What is An Ovary Sparing Spay (OSS) and Is It Right for Your Dachshund?
Are trying you to decide whether to spay your female Dachshund or not? Did you know there is a middle ground called an Ovary Sparing Spay (OSS)?
I didn’t until 2019 when, for the first time, I brought home a dog that wasn’t already desexed.
I knew that getting her “fixed” was the right thing to do for our situation but, now that I was responsible for this major decision, I wanted to do some research first.
During that research, I learned that new science indicates spaying a dog at a young age wasn’t as beneficial as once thought. Currently, the recommendation for female Dachshunds is to wait until they are at least 12 months old (24-36 is more ideal), or to leave them intact (no spay), to reduce the chances of developing disk calcifications from Intervertebral Disk Disease (IVDD).
UPDATED: April 23, 2025
An Ovary Sparing Spay (OSS) seems like the best compromise because it removes a female dog’s ability to get pregnant while allowing them to retain their growth hormones. However, there are pros and cons to this type of spay.
So that you don’t have to spend hours researching this procedure like I did, I compiled the common, and what I think are the important, things to know into this article.
What is an Ovary Sparing Spay?
An ovary-sparing spay (OSS) is a type of sterilization surgery for female dogs where one or both ovaries are left intact, but the uterus and cervix are removed. This ensures that a female dog cannot get pregnant while preserving natural hormones.
This is different from the traditional spay, where both the ovaries and uterus are removed (called an ovariohysterectomy) or where just the ovaries are removed (ovariectomy).
The concept of removing the uterus while leaving the ovaries intact, called a partial hysterectomy, has been performed for years in humans.
In the early 2000s, veterinarians, especially those interested in reproductive health, working/performance dogs, and holistic or integrative medicine helped bring attention to OSS as an alternative to traditional spay.
OSS gained more traction when there was an increased awareness of hormones’ role in overall canine health, scientific studies started to measure the effects of spay/neuter on longevity and disease, and dog owners started looking for non-traditional spay solutions.
Since an OSS leaves one or both ovaries in the body, a female dog’s ability to produce natural hormones is retained. Because of this, an ovary sparing spay can be done at any age without concern for disrupting the hormonal systems of the body.
Despite the perceived benefits and the increase in popularity, OSS is still a rare procedure today. First, most veterinarians can’t or won’t perform this complex, delicate surgery. Second, this option is definitely not for every breed or every owner.
The pros and cons should be carefully weighed before going with this spay option.
Why Reproductive Hormones Are Important to the Body
The ovaries produce estrogen, progesterone, and small amounts of testosterone, which play key roles in maintaining bone density, muscle tone, and metabolic balance throughout a dog’s life.
In addition to regulating the reproductive system, estrogen helps maintain bone density, muscle tone, skin and coat health, cognitive function, and urinary tract strength (especially the urethral sphincter, which helps prevent incontinence).
Progesterone plays a role in the reproductive cycle, but it also affects mood, appetite, metabolism, and plays a role in mammary gland development.
The little bit of testosterone the female body produces, mainly from the ovaries and adrenal glands, supports libido but it is also important for muscle development, regulating energy levels, and it may play a role in assertive behavior and confidence.
As you can see, these hormones affect so much more in the body than just the reproductive cycle. They also influence a wide range of physical and emotional systems.
When the ovaries are removed during a traditional spay, all these hormone levels drop suddenly and drastically. This is similar to forcing the female human body into menopause after a total hysterectomy.
The absence of these hormones can impact the dog’s long-term health and behavior. If they are removed before a dog is physically and mentally mature, it can stunt a dog’s development or lead to issues later in life.
Still, going the OSS route does not automatically mean stellar health or that your dog will automatically be well-behaved. While hormones are important for growth and development of the body and mind, there may be negative side effects to keeping these hormones too.
Below are some of the most important pros and cons of an OSS for Dachshunds.
TL;DR: Summary of OSS Pros and Cons
Research on the potential benefits of ovary sparing spay (OSS) is still in its infancy, so there is limited information, specifically for the Dachshund breed. I researched the latest science for each of my concerns, as well as other reported benefits and risks.
Sometimes, I did have to take the available information about other breeds and make some assumptions or extrapolations in regard to Dachshunds.
While I have a background in science, it is not in the biological sciences, so I am not an expert on this topic. However, I am reasonably confident in my ability to gather information from various sources and make a decision for MY dog’s health based on that information.
Based on my research, here is an overview of the positive benefits and negative tradeoffs of an OSS.
Pros of Ovary Sparing Spay for Dogs:
- A dog can’t get pregnant
- A dog gets to keep their natural hormones
- It may help prevent injuries to ligaments and joint structures such as CCL tears and disk herniations due to IVDD/IVDH
- There is little or no behavior change (besides normal hormonal changes during heat cycles – see cons below)
- None of the behavior changes associated with traditional spay: potentially becoming more aggressive, fearful, anxious, and more difficult to train (see the behavioral changes section below)
- There is a significantly reduced risk of incontinence (spay incontinence)
- There is potentially less risk of bone cancer
- It effectively reduces the nuisance of bleeding during heats (although a small amount of discharge may still occur)
- Removes the risk of a uterine infection (pyometra), as long as ALL of the uterus and cervix are removed. (see cons below)
- Performing a traditional spay later is an option
- There is a significantly decreased risk of of becoming overweight as a side effect of hormone removal
Cons of an Ovary Sparing Spay for Dogs:
- A female still has heat cycle so she experiences hormonal changes that affect behavior and attractiveness to males (ie. can still cause fighting among males and male dogs will still try to mount)
- Many dog daycares and sitters don’t accept female dogs while they are in heat
- There may still be some discharge associated with heat cycles
- There is an increased risk of mammary tumors
- There is a risk of stump pyometra if the cervix isn’t completely removed
- There is potential for a longer recovery time because of the longer incision typically required (it was negligible in my experience)
- There is potential of a higher cost because of longer time in surgery (may be negligible)
- A dog will need to be monitored/screened for mammary tumors (manually at home and/or ultrasounds) for the rest of their life and they may require treatment.
- It may be difficult to find a vet in your area that is knowledgeable about the ovary sparing spay procedure and who can do it properly
The only way to make sure a dog never gets pregnant is by removing their ability to do so and I fully believe in doing that if there aren’t specific reasons for not doing it (breeding, sports competitions, etc.). However, the traditional spay that removes all of a dog’s reproductive organs is not the only option anymore.
To me, ovary-sparing spay is a good option for helping to control pet overpopulation, and unplanned “oops” litters, while avoiding the negative effects associated with removing a dog’s ovaries and hormones.
Continue reading below for more details about the benefits and drawbacks of an ovary sparing spay.
The Link Between Spaying a Dachshund and Intervertebral Disk Herniation (IVDH)
Dachshunds are prone to back problems, primarily caused by a genetic disease called Intervertebral Disk Disease (IVDD). IVDD can cause the spine to prematurely degenerate and disks to become brittle.
Compromised disks are susceptible to Intervertebral Disk Herniation (IVDH) and can result in back injuries or paralysis.
Note: among the many of the articles I reviewed, IVDD and IVDH were sometimes used interchangeably to reference back injuries in Dachshunds, but IVDH is more accurate when describing noticeable symptoms of IVDD.
Other countries are significantly more advanced when it comes to the understanding of IVDD than the US, In particular, Dachshund Health UK provides a plethora of information.
In 2015, an owner survey called Dachslife 2015 was conducted for 1,964 dachshunds. This survey looked to compare early-neutered (neutering a female dog is called a spay) (less than 12 months), late-neutered (over 12 months) and entire (intact) males and females.
The conclusion drawn from survey data indicated that females spayed before 12 months old were at significantly higher risk of IVDH than entire (intact) females.
