Spaying before 1st heat issue (question)

[Gazelips]

Hi,
My new (to me, I just got her Friday) 7 month old golden puppy, Abby, has a urinary tract infection. I thought she was going into heat because of the bloody fluid I found on the bathroom floor after I got out of the shower. But a trip to the vet says she just needs antibiotics, which she is now on and that we can spay her as soon as that's complete. The question is that my breeder insists that this is the one case where you should wait until after the first heat to spay a dog, or she will have UTIs all her life. My vet insists that this is heavily outweighed by the increased odds of cancer et al that waiting causes. Anyone know of any legitimate evidence one way or another, specifically about UTIs and waiting to spay? :204

[Jenny]

My vet recommended that we have our girl spayed before her first heat cycle. And we did. We haven't had any problems with urinary infections. She's not over weight either which is another thing I've heard about spayed females. I would go ahead and have your dog spayed as soon as possible.
An aquaintance of ours let their dog go thru her first heat cycle, and she said it was a miserable experience for everyone and the dog.

[GoldenLover]

If Abby has an inny vulva, it is recommended to wait until after her first heat. That may be what your breeder is talking about.

[Gazelips]

I'm a single man who never had any sisters <img border=0 src="http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/wink.gif" /> so I think I know what the vulva is, but I'm not sure. I think it looks like a pointy tuft of fur. At least that's all I can see. Is that inny or outy?

[GoldenLover]

Gazelips...that sounds about right..I have a link I will post below that shows a picture of both, the innie and the outtie. There is also an article that will explain in more detail..Hope this helps.. :)
Innie or Outtie? (http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/ins-outs.html)

[Gazelips]

Thanks for the great info! That totally makes sense to me, now. I called our local State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and the professor/doctor I spoke with said I should go ahead and spay Abby as soon as she finishes her antibiotics. She definitely has a normal, outy vulva. It looks like any other dog's I've ever seen.

Thanks again!