mild and in one hip only. There was no deformity, only subluxation (joint too loose). I had several people suggest I wait and re-xray, and several who said they would have bred her anyway.

I knew I was going to spay her as soon as the report came back, BUT it was a real blow because I was at the limit for the number of dogs I was allowed to have on my property and I had been hoping to breed her. Still, she went under the knife less than a week after I got the bad news. She was due to come into season the following month, so I didn't want to wait any longer.

Joan, fully agree with spaying if a female is not going to be bred, or if the owner has decided there will be no further litters.

Jen, I never spayed any females, smooth and wire fox terriers included, until they were at least two year olds..that's including xhusky and gsds. Never had any get breast cancer till these older intact females.

SS, you and your female have my best wishes.