Further information gathered in 2018 also found the same association between early neutering and increased IVDD risk. Female Dachshunds aged 3-10 neutered under 24 months old were four times as likely to have reported an IVDD incident.
The study is careful to note that this correlation does not mean that early neutering causes IVDH, but there is obviously some sort of correlation.
Also of note, a study on Golden Retrievers showed that neutered dogs were more likely to suffer from hip dysplasia, so it’s easy to suspect that neutering early can negatively affect the development of healthy bone and muscle development in general.
The study authors did point out that there are many factors at play in the development of disk-related spinal injuries besides just reproductive hormones.
For example, they found that Dachshunds who were highly or moderately active for more than 1 hour per day showed a decreased incidence of IVDD-related injuries (dogs that exercised for less than 30 minutes per day were found to be more at risk).
The bottom line regarding back injury and traditional spay in Dachshunds:
There is a clear link between hormones – specifically, the lack of hormones in a female dog that has had their ovaries removed – and back issues in Dachshunds.
Preliminary studies found that the risk of a female Dachshund developing IVDH is four times greater in females neutered/spayed before 24 months of age.
If one wants to be conservative with this information in hopes of reducing the risk of a back injury, the choice should be to leave a female intact until after the age of 2 or perform an ovary sparing spay.
The risk of disk herniations and back issues is not the only thing to worry about when making your decision about OSS.
The Link Between Spay and Cranial Cruciate Ligament (CCL) Injuries in Small Dogs
One of the biggest cases for OSS is the decreased incidence of Cranial Cruciate Ligament Rupture (or CCL – the human equivalent of an ACL injury) in active dogs.
In short, the Cranial Cruciate Ligament stabilizes the knee joint. When a dog experiences a CCL injury, they may become lame or not be able to walk using that leg.
The CCL injury can be acute – occurring from a forceful, sudden trauma – or occur as a result of weakening of the ligament over time.A ruptured CCL is the most common orthopedic injury in dog, especially in large breed dogs. (source)
Some studies have shown that 8% of females neutered before 12 months of age developed CCL injuries later in life. (source). But how common are these types of injuries in small dogs and Dachshunds in particular?
According to the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, “Certain dog breeds are known to have a higher incidence of CrCLD (cranial cruciate ligament disease)… while others, are less often affected (including Dachshunds).”
However, it was found that obese pets may be more likely to develop CCL injuries (source) and, in my experience, it’s common for a Dachshund to weigh more than they should, especially if they are spayed.
Other contributing factors to CCL injuries include inactivity with occasional strenuous activity (weekend warrior syndrome), straight conformation in the hind limbs (source), and nutrition.
According to Dr. Karen Shaw Becker, a lack of dietary manganese can significantly affect the frequency of CCL injuries.
She also said that, “While nutrition plays a big role in protecting ligaments, desexed animals have more CCL damage than intact animals. Sex hormones appear to have a protective effect on the musculoskeletal system.”
The bottom line in regard to CCL injury and traditional spay:
My research shows that it is certainly possible for a Dachshund to experience a CCL rupture, although it’s less common in this particular breed and small dogs in general.
My takeaway is, yes, spaying a female Dachshund can have an effect on the incidence of CCL injuries but it’s probably not the biggest factor.
Factors that likely have a larger influence are being inactive most of the time, being overweight, and nutrition.
The Link Between a Traditional Spay and Incontinence
Urinary incontinence tends to be more common in female dogs who have had a traditional spay (specifically, had their ovaries removed).
One common cause of this “spay incontinence” is the weakening of the urinary tract muscles due to the lack of estrogen. Estrogen may cause the muscle used to control the exit of urine to become weak and release urine involuntarily.
Incontinence is most common during rest as these muscles are further relaxed.
One study found that female Dachshunds were found to have a spay incontinence rate of 11.1%. The onset of incontinence varied between immediately after a traditional spay to 12 years with an average period of 2.9 years after surgery.
This type of incontinence is typically and successfully treated with drugs. However, it is possible that a dog can experience negative side effects from these and medications.
A female dog’s risk of incontinence later in life is significantly reduced if she retains her hormones, but it can still happen.
The bottom line between incontinence and the removal of reproductive hormones:
Incontinence in middle aged dogs who have had their ovaries removed is common. However, it appears to occur at a lower than average rate in Dachshunds who have had their ovaries removed (11% for Dachshunds vs 20% for all breeds).
Spay incontinence is relatively treatable and incontinence can be managed with environmental (home) and lifestyle modifications.
Behavioral Changes in Spayed/Neutered Dogs
Years ago, and still somewhat today, spaying or neutering a dog was recommended to curb “undesirable behavioral issues”.
The unwanted behaviors that may be diminished weren’t always discussed with dog owners. However, it’s assumed that the behaviors that would be eliminated or reduced were directly related to a dog no longer having reproductive hormones.
For example, spayed female dogs are less likely to roam when in heat, urinate frequently or “mark”, and be less irritable and aggressive (because a female experiencing heat cycles can be).
Unfortunately, scientists are discovering that removing a female dog’s hormones may create as many, or more, behavioral problems as it was supposed to help.
As Dr. Deborah Duffy puts it, in her presentation Non-reproductive Effects of Spaying and Neutering on Behavior in Dogs, “For most behaviors, spaying/neutering was associated with worse behavior, contrary to conventional wisdom”
Dr. Stanley Coren, in a Psychology Today article, discussed two valuable and reliable studies that show removing a female dog’s reproductive hormones can actually increase aggression, fearfulness, and anxiety in the dog, as well as make them more difficult to train.
Dr. Stanley Coren found:
- Spayed and neutered dogs show considerably more aggression, varying from a 20% increase to more than double depending on the type of aggression measured (toward people, toward other dogs, etc.)
- For females, early spaying (before the dog is one year of age) causes a considerably larger increase in aggression relative to later spaying [relative to male dogs]
- There was a roughly 31% increase in fearfulness for both sexes.
- There was a roughly 33% increase in touch sensitivity for both sexes
- There was a roughly 8% increase in excitability (assumed that was excitability in the negative sense) for both sexes
These results have been confirmed in another, more recent, large scale study.
That study says, “Neutered dogs… showed many more fear-related behaviors.
These included:
- Responses to loud noises
- When first exposed to unfamiliar situations
- When approached directly by an unfamiliar child
- When barked at, or growled at, by an unfamiliar dog
- When approached by another dog of similar or larger size
- When encountering strange or unfamiliar objects on or near the sidewalk
- When encountering windblown objects
- When examined by a veterinarian; or when having their nails clipped.”
Once again, the younger the dog was when neutered, the greater these fear-related effects appear to be.
Behaviors Lost: Ending the Heat Cycle
The potential increase in fear-related behaviors sounds pretty undesirable to me. However, there are definitely behaviors associated with the female dog heat cycle that may also be undesirable (ie. These go away if you go with a traditional spay).
Dealing with a dog that goes into a month-long heat cycle twice a year isn’t for everyone, especially in the US culture where the majority of dog owners aren’t used to managing unaltered dogs.
A female dog in heat will likely display all or many of these behaviors:
- She may be jumpy or on edge
- She may become more clingy during the heat cycle
- Male dogs may become obsessively interested in her, and potentially fight over her, and she will sometimes solicit the behavior because she is “feeling frisky”
- Other female dogs may be aggressive toward her and she may be aggressive back
- She may exhibit mounting behavior (yes, females)
- Excessive licking may occur (primarily the vulva)
- She may exhibit increased urination or “marking”
- About a month or two after her heat cycle is over, and lasting approximately a month, she may have a “false pregnancy” and exhibit undesirable behavior like restlessness, depression, mammary gland secretions, etc.
