BG1
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Intersting comment in vets not seeing dobes as much. I'm seeing the experienced dobe owners decline in Socal, judging by clubs closed and breeders listed on DPCA no longer working.UPDATE
We had our appointment yesterday for a counsel with the vet that is going to do Annie's spay and tack.
My impression of him was good. He's been doing this for 22 years and he seemed knowledgeable and open-minded. He said he was surprised that we actually came in. He said a lot of people do this over the phone. I said well, I just felt more comfortable being in person and he was fine with that. No charge either.
When he asked me what my concerns were I started off with questions about the operation itself and mainly what his opinions were about the age to do a spay, and also what he thought about keeping dogs intact. He mentioned what we've all talked about, that times have changed. He said they used to spay as young as 5 months old. Now a year, a year and a half is the norm. And it's more the age than how many heat cycles they've been through. Years ago I remember them saying to do it before the first heat. Then others would say let them go through at least one heat cycle.Now I think it's more about growth plates.
So bottom line for Annie he said to wait at least a year. Maybe a year and a half. Since she will be a year in March he said you can possibly look at June or thereafter. He said the incisions are relatively small for both procedures. And a week to 10 days down time.
And then I brought up incontinence. I watched his face when I mentioned it and he actually looked confused. I kind of took that as a good sign! I mean he knows that some dogs can get that but he said that he hasn't seen it a lot. I mentioned our board and how we found that dobermans seem to be afflicted with this more than others. He didn't seem to agree. He feels it's hit or miss. But he said the same thing that my own vet said... they don’t see a lot of Dobermans anymore. But he did happen to have a Doberman in the back recuperating from a spay that morning. He said they used to be very popular years ago. Not so much now. My own personal vet told me he hasn't seen a purebred Doberman in maybe 10 years or more! So is it possible that not having a lot of Dobermans as a patient that he's just not seeing the incontinence problem? I don't know. But this vet last night clearly did not have a thought that Dobermans are more prone to incontinence.
He mentioned the medication proin I believe? I know it sounded familiar and I should have written down all the meds that you guys have tried so I can discuss it with him. He said they used to give estrogen but now they give that Proin instead. But he made it sound like you have to give like three pills a day or something! It didn't seem right to me but I figured we'd cross that bridge if we get there.
The only thing he did think might bring on incontinence is when they're spayed too early. But even saying that it didn't sound like he saw a lot of dogs with incontinence. He said he's had huskies and Akitas and even one of them was sprayed very young like 4 months old and she never had a problem..
I did ask him about what my neighbor next door said about manipulating the organs somehow damages something and again, he gave me a confused look like no, never heard of that. He said some people will want to just remove the ovaries but he said it's still like keeping them intact. They still go through a heat cycle, still attract male dogs. They just can't get pregnant.
And he said there can be lots of problems with leaving them intact also.
So I left there kind of feeling like I didn't get any clear answer on the incontinence. The only take away that I got was to spay her around a year, year and a half. And as far as the incontinence I guess I'm just going to have to cross my fingers.
I checked with the receptionist to see how far he is booked and it seems that we should call for an appointment about 2 months ahead. So I'll keep that in mind for next spring.
Sorry I didn't have any more definitive answers. It definitely was a bit of a let down on the incontinence front. But I feel confident with him doing the spay and tack. (Although we all know I'll be a nervous wreck!) He's done a million of them and he talked about the importance of doing the tack. He said they can still bloat but if you can prevent the twist it's always a good thing. I agree.
I looked for a second vet for second opinion based on lots of dobes experience.
I can't recall the conversation now as to why he mentioned that breeder. We talked about so many things in a short period of time it's hard to remember. I thought it was because it was popular back in the day but I think they are still in business. Although I have to say those dogs look a bit fat. 
I think he made the connection that they were over size too. I don't know. I could be completely wrong on all that. All I know is he mentioned that name and actually it sounded familiar to me. I must have heard it somewhere. 
