Because by then they should be hormonally mature even if not fully structurally mature. I don't read much research - I follow experience !
Ideally, not at all, but if they MUST be spayed, then let them grow up first.
Blackheads, whiteheads, doggy pimples (ew!)
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Just curious – does anyone else's Basenji seem prone to blackheads and whiteheads?
I've noticed now that Bowpi gets tiny little hard nodules under her skin on occasion, usually in the same spots. I can see the compacted gunk in her skin pore, and I do squeeze it out and then dab with kids foaming Neosporin.
Looks like a little mouse turd, but it's actually just a doggy blackhead, I guess. Ew! I've seen whiteheads too, but not actual "pimples" (though I wonder if the lick granuloma on her front leg might have started out as a pimple or a bug bite).
Is this something many dogs (like many people, I suppose) are prone to? And I just notice them on her because her fur is so short, and I pet her so much? Does anyone else's Basenji have this problem? Is there something in general I should be doing for her this? Each blackhead comes back maybe once every three months or so…
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Becca gets the same thing, Tucker however doesnt. Becca's have never been that black though but I imagine they are the same as people and just get clogged pores?
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Pretty normal, some get more then others… and usually more with age
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My female gets whiteheads on her belly/groin area because when she pees, she's stays so close to the ground! I do pop them if she doesn't clean herself up good enough. My vet said I could use wet wipes and that might help.
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Hmm..intersting to know
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Our little girl, Bitty, had a whitehead on her left shoulder last spring that erupted into a large cist that we had to have the vet remove sergically. Which meant an overnight stay a traumatic experience for a adoptee who still suffers from separation anxiety even after me spoiling her rotten for 4 years.
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My toy poodle started to get them later in life, when they opened up I would gently squeeze them out, some would leave a quite big cavity. I would say it was because of his oily skin type which was due to whatever, sadly I never knew what I know now and his diet was terrible compared to the raw diet Kaiser is on and would say that didn't help his skin. Never bothered him and never had anything bad happen to the lumps some just dried up and would turn black like curlytails one and would come off when brushing or shaving.
Jolanda and Kaiser
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Yikes about Bitty!
Interesting that it happens more with age – I feel like I only started noticing them last year. It's all part of her dermal profile. She had really crusty ear rims when she first came to us, and I don't know why... I actually thought that's just how her ears were, like dry skin. After a while, I found that I could gently flake away that crusty stuff, revealing perfectly clean and furry ear tips underneath the scabby layer. Later she got a scrape on one ear and that left some scarring which has remained quite dark and dirty-looking, though I do wash her ears out with Nolvasan Otic. Maybe I need to look at other cleaners.
She does also have a larger marble-sized cyst on her back which the vet has examined before, but that seems unrelated to the blackheads and whiteheads. As long as her lumps don't get any bigger or become painful, I leave them be. She eats a very healthy diet of grain-free kibble and raw. Her coat is super soft, which is why it's all the more noticeable when I find those bumps.
Bowpi is embarrassed that I've publicized her imperfections for the whole forum to see.