The Bottom Line in regard to behavior change and the removal of reproductive hormones in a female dog:
There is no doubt that traditional spay, where the ovaries and hormones are removed, results in behavior changes. It turns out that the negative behavior changes may likely outweigh any positive behavior changes.
What stands out to me here – almost shockingly so – is that a lot of “negative traits” of Dachshunds, and small dogs in general, are the same behaviors Dr. Stanley Coren attributed to a female dog having their reproductive hormones removed.
It makes me question how much of these behaviors (separation anxiety, reactivity/defensiveness toward other dogs, fear of children, etc.) are “typical” Dachshund traits BUT it is also true that many female dogs in the US received a traditional spay. So are those behaviors really “a Dachshund thing” or a result of the premature removal of emotion-regulating hormones?
I’ll tell ya though, dealing with a female dog in heat is very stressful, especially when intact males are around.
I absolutely believe it’s important to carefully weigh the pros and cons and know the choice one is making between traditional spay and OSS when it comes to a dog’s potential behavior. One must be prepared to deal with the potential behavioral consequences whether a full spay or an ovary sparing spay is chosen.
Note: As stated above, you can perform a traditional spay after OSS (at an additional cost of course) if your dog does display more undesired behaviors associated with heat cycles than you would like.
Is There a Risk of Pyometra?
This discussion is pretty quick.
Pyometra is a sometimes deadly infection of the uterus. Any dog who still has a uterus and ovaries (the estrogen influences it) is at risk of developing it.
A dog with no uterus and cervix can’t get pyometra either since that is where the infection occurs, and both of those things are removed when an OSS is performed. The catch with OSS is that every bit of the cervix must be removed or a dog can still develop what is called “stump pyometra.”
The bottom line:
As long as one is confident that the veterinarian performing the OSS procedure will completely remove the uterus and cervix, the risk of a dog developing pyometra is very little to none.
The Risk of Mammary Tumors
Mammary tumors are just what they sound like – tumors that develop in the breasts of female dogs. The development of these tumors is hormone-induced – affected by estrogen and progesterone.
This topic is hotly debated in discussions regarding the best age to spay a dog, but the argument basically comes down to the level of risk.
Mammary tumors are more common in female dogs that are either not spayed or were spayed after 2 years of age.
Adult [intact] female dogs (9 to 12 years old) were most likely to get mammary tumors, followed by the 5- to 8-year-old group. (source)
The risk of a dog developing a mammary tumor is 0.5% if spayed before their first heat (approximately 6 months of age), 8% after their first heat, and 26% after their second heat. (see source above).
The (same) study found that there are other significant factors at play though. These factors include environmental pollution, chemical exposure, and being overweight (having a lot of fat on the body).
I did find a couple of articles that said the Dachshund is a breed more prone to mammary tumors. (source1 and source2)
While all of my research to this point suggested an increased risk of negative “effects” if a dog was traditionally spayed too early, in the case of mammary tumors, removal of the ovaries before 6 months of age significantly decreases the risk for tumor development.
Only about half of mammary tumors are cancerous and surgery, potentially followed by chemotherapy, is effective in many of the cases (but can be costly, especially if one doesn’t have pet insurance).
With that being said, a previous study at the Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, showed that dogs spayed, either at the same time of their tumor removal or within two years prior to the tumor surgery, lived significantly longer than dogs that remained unspayed after their tumors were removed.
The bottom line:
The risk of mammary tumors in female dogs that still have their ovaries – either intact or due to electing for an ovary-sparing spay – is higher. However, there are other significant factors that contribute to the occurrence of mammary tumors.
Mammary tumors may be more common in Dachshunds than in other breeds.
It is important to note that mammary cancer in dogs is often treatable or “curable”, especially if diagnosed and treated early.
Around half of mammary tumors are not cancerous. However, they still need to be medically addressed and cancerous tumors can be fatal.
The Immune System and Other Cancers
So that this article isn’t a million miles long, I am going to lump potential immune system effects and other cancers (beyond mammary cancer) into one category and just get right to the point.
Research suggests keeping hormones (not spaying) may help lower the risk of certain cancers (e.g. osteosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma). However, although Dachshunds can get these types of cancers, the studies have primarily been done on Golden Retrievers, not Dachshunds.
A study that evaluated the prevalence and risk of immune disorders in spayed female dogs found that dogs with their hormones removed had a significantly greater risk of atopic dermatitis (ATOP), autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA), hypoadrenocorticism (ADD), hypothyroidism (HYPO), immune-mediated thrombocytopenia (ITP), lupus erythematosus (LUP), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). (source)
This study reviewed the medical records of 90,090 individual dogs, inclusive of all AKC breeds as well as mixed breeds, but it’s unknown how many Dachshunds were included in the review.
How Much Does an Ovary Sparing Spay Cost?
Cost of the procedure
The ovary sparing spay procedure is rare and very few veterinarians perform it.
Back in 2019 when I sought an OSS for Summit, only two providers were listed on the Parsemus Foundation Directory for my state. Currently, there are 8 veterinarians/clinics listed, which makes those of us who live in Washington State very lucky. There is only 1 listing for New Mexico.
Because OSS is a specialized service, and because the procedure is a bit more time consuming to perform than a traditional spay, OSS typically costs more than a traditional spay.
Back in 2019 when Summit received a OSS, and before veterinary costs greatly increased, I paid almost $1,200 (vs $250-$800 average for a traditional spay).
If the OSS will be performed by a veterinarian who is not your regular vet, an exam will be required beforehand, which can be $80 or more.
Since, generally, a spay, especially OSS, is considered an elective surgery, pet insurance does not cover the cost.
The hidden costs
Things like post-surgery pain medication, a “cone of shame”, or a surgical suit will be required whether your dog receives a traditional spay or OSS, so I won’t include those here.
Potential follow-up treatment if there is infection or other complications with the surgical site is also relevant for both procedures.
However, there are important things to consider if you opt for an OSS that might result in unexpected additional costs like female diapers if there is still a significant discharge and cost of boarding if you also own an intact male and you need to send one of the dogs away during the female’s heat.
You may also want to purchase supplements to help lessen the emotional side effects of remaining intact (for all intents and purposes) like primrose oil or CBD, or supplements to help mask the discharge smell like spirulina.
A dog with their ovaries, whether intact or one who had OSS performed, is susceptible to mammary tumors later in life. Owners of a dog with OSS must be prepared to regularly monitor their dog (ideally, through ultrasound), have any suspicious lumps biopsied, and to have surgery performed if their dog gets mammary tumors.
At the very least, if the tumors are not cancerous, this surgery involves removing part or all of the breast tissue and the ovaries (to reduce the risk of recurrence).
Also, what if you change your mind later and want to give your dog a full spay? The second surgery is not cheaper. It could be the same or more expensive because it’s tricker to go in to locate only one grape or raisin sized ovary.
YOUR emotional cost
In general, if you have one dog, you might not notice a difference between caring for a dog with OSS vs a traditional spay. However, a dog with OSS can experience more intense phantom pregnancy symptoms (than spayed females) and mood swings.
If you own more than one dog, and especially if the others are intact or also received a hormone sparing sterilization (OSS or vasectomy) so their hormones are also intact, you may have to deal with fighting within the household (most common if it’s another female) or your male going crazy while she is in heat. Trust me, it’s a zero-fun experience.
The bottom line:
In most cases, an ovary sparing spay is likely to cost more than a traditional spay. Even if the time-of-procedure cost isn’t all that different.
There are additional elements to consider, including supplements, supplies, and possibly your emotional energy. Add to that, if you change your mind and want a full spay, you will have spent 2x or more what a traditional spay would have cost in the first place.
