False Pregnancy and Spay Decision

[ELubas]

Hello all. I have not been on in awhile but am looking for some experience/thoughts. My 13 month old girl, Sila, is not spayed, went through her first heat and is now having a false pregnancy. My goal was to spay her after her growth plates had closed and she had matured. I was anticipating one more heat and doing this in the late fall. This phantom pregnancy however has me thinking twice as it is clearly distressing for her and I hate to see her so unhappy. I have done all the research on waiting on the spay-pros and cons, etc-but I guess now I am curious if any of you have been in this situation and did it change your mind. My vet is very supportive but would have spayed her long ago if I would have done it. She does say she will most likely experience this again if I let her cycle again. I really have a hard time seeing my girl so stressed but have been through the whole ACL, joint issues with other boxers and was hoping this was the way to help avoid that with Sila. So any thoughts or new research would be most appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Roge]

I will be following this with interest , my parents have a little female and it's a first for us , I've been searching the net to see what's best and it all seems to be pionting in the direction of having it done before first heat , her vet said anytime after 6 months as they can come into heat anytime after the 6 month mark .. It's hard to know what's best !!

 

[Gatorblu]

My first boxer went through a false pregnancy after her first cycle. My vet gave me an option of either spaying her or injecting hormones. He had also told me that she would most likely go another false pregnancy with her next cycle. This as 18 years ago, and I didn't know about postponing until reaching maturity. She was just 6 months old. I did go ahead and had her spayed. Looking back, I wish I would have waited. While she never had any joint issues, she did develop incontinence later. I think she was only 6 years old when I started noticing a problem. Has your doctor mentioned giving her hormones to offset her discomfort now?

 

[ELubas]

Thanks for your reply. My vet did mention that but said sometimes the symptoms will abate quickly. I have also been told about some natural remedies that I will try first. I am giving her Melatonin which seems to be helping. I was hoping to wait until she was two to spay but I really hate to see her like this. She will probably cycle around October and she will be 18 mos then. I have also been told giving raspberry leaf tablets as soon as her heat starts will prevent the false pregnancy. I am just trying to figure out what is in her best interests. I must say it is heart breaking to see her so distressed over babies that do not exist