Interesting read on Spay/Neuter

[Cindy Evans]

I spay/neuter most of my dogs, but this seems to support my inclination to wait until maturity before doing so. I thought it was interesting.

 

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

[Gloria Atwater]

This is interesting. I had to chuckle wryly at the mention of testicular cancer, as I recently read of a dog dying of testicular cancer - complicated by renal failure at age 17.

 

Reading about mammary tumors, though, reminds me that a friend's Aussie bitch had to get a mastectomy, as she was found to have breast cancer when she was in pup. She survived just fine and raised her pups, but it was a scary thing for the bitch's owner.

 

But spaying too early chills me when I read about the increased risk of bone cancer. I spayed my wee Gael at 6 months, before her first heat, because we are/were not set up to have both my intact Nick and and his intact sister in the same household, when hubby and I both work. Were it not for having Nick in the house, I would have probably let her have a couple heats before making that decision.

 

And reading about spay complications also struck a chord. I spayed my Aussie girl at about 8 months for the reasons named above, and she was not only miserable, but she ruptured her sutures and had to go back in to be re-stitched. Needless to say, she does NOT like the vet.

 

So, every case is of course unique, and owners must weigh the various factors. There may be behavioral issues or situational issues, such as mine, that necessitate spaying and/or neutering of one's dogs.

 

But this is really lots of food for thought. I like that this article attempts to give an even-handed view, at least so far as my layman's eye can tell. And it kind of confirms my decision to keep Nick intact, since behaviorally and situation-ally, he's easier to manage than an unspayed female.

 

Now I'm going to try not to angst over whether Gael or Ash may later develop bone cancer, due to their early spays, or whether I should just be glad they'll dodge the breast cancer bullet.

 

Thanks for sharing this! Interesting read, even for those of us with no medical savvy.

 

~ Gloria

[terrecar]

I had Hannah spayed before she was a year old. I just hadn't kept up with the literature. I was just given (on Friday) a Chihuahua with some separation anxiety and destructive chewing by a woman in my neighborhood who works a lot and had already placed a "free to good home" advertisement, scheduled to appear in the local paper on Monday, before I took her. The dog is 1 1/2 years old and your basic pet store/puppy mill stock , so I will have her spayed as soon as my vet can set it up. However, if she were under a year I might have waited for her to mature a bit. It is very important to me to spay/neuter because of what I've seen in shelters, but I do not take the health issues lightly.

[mum24dog]

If you want a more balanced summary try here -

 

http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/144600/EVIDENCE-BASED-APPROACH-TO-NEUTER-SURGERY-AND-INTRODUCTION-TO-EVIDENCE-BASED-MEDICAL-PRACTICE

[Maralynn]

If you want a more balanced summary try here -

 

http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/144600/EVIDENCE-BASED-APPROACH-TO-NEUTER-SURGERY-AND-INTRODUCTION-TO-EVIDENCE-BASED-MEDICAL-PRACTICE

 

I'm not sure why this would be more balanced than the other.

 

It bothered me that in this conclusion -

 

However, it is clear that spaying female dogs before their first heat is preferable to spaying them after this event.

 

They are factoring in all the risks associated with breeding/pregnancy. If you never breed your dog you automatically cut out all those risk factors.