My Personal Experience With OSS
Ultimately, after weighing the pros and cons over a period of 3 months, I decided to go with an Ovary Sparing Spay (OSS) for Summit.
I primarily chose the procedure for potential, positive orthopedic health benefits, potential benefits in regard to Dachshund back injuries (IVDD), potential to reduce incontinence later in life, other more minor health benefits, and potentially positive effects on mental development and behavior.
In regard to the risk of mammary tumors, during my initial consult with the veterinarian I chose to perform the procedure, said that the study that cites a 26% chance of mammary tumors after the second heat is from the 70’s, so that information is likely outdated.
There is most likely an increased risk by delaying a spay or leaving a female dog intact, but the percentage may be less than 26%. Also, there are other lifestyle factors that can affect the chance of getting cancer so an OSS does not make mammary tumors/cancer an inevitable outcome.
Instead of writing a novel within a novel about my thoughts and experiences about OSS after the fact, I’ll be recording an update on my podcast Dachshund’s Best Life shortly. Subscribe or follow (we’re Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music) to get notified when the episode is published.
Here is a summary of important points though:
- We waited two heat cycles before the OSS so I knew what kind of cycle-related personality changes she would experience first, and I am glad that I did.
- The ovary sparing spay was the easiest and fastest surgical recovery I’ve ever experienced with one of my dogs.
- Summit experiences mood swings, especially near and during her head cycle. She becomes more body sensitive and she has a tendency to wake me up in the middle of the night to go potty.
- Summit has very minimal discharge during her heats and keeps herself clean enough that I barely notice. However, although it was more than it is now, she never had a lot before the OSS.
- Although I’m cautious about where I take Summit during her heat cycle, and we try to keep our distance from intact males, I don’t notice much difference between how interested other dogs are in her when she is in heat outside of the house.
- Inside of the house is a different story. When she is in heat, my intact male, plus the ones I dogsit, go insane when she is in heat. It is zero fun to manage and keep them separated.
- I may seek an full spay for her in the future to reduce the stress on my intact male Dachshund (Otter) during her heats, my stress during her heats, and to reduce the risk of mammary tumors (a spayed female, even of spayed after the first or second heat, still have a lower risk of mammary tumors than hormonally-intact dogs).
Final Thoughts
An ovary sparing spay is not the best option for every dog or owner. It’s important to be very informed before making your decision.
While there are many health and behavioral related pros and cons, there are no clear answers. One just has to weigh the many factors and decide what feels right for them.
I am absolutely happy that I chose to go with an OSS for Summit. I think she is better off for it. However, I don’t know if I would do it again. A lot of circumstances can change over the lifetime of a dog.
I didn’t anticipate I would end up with an intact male dog (intact also for health and behavioral reasons) and managing them when Summit is in heat is difficult.
My financial situation changed too. When the OSS was performed, I anticipated that I would easily have the money to perform a full spay if needed. Now, that cost feels a bit more onerous.
I could have saved myself the extra cost, and Summit the experience of going through surgery twice, if I had just waited a few years and done a full spay (although that would have come with drawbacks too).
Anyway, I hope you find all of my research helpful when making your decision.
If you want to hear experiences with OSS from other dog owners, join the Ovary Sparing Spay and Vasectomy Info Group on Facebook.
About the Author
Hi, I’m Jessica. I’m a Dachshund sitter, President of the largest social Dachshund club in Washington State, a dog trainer in training, and I’ve been a Dachshund owner for 20 years. I have over 150,000 hours of experience with the breed. When I’m not working, you can find me hiking, camping, and traveling with my adventurous wiener dogs.
This article is amazing; very well researched and informative! Thank you for doing all the research and sharing it with the world. While I hope that I won’t be getting another dachshund puppy for many years, I have archived this post and will look back on it when the time comes.
Thank you. It was a lot of work and there is so much info. I almost started to confuse myself when drafting this article 🙂
Ditto – thank you for pulling all this information together. Much of it was new to me, and I appreciated your listing the sources. You did a great job laying out the pros and cons. It’s not an easy decision, is it? Keep us posted on how it goes with Summit (which is a grand name for your pup!).
I will keep everyone posted for sure. It definitely was not an easy decision. I imagine it’s similar to making decision for your kid – you do the research, weight the pros and cons, but a decision has to be made now so you go with whichever you think it best. Sometimes it works out and sometimes not. At least dogs can’t hate you for the choice you made later. Ha, ha.
Thank you so much by sharing your experience. As a human’s MD, i also will spay my one year old Beagle next week with OSS procedure (we already made the schedule with the Vet who knows the procedure so well). Just the same with you, i already read many studies and watched Vet’s youtubers since months ago. Considering Beagle is not a breed that prone developing any tumours (except maybe lipomas), ovarian carcinoma is so rare and 90% mamilary tumours are benign – i will keep her hormones intact while she will never got pyometra. Like you’ve said OH on dogs increased risk of spaying incontinence, hip dysplasia, osteosarcoma, obesity, diabetic, hypothyroid, and many other carcinomas and already proven by many studies. My Beagle girl is a very active girl, she has so many friends and always running at the park with them everyday. I don’t want any changes happened on her behaviour, because he’s so docile and loving. She’s the star on my neighborhood when all kids love her and all dogs could play with her. She already had her first heat, her temperament only changed to be more clingy, lazier and has lesser appetite – and i obviously could handle it.
We went the OSS route for our tiny Chihuahua and are SO SO SO glad we did. Our vet strongly recommends them for under 5-pound dogs – and before the first heat. Because the hormones remain the procedure can be done earlier in life when the pup is at it’s most resilient. The organs aren’t fully developed and he told me that the bleeding is reduced very significantly. It reduces surgery risk and shortens the procedure time significantly. I have had small female pups with traditional spay and I found this SO much better. Earlier in life meant a MUCH faster healing process (there is literally zero signs of a scar) and she’s had none of that “roundness” that comes from menopausing a pup.
Good point about the healing quicker. I may have dome Summit’s earlier since, like you said, it doesn’t mess with their hormones, but it took me this long to do all of the research and make a decision. Plus, when she had that “mystery illness”, getting her spayed kind of took a backseat”. I’m glad to hear you’re happy with the decision. I think I will be too. Although Gretel wasn’t spayed until about 8 months (not late but not super early either), it will be interesting to see if I find any differences between Summit and Gretel as she grows.
WOW!! THANK YOU!! I wish I would of known about OSS when it came time for my Girls to be spayed. I WOULD OF GONE with OSS! One out of our Three has issues with her bladder letting go when She sleeps 🙁 . We did wait until they had had two heat cycles to allow them to finish growing into an adult. AND now we struggle with the weight issue.
Thank you for sharing your experience. Personally, I don’t find I have trouble keeping weight off of Gretel (who is traditionally spayed) but we are pretty active and I watch her food intake like a hawk. I do often see overweight dogs and now I wonder how much of the challenge is related to them being spayed/neutered.
Holly,
Since one of our girls has issues with Urinary Incontinence, maybe you could ask a vet about checking her hormones (since you had a traditional spay). Sometimes getting hormone therapy will fix the issue. Basically a daily pill of estrogen or whichever hormone may be off. I thought I’d mention it, since not every vet knows what to check for. Good luck!
I have an intact male and female. Since you only have females I would leave Summit intact for now. I don’t see what you are gaining. We’ve been through four heats now and simply go on vacation with one of them for a week. I’ve traveled out of state with my girl during her pheromone period with no problem. You can prevent unplanned pregnancies by being vigilant. It’s not that hard after all I do it with an intact male in the house! One vet tech told me it was impossible. Scare tactics! One other point, the first week to ten days of the heat are a nonevent other than the discharge. This gives you time to go home.
