The differences between two spayings: Mother and daughter

Blaze has been spayed for a couple of months now and is doing fantastic.  She is being Blaze, with all her quirks and silly attitudes and I have been breathing a great sigh of relief after she finally healed up because she is still my girl.

One of my many fears with getting Blaze spayed was what I experienced with Silver who was spayed at five years old, one year after having her puppies.  Silver had a hormonal imbalance that caused false pregnancy, depression, and anxieties.  She passed this on to her daughter Blaze.

When Blaze was returned to us (she is one of the pups from our litter) I couldn't have two intact females along with Brut and the rest of the dogs.  The whole situation with Blaze coming back was chaotic enough and we had to make a decision of spaying Silver or Blaze.  Since Silver already had a litter of pups, we decided to keep Blaze intact if we ever wanted another litter to keep for ourselves.

It took Silver nearly a year and half to come back to herself after being spayed.  She was mopey and depressed for a long time and just didn't seem herself anymore.  There were many contributing factors at time that I think made the difference between Blaze having such a speedy recovery while Silver took so long.  

One of the biggest difference between Silver and Blaze was that Silver had just had her first pregnancy and litter about 9 months before and was at the beginning of her first cycle since being pregnant when we had her spayed.  This meant her hormones were soaring and she was probably emotionally looking forward to being pregnant again.  Blaze we had fixed after her entire heat cycle, including the false pregnancy was over.

Our vet was booked up for surgeries at the time and we ended up having to take Silver to a different vet in order to have the procedure done.  Blaze was done at our primary vet and we were comfortable with her there.  

Silver was sick from the anesthesia and I stayed up with her while she vomited all night long.  She really took the whole thing pretty hard.  Blaze was fine and slept through her first night home.

Life at our house had just changed with Blaze coming back and dividing the house.  Everything was out of control, especially Brut which made Silver's healing all that more difficult.  When I look back at that time period, I can barely remember it, except for that first night Silver was home.  That's how crazy things were.  About the time frame that Silver came back around to being herself again, was about the same time that things began to calm and settle in the house of the 24 Paws.  Silver kind of got the raw end of the deal with our urgency to fix her in order to create less problems whereas with Blaze I was able to take care of her better and not make the same mistakes I did with Silver.

I don't know if this info may help anyone else out, but there are definitely things I would do different with Silver if I had it to do over again.  I would wait until she went through her heat rather than do it right before including going through the false pregnancy.  Although as hard as the spaying was on her, it might have been a blessing that she didn't go through a false pregnancy, after finally having a real one.  That may have been a bonus I didn't think of.  And I know her progress was slower or didn't show as clearly because of the upheaval in our home with Blaze coming back and then Chance.  That knocked all of us off our feet and I'm sure Silver as well.

All in all I'm just glad they both made it through the surgery and are both sound and happy dogs.  It is still amazing to me what time will do for all of us.   

It had to be his decision

 Blaze, Mark, and Chance

After six years of hoping, praying, wavering, worrying, and fearing for Blaze to have puppies, I can proudly say that she is spayed.  In the last two years, I'd been favoring her to be fixed but I was waiting on hubby's decision.  After all it was really Mark's idea and he wanted it dearly because he missed out so much on Brut and Silver's litter.  He wanted to carry on the line and he has just fallen in love with our dogs so much, he was almost beside himself when Blaze came home from her abusive life and was still intact.  He is OK with the spaying, but is deeply sadden to have to make this decision.  He wanted it so badly.

WW-So how are you feeling Blaze three days after being spayed?

Blaze's surgery

I've been spending a little extra time with Blaze as we take her in to be spayed Monday morning.  I can't help but think what could have been, but obviously it wasn't meant for her to have puppies.  We always thought it was in the cards ever since she came back to us.  It's a little sad to lose a dream.

For six years we left the option open for Blaze to have puppies and it was a difficult choice.  Twice a year we went through the heat cycles, which actually follow a year round pattern.  There is a constant flow that follows up and down that the whole pack moved by, especially Brut.  I wonder if he will notice the when that cycle doesn't start up.  When Blaze would go into heat the flow and rhythm would escalate in frantic proportions.  There is part of me that will miss the love that flows when a female was in heat, but I won't miss the whining and pacing of Brut and his heighten aggression.  The drive and strength to reproduce is awesome and powerful and something we never took lightly.  It has been an awesome and beautiful experience to learn and grow from.
  
After Blaze's procedure it will be the first time in 10 years, since getting Silver, that we won't have an intact female in our house.  And now that the decision has been made and we are going to follow through with it, there is relief, peace of mind and some sadness.  We know we are doing the right thing and that is a good feeling.   

I don't know what the future holds, but for now it means the 24 Paws of Love will be just that, 24 Paws of Love.  

Please say a prayer and send your good thoughts for Blaze and us and she has her surgery tomorrow morning.

Thank you and God bless. 

Blaze

Sorry we've been missing you.  The weather finally broke and we've been letting off our cabin fever steam!  Like getting back to a regular dog walking schedule.   Whew!  It seemed like for a while winter was never going to end.

 

We had a little scare with Blaze last week, which has also taken precedence.  One of her teats was swollen and from describing it over the phone the vet thought it might be a mammary tumor.  It turned out it wasn't.  It was her milk duct filling up from being in a false pregnancy, but it scared us enough, especially hubby, Mark, that we decided we are going to have her spayed.  Blaze has been having false pregnancies after every heat and they have intensified with each year.  A false pregnancy is when the body and mind mimic that of a true pregnancy, but there are no puppies.  The teats can be swollen and produce milk and the "mother" hoards toys and guards them.  It is genetic, as Silver went through them as well.  It's cause by a hormonal imbalance and can cause moodiness, depression as well as symptoms of being overly motherly and clingy.

