Is it best to spay early?

[Angelhamster]

I've had a couple of female hamsters in the past and now we have Angel and to be honest I'd not heard of pyometra until now (had my other girls many many years ago but none suffered from it). Considering the risk of pyo, is it 'better' to get your female hamster spayed when they're young as a precaution (if you're not going to breed them) or is this a silly question? I know having an op is very dangerous for them and I'm not sure I'd do it anyway but I just wondered what you more experienced HC members think. Thanks

[StarlightSerenity]

I've never heard of a vet spaying a hamster purely for precautionary measures and I'd be surprised if a vet would actually do it because they are so high risk.

I could be wrong though, it's not something I would do as pyonetra is quite rare from what I understand.

[fluffymunchkins]

In theory hamsters should be stronger when they are young and more able to withstand an operation. So ideally it would be better for a hamster to have pyo sooner rather than later.
However, it is usually later in life unfortunately and it really is impossible to predict which hamsters will get it. Even the best bred females from brilliant lines could sill get pyo.

I personally would never operate on a hamster unless it is a last resort. So its not better for them to have an operation at any time, though the chances of success are higher when a ham is young. I'd be doubtful that any good vet would perform an operation on a hamster unless it was necessary x