I don’t totally disagree with you. One question I had to ask myself was, if I wasn’t going with the traditional spay, why do it at all? I’m pretty confident I could be careful enough with her that she wouldn’t end up pregnant. However, I’m not sure I would 100% trust a dog sitter (while dog daycares and commercial kennels don’t usually allow females in heat, private sitters/friends/family often do). A dog with both ovaries and uterus are at high risk for pyometra (higher than mammary tumors is my impression), which is more deadly (than mammary tumors) and scares me. and it’s more deadly. Also, the regular bleeding is not something I want to deal with. We tried diapers for her but they didn’t work. Other than those two things, yeah, there isn’t a big difference between OSS and leaving a dog intact. I just feel better about getting the OSS done vs. nothing.
I’m not convinced. Since she will still have the hormones of heat she will still attract males. I would never trust a dog sitter to protect my girl. A dachshund can have a serious back injury from being humped.
Again, you’re not wrong. But I’m not trying to convince you – just stating I had questions too but why I decided to go with OSS in the end. You bring up a good point about a potential back injury. However, a back injury from that is more rare than getting pregnant if humped with a uterus. If shes intact, she could still get humped and hurt her back too.
Scare tactics are indeed a problem, especially with ignorant (yes, ignorant) vets. I actually had to explain the OSS procedure to my vet (shocking enough by itself), who then went on to say “I would rather deal with joint and arthritis issues than with cancer.”
Needless to say, she’s not my dog’s vet anymore.
I come from Holland and it was very hard to find a vet who agreed to perform this surgery on my female dog. It is pretty much unknown here and all vets i talked to warned me I am playing with the dog’s life. This surgery is of course not included in the insurance either. While traditional methods are.
I have an intact male in house (the reason I want to spay, as I don’t want to spay the male). After spaying we will of course try to avoid any mating between the 2. But nobody could tell me if there are any risks related to potential mating between an intact male and an OSS female. Could she get injured in any way when there is no cervix anymore?
Hi Veronica. It’s definitely not a good thing if they try to mate. As you assumed, without a cervix (which will be removed in OSS) insertion of the boy parts will hurt her. If it happens though, she won’t be able to get pregnant.
So thorough! Thank you for all the details. Robin was neutered too young IMO (about 7-8mo) by the shelter and he has a lot of anxieties and lower abdominal discomfort. Could be related, might not be but either way I wish I had been able to handle it and wait til he was older.
I totally geeked out on this one. Ha, ha. I’m sorry Robin deals with those issues.
Excellent article. I have 2 bitches spayed the conventional way who became old ladies overnight. My 3rd girl had OSS in July and is perfect. The vets really ought to get on board with this although it will reduce their business due to less illness and injuries. Both spayed girls have ligament problems and I cannot get their weight down. It’s a terrible thing to put your girl into menopause when there are alternatives.
I’m sorry to hear that your two traditionally-spayed girls have issues. It’s been about 3 months since Summit had her OSS and I couldn’t be happier. I think I will do this with any of my female dogs in the future (and probably a Vasectomy for males).
This article is awesome Jessica! You basically summarized the exact same research and thought process I went through on my own two years ago when he got our Rat-Chi OSS spayed. For me, when I looked at all the facts, and even the theoretical situations, the benefits far outweighed the risk involved with the OSS procedure.
Two years on, our dog is still lean, mild tempered and exhibits the normal traits that one would expect from both rat terrier and chihuahua breeds (for better or worse LOL).
But even then, I still managed to learn three invaluable pieces of advice beyond what I thought I already knew. 1) Monitoring the OSS dog with ultrasounds as the dog reaches its median years. 2) Securing pet insurance to cover costs that may be associated with unexpected negative outcomes from OSS (it is, after all, a relatively new procedure), and 3) Consider having a traditional spay done in the event mammary cancer occurs and at the same time when any glands may need to be removed.
I wish your article had been around 2 years ago, but now having done the research on my own (mainly with the help of the Parsemus Foundation’s resources) I can provide an objective and honest “peer review” on it (as they call it in the medical professional) based on my own research and now personal experience.
Unfortunately, there is still a great deal of misunderstanding and ignorance about OSS, even among veterinarians themselves! Today, I try to educate as many people about the procedure as I can (dog trainers especially). It seems to fall on many deaf ears (especially the shelter where we got our Rat-Chi from). Too many people – people who surround themselves with dogs daily – still have no idea about the procedure.
Why did I stumble upon this article today you may ask? Well, because we’re considering adopting yet another little rescue bundle tomorrow, and I wanted to make sure nothing has changed my mindset about getting an OSS for her when the time is right.
And nothing has.
Thank you!
Thanks so much for chiming in. I 100% aggree with you and those are things I did consider/accept when making my choice. I do have pet insurance already and knew doing OSS would mean ultrasounds, and potentially surgery and a full spay, later in Summit’s life. I think I didn’t include those thoughts in this article because it was already so, so long. Good luck with your new rescue!
Oh my goodness this article is wonderful! And as I read it I realized I follow both your accounts on IG and love your pups!! After loosing our loved dachshund Daisy from IVDD, I began researching the rabbit hole of pet health, of which I found I was severely lacking in knowledge. Now Maylee, our new dachshund, is just 2 and has been through 3 heat cycles and I have cancelled one appt for a traditional spay and am about to cancel another. I cannot decide what to do!! Her heat cycles are mild, and we would probably be ok leaving her intact, but we do travel quite a bit, both taking the dogs and leaving them with a pet sitter. The tumor aspect of your article scares me…as well as the idea of traveling to a vet I don’t know to perform the surgery, the closest being about 2 hours away. I don’t know what to do. Thank you for your article tho – it was wonderful! If I may ask…has Summitt had a cycle since her surgery? How was it??
It’s a tough decision all of the way around. The mammary tumors are an issue whether you leave your dog intact or go for OSS. They grow because of estrogen and, in either case, your dog will retain their natural hormones. To me, they key is being aware of the choice you are making (there are just as many risks of going with traditional spay in my opinion, just different) and being prepared for the necessary measures to manage those. I’ve committed to regular “breast exams” for Summit and annual ultrasounds when she gets older (I think the primary risk is after they are 6 years old – I’m planning to confirm with my vet). I get the traveling to the vet one. That’s hard. There was one about 30 minutes from me so it was easy to drive there and meet with her in person. She was not a vet we had seen before but I started to trust her because she talked with me for about an hour about all of my concerns and really seemed to know what she was doing. Perhaps that veterinarian will consult with you over the phone about it? In the end, you just have to pick one method and go with it. If you don’t spay her now, you can always do OSS or a traditional spay later. If you do OSS now, you can always do a traditional spay later. If you do a traditional spay now, there is no going back. Plenty of dogs of all breeds have had full spays and lived healthy, happy lives. One important thing to note is a lot of the orthopedic and behavioral risks occur when a dog is spayed before they are fully matured. That’s about 1 year for small dogs and Daisy is past that stage. Good luck whatever you choose.
Hi Jessica
Just stumbled across your article whilst trying to work out what to do with my 7 month old rescue: I am meant to have had her done last month (as per the agreement when I rescued her) I’ve not done it and won’t until she had had one heat at least. I have been thinking about OSS for a while and your article was so so so helpful. Thanks for your effort and collating all this info ?
Hi Tracy. Thanks for reading it. I know it was very long to get through but it’s such a complicated issue. My Summit has had two heats after OSS and I’m glad I made the choice I did. Although my other girl is 10 years old now, Summit has remained stronger and more muscular than she ever was (I adopted her at 1).
