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ORIGINAL: NuevaVida

Unfortunately, vet bills are expensive

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Frequency
About 20 percent of dogs experience incontinence at some point, but only a small number of these incidents are a direct result of being spayed. According to the Veterinary Faculty of Zurich's Department of Reproduction, large dogs who are spayed before their first heat cycle display a reduced risk of spay incontinence (9.7 percent) as opposed to dogs spayed after their first heat cycle (18 percent). Large breeds tend to be more susceptible, especially dobermans, German shepherds, spaniels and boxers.

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Mammary gland tumors are the most common tumors in dogs. In fact, among unspayed females the risk of a mammary tumor is 26 percent. This is three times the risk of breast tumors in women. Most mammary gland tumors occur in bitches over 6 years of age (the average age is 10). Forty-five percent are cancerous and 55 percent are benign. An increased incidence occurs in sporting breeds, Poodles, Boston Terriers, and Dachshunds. Multiple tumors are common. If a bitch has one tumor, she is three times more likely to have or develop a second tumor.

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ORIGINAL: LaTigresse

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ORIGINAL: littlewonder

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ORIGINAL: JstAnotherSub

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how dare anyone accuse the op of being irrisponsible for her choices regarding her own dog. it does not make her a bad owner at all. it just means she has to be more responsible in managing her bitch.

I can not speak for the others, but, my concern comes from knowing the posting history of this particular person. I stand by my calling her irresponsible. Worry about a small chance of incontinence is no reason to not spay a dog.

This. Definitely this.

Ditto.

I've had female dogs most of my entire life. Three here at the moment. One a purebred GSD that would have earned my a fat wad of sweaty money had I bred her to a quality male. I don't believe in doing so. She was neutered as soon as my vet felt she was ready. As were the other two. I do have a dog that is incontinent and has always been. It began prior to her spaying and happens only when she sleeps. She has a cute little pair of pants that fits a feminine hygiene pad inside. It's not a hassle to slip them on before bed and off when we get up. I prefer to avoid medication when at all possible.

In all of my 50 years, and more female dogs than I care to count, this small dog is the only one that's had the problem. IF.... I was so concerned about a small chance of such an easy to handle problem, I would simply not have a female dog.

I am a huge advocate of spaying and neutering and aside from the very rare instances when an animal actually should reproduce, I absolutely do feel that not spaying and neutering is utterly and completely irresponsible. Period.

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ORIGINAL: defiantbadgirl

I'm sure the cat was checked for possible health causes. His cats are treated very well. They're spoiled. There's no way he did anything to cause it. He tried repeatedly to correct the behavior but was unsuccessful. The cat couldn't live outside with no front claws. In the end, yes he did have the cat put to sleep for that reason. If he gave the cat away it would've ruined someone else's carpet.

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ORIGINAL: defiantbadgirl

My father and stepmother baby their 2 cats, but the one thing they won't tolerate is a habit of peeing on the carpet. Probably because their house is kept immaculate and is nice enough to be featured in one of those home magazines.

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ORIGINAL: defiantbadgirl

So is having new carpet installed. Imagine spending all that money to get rid of the smell just to have the cat piss on the new carpet. If all or even most cats piss on carpet instead of always using the litterbox, wouldn't the homes of all or most cat owners have a strong piss smell?

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I'm sure the cat was checked for possible health causes. His cats are treated very well. They're spoiled. There's no way he did anything to cause it. He tried repeatedly to correct the behavior but was unsuccessful. The cat couldn't live outside with no front claws. In the end, yes he did have the cat put to sleep for that reason. If he gave the cat away it would've ruined someone else's carpet.

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ORIGINAL: defiantbadgirl

I'm sure the cat was checked for possible health causes. His cats are treated very well. They're spoiled. There's no way he did anything to cause it. He tried repeatedly to correct the behavior but was unsuccessful. The cat couldn't live outside with no front claws. In the end, yes he did have the cat put to sleep for that reason. If he gave the cat away it would've ruined someone else's carpet.

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ORIGINAL: defiantbadgirl

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ORIGINAL: angelikaJ

Emphasis mine on cancer prevention but it should be something the OP stands up and takes notice of.

Having had several female dogs all spayed I can say none of them developed incontinence.

I am wondering if perhaps the OP was hoping to breed the female and sell puppies?

Unfortunately, any part of the body can develop cancer. I can't remove all of her organs or my own. I'm glad your dogs weren't part of the unlucky 20%. Xena is too young to have puppies. Even when she's older, where would I keep a litter of peeing and pooping puppies in a carpeted house? A professional carpet cleaner told my father that the only way to completely remove the smell of pet urine is to replace the carpet. One of his cats peed on his basement carpet several times before he had it put to sleep and he had to replace his carpet to eliminate the smell. Right now, I have old carpet but I won't always. Even if we install laminate flooring there's still vehicle upholstery. My German Shepherd likes car rides and I like taking her places with me. Why would my father tell me pet urine ruins carpet if it wasn't true?

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ORIGINAL: DomMeinCT

FR to the OP: I'm going to call you on that claim of 20% incontinence quote, which I think you probably got from the very top of an ask.com article.

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ORIGINAL: Lucifyre

Life is messy. Pets are messy. Children are messy...you gonna put them down when they ruin something too?
Just sad.

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ORIGINAL: defiantbadgirl

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ORIGINAL: Lucifyre

Life is messy. Pets are messy. Children are messy...you gonna put them down when they ruin something too?
Just sad.

The way he explained it, the cat had used the litter box without fail for years until suddenly it decided not to. It kept peeing in the same spot in his basement. He tried moving the litter box to that spot, but the cat refused to use it. He closed the basement door and the cat peed in front of the door. Those were just 2 examples he gave me. He said they tried everything they could think of and nothing worked. As immaculate as their homes is, there's no way they had a nasty litter box. When he first told me they had the cat put to sleep, I got upset and we argued briefly. I told him I understood why they couldn't keep the cat, but asked why they didn't take it to the humane society so it had a chance to find another home. He said nobody would keep a cat that refused to use a litter box so it would never find a permanent home. They decided putting it to sleep was the most humane thing to do, but were both sad and my stepmother was in tears. Had it been me, I would've tried to find an animal rescue to take the cat or taken it to the humane society. But I do understand their reasoning. I just hope I never find myself in that situation.