The effects of spaying on weight

If you have spayed a bitch, has there been a change in her weight? Tick all that app

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Wagtail

Wagtail

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I had two of my three bitches spayed this summer. The JRT was aged 7 and the Pyrenean mountain dog aged 6. Both have had a litter of puppies. The JRT is only the size of a chihauhua but was quite overweight despite me trying to keep her on a strict diet. The PMD has always been beautifully lean and fit. What has surprised me is tht since the spaying, the JRT has become nice and slim and I have even increased her feed, but the PMD had become a fat lump despite being on very little food for her size. I sort of expected a bit of weight gain, but not this much, and certainly didn't expect the weight loss in the JRT. What have others' experience been after spaying?
 
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Had two spayed and they stayed about the same (they were both a tad overweight anyway, my mother is a sucker for big brown eyes).

My neutered male, despite what a lot of people say, is still skinny!!
 
Most of my bitches have stayed the same weight after spaying. Evie has actually dropped weight since being spayed at the end of October, I have had to increase her feed slightly.
 
We have elderly Border Terrier and lurcher, both were spayed as young dogs and both are still nice and slim. Also a young lab who was done after her first season and she is a lean mean machine, even though she is the greediest gleaner I have ever met.
 
Interesting replies, thank you. I must say I am delighted by my JRT. She looks lovely all slim and now twice as active. I have a problem with the PMD though as her mate who is a dog is prone to being underweight. He won't just eat his meal at meal times unless I feed tinned dog meat, and tht gives him the runs. I therefore used to leave dry food and water for him to munch at as an when he wanted, but now, obviously I can't do that as the bitch will get too fat!
 
My Border Terrorist has lost weight, or rather it has been easier to get weight off her. Before she was done she gained a little podge that was hard to shift. Now she is lovely and slim and had to have her food increased recently.
 
I can't speak for spaying, but here is a pic of Henry, very shortly after castration and just before I took him home:
21-12-08_1255.jpg


And here he is after he came into my hands:
Photo0835.jpg


His weight has certainly changed... But it definitely went the right way:D

I can accept that neutering may make a dog slightly more prone to weight gain, but whether they actually do or not comes down to management, at least in my opinion (and experience).
 
My girl hasn't gained weight, I've never really known any bitches that have

dogs however are another story, I have seen soooo many get fat since being neutered, I'm currently battling a friend of mine as her dog is now huge obese fat as fat can be and she just can't see it or accept it :(
 
Nope none of mine, all 10 are super slender, I also feed by eye, if they gain they get reduced if they lose a little more, both my akita and rotti are kept well below the weight average for their size. My cavi would gain weight in the wrong hands, she gets fed meer morsals, im talking like 10 biscuits once a day (do i worry she will be hungry)? nope!:p
I have never actually had an over weight dog. Unlike me (my jaw needs wiring)
 
It ruined my salukis waistline and her coat. Never again unless for an absolute medical need/ medical purposes only.
 
It's wierd, my PMD looks better than ever except that she is overweight. Everyone remarks on how lovely she looks. She looks fatter though due to her abundant coat. It is so silky and lush. She's developed a good mane that she never had before. She is probably not really overweight for her breed, but I am so used to seeing her really sleek (not what you usually see with the breed) that it looks worse to me than to someone just looking at her for the first time. Now I know she has reacted to the spaying like this, I can adjust her feed accordingly, but it just happened so suddenly (withing the last four weeks).
 
Since all my dogs are rescued they are all neutered, so I can say with absolute certainty that it is nonsense that neutering results in a fat dog/bitch. As Cayla does, I feed by eye and all of my greyhounds (3 bitches, 1 dog) are at a perfect weight.

The same was the case for my whippet who was speyed due to pyometra; I would never ever leave a bitch unspeyed again after seeing the pain she was in due to my lack of forethought in not having her done :(
 
My young bitch is spayed after she had a pyo so she had an emergency spay 3 yrs ago, she is 3/4 lab 1/4 GSP and hasn't put on any weight she is 7 now. My other bitch (her mother) is a KC reg lab and she isn't spayed, I have discussed it with my vet, she was very overweight when I got her at 9 months old (think of a choc lab being the shape of a hedgehog! :eek: ) I worked hard to get her weight down, and it still fluctuates a fair bit. Due to being so overweight (and her poor hip joints possibly caused by the weight on young bones, possibly caused by poor breeding practises!) we have decided that the increased risk of weight gain isn't worth it when she is now nearly 10 years old.
Overall I think people should have their dogs spayed as the health benefits outweigh the risks of weight gain (and in most cases weight gain can be worked on).
 
Mine did gain a little, but then Amber was filling out anyway. They have now lost the weight since doing agility and are a nice normal weight with slim physiques.
 
Everything that comes into work gets neutered, and everything on my kennel block is fed by eye - it doesnt make a big difference in the kennels, but obviously there are no extras being doled out. Its when they go to homes that they start to look like balloons :P
 
Cayla how much is too little though?
Our springer bitch has literally BALLOONED since being spayed.
She is fed less than a 1/3 of what she was getting before being spayed, yet seems to constantly battle the bulge, despite being reasonably active!
 
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