Thank you for sharing your information! Although I have a standard poodle who is my SDiT, so much of your information is relevant for any female dog. I was absolutely against having her spayed before 5 years old (some research reading I have done); then came across OSS and decided to go that route for my girl. Unfortunately, my local traveling vet is not experienced with this surgery and the closest vet who has substantial background at performing OSS surgeries is nearly 6 hours away. We have been in contact via email and I feel confident in her abilities and have scheduled my Piper for OSS surgery for January 31. We will stay in the city where her surgery is being performed the night before and the night after her surgery to make sure she’s OK before traveling back home, and my vet will be the one that I will follow up with. I am hopeful that her heat’s are light after her surgery because I will not be able to use her as my service dog if she has a full-blown heat for three weeks. She is 16 months old now and has only had one heat and that was at nearly 13 months old. But I believe I am making the right decision for her, trying to do everything thing I can to give her a long and healthy life. I am definitely going to keep up on the mammary checks. She has one that never went back down after her heat cycle and it will be check during her OSS surgery. Thank you again!
It indeed sounds like you are trying to do the best by her. I am sure each dog is different when it comes to heats after OSS. Summit only kept one ovary. I would have assumed that meant her heats would be lighter (behavior) but we’ve been through two post OSS and she is still wild and crazy. It’s manageable for us though and I assume it will go smoother as she gets older and I get more used to it.
Thanks! My Piper is pretty hyper and I don’t expect that energy to change after her OSS. I have been able to find a vet within an hour of my home and cancelled the one six hours away. We have a consult on January 31 for the OSS.
If not for this website and the one linked to it, I would not of found her! Thanks so much!
Thanks for this informative article. I’ve done a lot of research on this subject. The highest quote I have received on the OSS has been $1450 and I have two female Westies, so I just can’t afford that. But I am continuing to look for other vets who would be willing to perform the OSS. I’m wondering if your girl had only one ovary removed or none? I don’t seem to be able to find much information online whether there is much difference in having one ovary removed vs none. One of the vets locally removes one ovary and the other one, does not remove any, so I’m not sure which route to go.
How have the heats been for your pup since the OSS? Are you seeing any bleeding or none?
Thanks!
She did have one ovary removed. The reason the veterinarian gave me was that fully removing the Fallopian tube is a very delicate process (and time consuming, which equals a higher cost). By removing only one, she was lessening the risk that an ovary got damaged accidentally. She told me there is no measurable difference between leaving one ovary or two. Summit has only had one heat since surgery that I was able to tell. There must have been a very slight discharge because she had a different odor during that time but I didn’t visibly notice any discharge.
Thank you so much for your research. I spent the morning bemoaning the lack of helpful information available until I found your comprehensive article. My 22 lb mini golden retriever, almost 9 months old, recently finished her first heat a few weeks ago. My 7 year old 50 lb golden had a laparoscopic ovarioectomy when she was 8 months old in 2014 which we were told was the alternative to a full spay at that time. Until this morning, I was not even aware of OSS. I cannot seem to find any information on the pros and cons of the procedure my older Golden had or is it because it’s not done anymore. If you have any knowledge of the differences between these procedures, I would so appreciate it.
Ovarioectomys are still done. When I mentioned OSS to our regular vet, that is what she thought I was talking about and she said she could do it. The thing is though, with that you might as well do a traditional spay in my opinion. While removing the ovaries (estrogen) can eliminate the chance of pyometra, it also removes the benefits associated with OSS (which leaves the ovaries in and removes the uterus and cervix). To me, there is no benefit to removing the ovaries and leaving the uterus. In other words, my article weights the pros and cons of OSS, with the cons being the same as they would be with an ovarioectomy. I’m not a veterinarian though so maybe there is some medical nuance around leaving the uterus and removing ovaries that I am not aware of.
Very well written article. Just wondering how Summit made out after her OSS surgery?
I was unable to find your update.
Thank you for sharing your findings.
I haven’t written an update yet so you haven’t missed it. I wanted to wait until she had gone through a couple of post OSS heats before I gave my final “verdict”. I’m very happy with my choice. Her personality didn’t change and she is still strong and fit (some of that is age related I’m sure though). I will say that, since I’ve never dealt with a dog in heat, it’s taking some adjustment on my part during her cycles. I’m still in the state of observing her behavior during the heats and figuring out how to mitigate. For example, she seems more energetic/agitated during her heat so I’ve figured out that I need to take her on more walks to manage that.
I love this article! I just heard about OSS this morning and I’ve been trying to decide if I should spay (or neuter if I end up with a male, but I’m hoping for a female as of now) my next dog or not. I knew the benefits of the hormones that are no longer present after spaying but I didn’t like the idea of having an intact dog in case she were to get out since all my neighbors’ dogs are intact and completely untrained. I do have a few more things I’m curious about if you have some answers for me. First off, I know you said daycare providers still may not accept dogs that are in heat even after OSS, but do you know about competing in sports? Missing competitions is one of my concerns to leaving a female intact, although I know it wouldn’t be a huge problem since they only cycle twice a year. Second, an OSS can be done earlier than a traditional spay since they still have all of their growth hormones correct? Whereas I would wait until around 2 years of age to do a traditional spay, OSS sounds like it could be done earlier. Thank you!
Hi Megan. I’m not totally sure about participating in dog sports because I don’t have a lot of personal experience with that. I do know that some dog competitions are only for dogs that are not spayed or neutered. I would imagine that a female dog can’t participate while they are in heat because it would upset the un-neutered males. I know there are other dog sports where it doesn’t matter whether your dog is “fixed” or not. If you have a specific sport or organization in mind, I would email or call and ask them.
Yes, and OSS can be done earlier. The reason they say to wait for 1 year (for small dogs; 2 years for larger breeds) is so they can keep their grown hormones until they are done growing. Since a dog with OSS (or vasectomy for males) keeps their hormones, it can be done any time.
Thank you for your extensive analysis. I’m in a complete conundrum myself as I have a fear reactive staffy cross who has had her first heat about 1,5 months ago. I have been using Bach rescue remedy and Complete Calm vitamins and have seen major improvement but still reactive if approached directly especially on leash, she barks to scare.
I’m scared of mammary tumors as she has her two that are closest to her uterus still swollen after the heat and I have an online appointment with a vet that does OSS who is 10 hrs away (closest to where we’re from) tomorrow to check what’s best for my baby but I have seen some great reviews of this vet as well as some really horrid ones, so I’m actually not even sure if I’d be able to follow their advice if it is to go ahead with OSS and take her there for this major operation. Also, as this potentially could be traumatic for her, this could also affect a lot of her behavior I feel.
The only other one that offers this in Australia is even more hours away and it is impossible for us to go to South Australia with her driving so many hours after a surgery.
I am considering waiting for another heat to see her fully grown to avoid behaviour issues.
Her vet here told us about the ovariectomy with a keyhole method which she said is more appropriate for anxious dogs like her due to smaller incision, same day discharge and it being less invasive and I agree with that but when I asked about OSS she simply didn’t know about it.
Seems as if my choices are made for me due to lack of vets doing it around here. We were ok to drive there but as said some reviews I’ve seen make me fear that. Also the still swollen nipples that could indicate she might be more prone?
Hi Maggie. I am sure you will make the best decision for your pup. If you are doing OSS, her behavior shouldn’t change at all. At least not in relation to her hormones and underlying personality. If it’s the act of riding in the car, and surgery itself, that you think will traumatize her, only you will know best.
Thank you so much for such an amazing write up and insightful information.
I also read that more recent research suggests that spaying/neutering a pet may cause certain other cancers like lymphoma, bone cancer and some others. What do you think about this or what have you heard about this?
Of course I am worried about mammary cancer if I keep my female dog intact or get OSS done but I am also worried a lot about the other cancers potentially caused by getting a traditional spay. Now, I’m not sure if this research only points to early spaying/neutering or spaying in general….
