New study? I've had tons of animals and have never heard you should wait til after first heat.

We asked our vet about when to spay and he said absolutely before the first heat. Studies have shown that spaying before the first heat reduces the changes of breast cancer (who knew?) significantly. I can't remember the exact number but seems to me that it was somewhere between 66%-90%.

I adopted her at 9 months... She's 9 years old now... She's always had a puppy personality...

Shiloh and my niece...

Easier to find everything when they are older and bigger? That being said, they spay cats very young and they are very small.

Spay as soon as feasible.

folks at the spay/neuter clinics I work with routinely advise to spay/neuter before they are 4 months old. I know that, in the past, vets used advise waiting until 6 month. We have had several kittens who have come into our county animal control who have had kittens at around 8 months. There is a theory that, because of growth hormones in the US petfood meat supply, our pets are maturing more quickly. I don't know if there is any truth to that or not, but I have seen more extremely young mother cats with kittens in the last few years. Many rescue organizations and spay/neuter groups advise spaying when female kittens reach 2 lbs. and neutering whenever male kittens' testicles descend.

to spay until after the first heat. I can't recall if it had to do with size (that spaying earlier would stop growth?) In any event, she did have her puppy spayed before her first heat.

ETA: I do believe it's some new research.

Was told to wait until after first season to be spayed. And to wait at least 3 months after that for operation. She just finished her heat, and will have surgery right after new year.

Have heard this one. I do prefere to wait until six months but I never wait until later if I can. I do feel before 8 weeks is to soon but that is just my opinion from observation these many years of working with animals. Shelters do it right away so that they know the animal will be fixed.

I had a purebred dog years ago. The plan was to breed the dog.

It came into heat (had to put doggie Kotex pads on the dog to wear -- eh what a mess that was).

Anyway, Mom got the stud lined up but the dog in heat wasn't interested in being bred.

It turned out to be a bad situation for all involved, the dog itself, the stud hired and my family.

I would do it now for the other reasons mentioned in this thread.

is what we were told. For the girl, it has something to do with cancer odds later on. For the boy, it was about his growth.

Our girl ended up in heat before six months so hers had to wait. But we only waited long enough for her to be out of her heat.