Our cut off time for Blaze to have puppies was 6 years old and she is now 6 1/2.  It was still a difficult decision as the vet said Blaze could safely have puppies until she was 7 yrs. old.  Pyometra is a serious condition in older unspayed female dogs and can be deadly if not treated within 48 hours.  It was another scary thing I would have to watch for and there aren't always signs of it.  It is another reason we have decided to spay her.  Her health and well being, both mental and physical are worth more than having puppies.

It was a sad decision and will be so final.  We kept Blaze open with the possibility of raising our own sled dog team and to carry the line of Brut and Silver, but the fear for her life is far more important.  We know there are plenty of dogs out there looking for a home and I guess we were just hoping to have the best of both worlds.

We are so glad that Blaze is OK and we want to keep her for as long as possible.  And we know for us, that means having her spayed.  We haven't set a date yet, but we will let you know when it is because no matter that this is a common surgery, it is still our baby going under the knife and we will need all your thoughts and prayers to get through it.  And we thank you in advance for that.
   

Thank YOU!

Such interesting and positive comments on the last post!  Thank you to all that responded.  I have always wanted to talk open and freely about the fact that Brut and Blaze are oh natural but was scared for the criticism I thought I would get if I did.  So I've been censoring myself from talking about some the things that happen around here, especially when Blaze goes into heat. 

I know many wouldn't understand why I've left them two intact and I've been afraid to explain.  Not that I need to explain, but that I would like to for the sake of sharing. 

Blaze is the only female out of the litter that is able to have puppies.  And there are many reasons I'd like to have a litter from her, but the one that stands out the most is that she has the best dog sledding/racing genes that I would like to harness and create my own sled team.  While I only dog sled for a hobby, I think with the right dogs, set up and training I would like to start competing.  Even if it is only locally.  Brut comes from sled lines and by far Blaze has everything I am looking for with those lines.  I'd like to find a good stud with a similar background and everything that makes a sled dog.  For those who may be wondering, no I will not breed her with Brut.  I don't believe in inbreeding.  Although I wouldn't mind saving some of his sperm for later on down the road, if we find the right female that will add to the team.

And while they are all thoughts, wishes and dreams, they are just that right now.  We are looking at a couple years down the road from now and if you've followed for a while you'll know we have many issues to contend with before something like that was to happen.  Not only for the dogs, but we would need a bigger house and land in which to practice and train.  Sledding is really what I love to do.  I don't know how much of it is in the future or what the chances are of getting from point A to B, but it would be a dream come true if it were to happened.

Thank you for being so open and honest with me.  I appreciate letting me stand on our decision with our dogs and not judging.  I know it is not the route many would take as far as spaying and neutering but I am grateful for giving us the freedom to be who we are, even when we don't agree.  And thank for those of you who believe I am being responsible because I was so afraid I was going to get shot down with how irresponsible I am being.  Believe me if there is anything you learn when you don't spay or neuter, there is added responsibility that I take very seriously.

Tres bien!    

Thoughts From the Other Side

Mommy Silver and Zappa at one week old.

When we got Silver we planned on her having puppies.  For those first four years before she got pregnant, Silver and I were instinctively in tune with each other.  I could just think her name and she would be at my side or at the door ready to come in.  There was an intense bonding when she was pregnant and became a mother.  No more different than any mother would be if their own daughter was pregnant.  When we had her spayed after having the puppies, it was like the bottom fell out.  She was five years old and I felt like I'd "lost" her.  Besides the physical problems she was having due to lack of hormones, there was an emptiness in her that made it difficult to reconnect with her.  It was if she lost part of her soul when that surgery was done and it took away the higher consciousness we had together.
  
Silver has always been a moody dog, but the sparkle never left her eyes, until she made that trip to the vet.  It was heartbreaking watching this beautiful dog's spirit dying before our eyes.  I had no idea the traumatic impact this would have on her.  Silver was born to be a mother.  Everything in her being was made for it and when we took that away from her, it was more than just an organ being removed, it was the center of her being.

It wasn't until almost a year after the surgery that she began to bounce back little by little.  Silver had lost the extra weight she had gained and her fur loss had diminished.  Her mothering sensitivity and nurturing care slowly began to show itself again.  She began to open to me and wanted to take care of me again, but that strong intuition had lost its previous intensity we had together before she was spayed.  She still knew before I did when I needed her, but now these were only moments of time.  I miss the electricity that was once there between us and I find myself a little saddened by once was.

It makes you wonder, when we spay and neuter what we may be taking away from our animals and our relationship with them.  Maybe this is the reason Brut and I are so utterly in tune with each other and how we understand each others vibes.  If you really look at it, these procedures are not a natural act of nature.  There is more to these organs than just reproduction, it is a creation of who we are.  If you look at it without the basic need to procreate, it is the most natural state of being for any creature.  Hormones are not the evil of life, they are the very being of creation.  Neither of us would be here or our animals without them.

There is such a hard argument to stop unwanted pregnancies, which I agree with, but have you ever stop to think what else you may be taking away?

**DISCLAIMER**-This post is neither for or against neutering and spaying, it is only my observation and personal opinion.

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