I am also not sure if this was a breed specific finding or not either. I know that they looked at labs and retrievers.
What do you know about this?
First of all my dog is a mixed breed 13 lbs dog – a Yorkie/Maltese/Shi Tzu/Poodle mix.
She has had one heat cycle already and I guess will be having her second one in late Fall. I’m lost and don’t know what to do. I also know if I wait through a second cycle and do after that then her chances of mammary cancer is higher….
I have heard that bone cancer can increase with spay/neutering. However, I kind of feel like it’s a net balance – decrease the risk of some, increase the risk of some others. All of the research done on early spay/neutering defines early as before 6 months of age. After that, you kind of have to make your own judgement. Personally, I have seen the muscle and tendon strength benefit well after that age in intact dogs but haven’t actually seen any that were spayed/neutered later (like at 2 or something) to compare to those. You are correct that the studies have pretty much only been done on Labs and Retrievers. The one exception is the survey review of IVDD in Dachshunds vs spay/neuter. For the rest, I took the data that existed and reasoned that it could apply to Dachshunds. However. I did see some mentions that the positive/negative effects MAY apply less frequently to small dogs. In other words, all of this could apply to your breed and dog size but there have been no exact studies on small dogs nor the breeds you mention. In my mind though, lack of data is not proof that this information doesn’t apply.
It’s alteration BEFORE MATURITY that these studies are looking at, not alteration in general. They’re looking at raising the recommended spay/neuter age from 6 months to after the dog is physically mature, not recommending against spaying/neutering altogether.
Hi Jessica,
I have a red female border collie in Shanghai. She is turning 6 years old this Nov. I have made a decision to spay her next year before she turns 7 (which is equivalent to a human female menapause age). I have experienced no issues at all. I checked her breasts and the entire reproductive system twice a year (using ultrasound).
She has been perfectly healty, sporty, and very well-tempered. I have been researching about whether to cut all of her reproductive system or leave one of her ovary in its place for a few years now.
Your article is substantially informative. I have also visited many vets in Shanghai and all of them suggest I do the traditional spaying procedure. I will try my best to find a one who at least knows about the OSS, which is hard because this medical knowledge is new and many vets (who have been trained traditionally) do not believe the benefits it will provide. It is hard to find a vet surgeon in Shanghai compared to the situation in the United States.
But I still want to thank you for your comprehensive analysis of the pros and cons of doing an OSS procedure. If I am unable to find a vet who is clinically familar with the OSS procudure, I will be forced to remove her entire reproductive system once and for all in 2021. Border Collies require substantial daily exercise, and I will try to decrease her daily meals and walk her more often in an attempt to avoid the overweight issue.
Thank you again for your infornation.
Good luck Lloyd. I’m glad my article at least helped you further understand potential pros and cons.
Our, almost 3 year old English Pointer, who we adopted a year ago March, had been spayed when we got her. She is now experiencing symptoms of ovarian remnant syndrome. I can’t imagine leaving a dog to experience estrus if she doesn’t have to. This poor dog is suffering trying to relieve the symptoms herself…licking to the point of creating a sore, dragging on the floor, mounting her playmate and humping, being on high alert all the time, confusion, being unable to relax. It seems like it’s been going on forever! We’re waiting for her bloodwork to come back. Poor girl seems miserable. It’s either ORS or she has a tumor, I suppose. How is it ok to let your dog and the other much smaller dog, go through this every time she has a cycle? Thanks. Kate
How do you know their dogs experience the same thing your dog is experiencing? Your dog is ill, hers are healthy. She’s described her dog’s heats as very manageable for her, and hasn’t mentioned her dog appearing in distress. Heats are supposed to end. If your dog’s issue is constant, there is certainly something that needs veterinary attention, not estrus, a natural process most human women also experience, as well as most female animals… like all over the world.
thank you so m much for taking the time to share all these amazing facts
I’m glad you found them helpful
There actually have been studies on the orthopedic aspect of an early spay/neuter on small breeds, albeit with a very small sample size. The large breed studies also had small sample sizes. According to the small dog study, small dogs generally do not experience the same benefits of being left intact until maturity that large dogs enjoy such as significantly reduced bone cancers and joint issues, but those hormones are likely still valuable to small dogs.
Waiting until maturity to spay, sparing the ovaries, and leaving intact all have about the same risk of mammary cancer. The only thing that significantly reduces mammary cancer is a spay either before the first heat, or (higher risk but still much lower than leaving intact) between the first and second heats. In large or giant breed dogs, spaying young is not widely recommended anymore. More appropriate options are OSS, spay at maturity (18-24 months), or leave intact. All 3 carry about the same risk of mammary tumors, due to the prolonged exposure to sex hormones all 3 options require.
I’ve heard that if you’re going with an OSS, it’s safer to do it at 3 months or younger because there’s less fat around the reproductive organs at that age, making the procedure easier for the vet, raising the success (survival) rate. I would consider that more important than my feelings about a natural system that isn’t even in my body. Removing the uterus at such a young age doesn’t carry the same risks that removing the ovaries would, they develop normally without a uterus.
Animals are unpredictable, no matter where you get them, how old, or whether their hormones are natural or artificially altered. If you’re serious about caring for your dog, have 2 or 3 backup plans for everything. Some dogs have heart conditions or an anesthesia allergy and can’t be altered at all. Don’t let hormones be a reason to give up a dog you love. Invest in fencing, training, and be attentive, for all dogs.
Hi Deborah. Yes, I am aware that most of the studies out there are for larger dogs and the same findings can’t be extrapolated to small dogs with any certainty. However, I don’t believe they can’t at all so that’s why I gave people information and said they need to make their own decisions. Anecdotally, I’ve been around many intact dogs, including Dachshunds, and have observed their strong musculature even at an old age. I wanted that for my girl and, two years later, I can attest what I was seeing has been true for her. You make a lot of good points for people to also consider so thanks. In regard to the age for OSS, that is new to me. I spend months researching OSS before I did it, and spoke extensively to the vet that did ours about her experience, and not once was age brought up in regard to timing. I’m not saying your information is not correct- it’s just new to me.
Hi, thank your for sharing your research. I adopted a female 12 lb. puppy from a local shelter this week. They think she’s about 4 months old, based on her teeth I think. I think she’s a mixture of Italian greyhound, rat terrier and who knows what else. But she’s lovely, and I’m loving her. They almost wouldn’t let me adopt her, because I said I wanted to do a partial spay, I think that’s where they remove one ovary and the uterus. But the shelter said that if she has an ovary or both ovaries, that even though she couldn’t get pregnant, she could still be in danger from the males. But after calling my vet while at the shelter, the vet said they could remove the ovaries but leave the uterus intact. The vet said there’s maybe a 1% chance of developing pyometra, so the shelter finally agreed to that. Now after reading part of your article, I see how important the ovaries are, and also it might be important to wait until she’s a year old. But the shelter required me to schedule the surgery to remove the ovaries, and I had to schedule it for two months from now, when the dog is approximately 6 months old. The shelter will call the vet to verify that the surgery was done, and says they will take her from me if it is not done in two months. I really would prefer to leave her intact, because I’m with them almost all the time when they’re outside, and when I’m not, they’re inside. I still will discuss things with the vet this coming week, but I am concerned about what to do, since I don’t want to go against the shelter rules, but I do think it’s healthier for her to leave the ovaries, or at least wait another 6 months to do the lap surgery where they do remove the ovaries.
Hi Diane. You are correct that there is no benefit to removing both ovaries and leaving the uterus. You might as well do a full spay then. I totally understand having to deal with the shelter restrictions. Shelter’s have one mission and that is to reduce the unwanted pet population so that is why they require a dog be fixed. Quite frankly, I am a tad surprised that they let you take her without spaying her already. I understand 4 months is very young to do it but a lot of shelters will do it anyway so they can guarantee it’s been done. With shelter animals, you often don’t get to make your own decisions about spay/neuter. I do want to reiterate that most of the information I found compared “early spay/neuter” to doing it later in life. In the case of all studies I found defined “early” as under 6 months. Since small dogs mature faster, doing the surgery closer to 10-12 months if you have to do it is more ideal. Maybe you can continue to push them and they will at least let you wait until then. Good luck.
Hi, Thank you for your post. I would prefer a partial spay, but I have a highly active dog who loves the dog park. It makes most sense for her to be spayed. She is in excellent health and never over eats and is very active. I think its wonderful that you found a dog that you love and are rescuing her. I think sometimes you just have to work within the parameters of our society and do what is needed for the whole. You are giving her so much by adopting her and giving her a great home.
Thanks so much for your response. There might not be a problem with the shelter, i haven’t heard anything from them. I had to reschedule the puppy’s spay surgery about a month, since she came into heat about a week ago. I still am leaning toward the OSS procedure, but have only been able to find one person who has had her females spayed using OSS, but having one ovary removed instead of leaving both. She raises Papillons, and says that removing one ovary is good, because the dog has about one heat per year, instead of two or more. I wonder if having one ovary would reduce mammary cancer chances. I have spoken with several vets who perform OSS, and one of them says having one ovary will not reduce their number of heat cycles. One of them says having two ovaries is better. None have done this procedure for more than a few years. I have a four year old miniature poodle who has been driving me crazy with his “amourousness” over the last 3 days of her cycle, even though he has been neutered. Can you let me know if you think that having just one ovary would reduce the number of heat cycles per year, and also if OSS surgery leaving one or both ovaries would reduce the mounting behavior of my male dog? Thanks so much!
I have found your article very interesting. Thanks for your research. I have just got a female miniature Dashound, Blossom she is currently 12 weeks. I had a English staffy for 10 years oh how things seemed to have changed since my last puppy experience 12 years past.
Is there a time of the year that she will come onto heat or is it just a matter of time? 4-6 months?
My understanding is that it varies (I have only had one female that was not spayed when I got her). I think 6-7 months is more typical for the first one but my friend’s dog didn’t experience her first heat until 9 months.
I made a choice to do OSS for my girl after her first cycle. The best decision ever. I can say it’s a little hard to watch how when she is in heat that she can’t really get what she wants but I don’t think she really knows because she was never in relationship:) . She is happy, playful and full of life. I made this decision because I spayed my older dog and I feel like his personality was taken away from him . I didn’t know better than. I only wish I no estes more time in the research. Just thinking like ok who are we to take their nature away from them …. One thing is to give them surgery another thing is to take away their sexual homo de that I am sure have some functions that doesn’t only deal with reproductive systems . Just like in humans. I am so happy I didn’t put her in menopause at age 1. Love my dogs and only want best for them . Thank you for the post and for sharing your knowledge!!
Thsanks for sharing your experience Tina.
This makes a very informed read, something for which I am very grateful. My last dachshund was spayed at six months on the advice of the vet. Sadly my little dog’s life was blighted by IVDD at five and she enjoyed ill health until both cruciate ligaments left her unable to stand at nearly thirteen. I now have two dogs, another dachshund aged five, and a German Shepherd/Collie cross Romanian rescue, also aged five. I am definitely investigating the Ovary Sparing Spay but, being in the UK, it is not performed by more than a handful of vets.
Hi Jane. Ovary sparying spay is not performed regularly by vets in the US either. Even in a big city like Seattle, there are only a few. Good luck on your search.
Who are the ones in Seattle? TIA
Hi Sue. The list of available providers is subject to change here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NJ2bSdpqoDcaIfcRveIaHOGDru0IRqAyCmP9kj_0RR8/edit Summit has hers done by Dr. Mulvaney on Mercer Island and she was amazing.
Am in SW Washington & looking for a vet that is highly experienced & excellent in the OSS. Please give me some suggestions. The Parsemus Foundation list isn’t up to date. Thank you!
Hi Sue. Which vets offer the procedure change frequently. There are 3 providers in WA according to this list – https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NJ2bSdpqoDcaIfcRveIaHOGDru0IRqAyCmP9kj_0RR8/edit. You may have to travel to Seattle or Oregon for it.
Thank you for all the information and research you share. It is very evident your love of your dog and your passion to keep her healthy is your main concern. Bottom line is, it is a decision that is a personal one, and I thank you so very much for providing information that will help make that decision an informed and easier one. I am at the stage in my puppy’s life where I have to make that hard decision on this topic. Thank your for making it a bit easier for me.
Glad you found my article helpful Janette. Indeed it was my intention to provide information to help others make the correct decision for themselves and their dog.
My vet does OSS surgery but leaves a stump. Is this advisable? This is the email from her…
Yes, we try to take the entirety of the uterus and cut at the level of the cervix to prevent stump pyometra. You don’t want to take the whole cervix because then you run the risk of entrapping the ureters with your sutures.
Hi Dawn. This statement is confusing to me because it’s my understanding that leaving any cervix tissue can result in stump pyometra. The term “stump pyometra” is used when a cervix “stump” (part) is left. In her comment, it sounds like she removes the uterus and leaves the full cervix, thus it wouldn’t be a “stump”. Does that make sense? Anyway, I am not a veterinarian but, from my understanding, removing only the uterus does not protect against pyometra. This is also what the vet who performed my girl’s OSS told me. Hope that helps.
Hey Jessica. I have a bit of questions! The first one is how do I ask a Vet to remove all of it properly so that my dog does not get stump pyometra? (Need to make sure I word it right!) Also, my doggo is a Shepsky (Shepherd/Husky) and she’s not quite 2 yet, but almost, so since she’s larger, I wanted to wait to spay her. She’s already had 3 heat cycles.. am worried about how large the risk is now of pyometra and also mammary cancer? Her current Vet that does not offer OSS, always says she’s perfectly healthy.. I keep her away from all male dogs so 0 chance of her getting humped or preggers.. would you even recommend on your personal opinion a OSS would be beneficial at all compared to leaving her intact? Judging based off her age and how many heats she’s had already? Also, I have 2 places I have homes at, one is near Mountain Home, AR, which I didn’t see any vets listed in AR that did OSS, and a secondary place near Poplar Bluff, MO. Do you have an updated list for vets near any of these locations in either Arkansas or Missouri? And thank you!!
Whether or not you spay/neuter your pet, it is still male or female. You have not “desexed” them.
“Desex” is a term used to refer to the removal of reproductive hormones in a dog via spay/neuter procedures. Of course, it is not literally removing their gender.
Excellent article and thank you for directing me to it. This article answered a lot of the questions I had regarding neutering my 20 month old, four legged buddy Jack. I’ve purposely delayed doing the procedure to give his body the chance to fully mature to reduce the risk of him getting IVDD in the future. My gut feeling is that I will probably opt for a Vasectomy, primarily because I want to make sure he doesn’t become obese and that he will still retain that high play energy level that is so amusing to watch and enjoy. He truly is a rascally rascal and we love him to death. Later on when he becomes a little older I can still make the decision to remove his gonads. Yes, it does mean I will have to pay for two surgeries but fortunately for us we live in a country (Colombia) where the cost of veterinary care is incredibly affordable if your income is in dollars.
Thank you again for writing a very concise and informational article.
p.s. I follow you on FB and love reading all your posts.
Glad you found my article helpful Cheryl. Good luck and thanks for following along!