Long-Term Health Risks and Benefits Associated with Spay / Neuter in Dogs

Angela

Super Moderator
Interesting article Donna.
Of my 5, 2 males are still intact, 1 male neutered at 2 1/2 yr, 1 female spayed at 3 yrs, and interestingly enough Sophie the Lab was spayed at just 6 mths. She has recessed vulva, hypothyroid disease and had adverse reaction to vaccines, ie. vasculitis.
Could be coincidence? Could be the article is right!
 

CMDRTED

New member
Very interesting reading. Should be sent to those whom wish to impose spay/neuter laws to force people to spay/neuter their dogs
 

luvmynwfy

New member
I'm glad I took the time to read this article. Thanks for sharing it with us. My Vet was adamant that my Newf should have been spayed at 4 months. I'm glad I waited until a year but maybe next time I'll wait until 2.
Marina
 

M & M's Mom Linda

New member
We are giving more and more thought about not neutering our boys. We haven't made a final decision and are certainly concerned with owning to intact males. We won't neuter before 2 years old. I plan on researching everything I can. Thanks for the article...Donna!
 

KatieB

New member
Very interesting article Donna. Our breeder was adamant we wait until 2 years old to neuter and preferred we never do it at all. Although she did say with some of Murphy's anxiety and concentration issues that if we really wanted it to be easier to train him etc. for obedience, drafting neutering would help. He is so much easier and more attentive now and not as fearful so I am glad we did it, however, we did wait until he was two but it wasn't always easy.

I think it depends on the dog and how they behave intact and whether you can handle that or not but I do believe it is obviously more natural and better to leave them intact for as long as possible.
 

Keira25

Member
I find that a very scary article. We had our girl spayed at about 5 months on the advice of the vet. She also has a recessed vulva and hypothyroidism. I find the high incidence of osteosarcoma particularly disturbing. This isn't the first article I've seen about the negatives of spaying/neutering early. I would definitely have my Newf spayed next time, but I would certainly wait much linger than 5 months.
Eileen
 

Ginny

New member
Good article. Thanks.
My main concern is that not many people truly know what owning an intact 140# male is like. Testosterone is nothing to underestimate, even with these "gentle giants". Knowledge is power, however.
 

jordansmom

New member
Not having read the above article, we waited until Jordan was 2.5 before neutering. Probably should have done it around 2 because he was showing aggressive behaviors around other males and really liking females. My thought was he would outgrow and settle down as he matured, but I didn't know if I wanted to handle him during that period while we waited. At 150 pounds he was a handful already. A year later and he's doing fine. I had read that since newfie's take longer to mature, its not necessary to neuter them at the 6 mos mark. Plus, another article stated neutering that early affects the growth plates that are seemingly regulated by testosterone. Remove that hormone and it takes longer for the growth plates to close.
 

JLStorm

New member
What if you buy a pet quality dog, dont those have to be neutered??

Does anyone have any information of the differences in personality and behavior of a neutered / non-neutered male? My family has had females which we have shown and therefor did not spay, and there it was definitely a big change, I have never owned an intact male though.
 

Ginny

New member
Reputable breeders who sell on a limited registration (pet quality) should require that the dogs be neutered/spayed. This article brings up some health issues that should be considered, particularly in terms of timing. Intact males tend to be WAY MORE difficult to handle. They've only one thing on their minds and those thoughts can lead to wandering and aggressiveness. I believe in trying to wait until at least a year to 18 months with males. I'd never spay a female at 6 months. I prefer to wait until after the first or second heat cycle, but sometimes that's not possible. Nothing is set in stone...decisions have to be made, weighing the pros and cons, and taking circumstances into account.
 

Blacknewfs

New member
Neptune (4 yrs) and Floyd (1.5 yrs) are both intact, while my 3 girls are spayed. I have no significant issues with their behaviour related to being intact, but neither of them are alphas. The verdict is still out on how Floyd will behave as he matures (he's still a puppy really) so we'll wait and see, but we have no plans of neutering either of them. Zoe was spayed after her first heat, and I don't know when the other two were spayed since they are both rescues. Marin does have thyroid issues, among a whole list of other issues.

My Wicca was spayed at 6 months as per our (then) vet's advise - we lost her to bone cancer at 6 years. Maggie was spayed at 6 months (by her first family) and did blow a cruciate ligament, and we lost her to a splenic tumor (hemangiosarcoma?) also at 6 years. Quentin (lab mix)was neutered at 6 months and we lost him to hemangiosarcoma at 10 yrs. If I can reduce the risk of any of my dogs having OS or HS then I will - and it looks to me that delaying spaying/not neutering can help with that.

I agree with Susan, this should be a sticky.
 

JLStorm

New member
When you buy dogs that you decide not to neuter are you violating your breeder's contract or have you been buying show quality dogs to circumvent that.
 

ardeagold

New member
Discuss with your breeder his/her opinions on the "timing" of spay/neuter. You can purchase a "pet" quality dog.....and if you're a responsible owner, and your breeder agrees, still wait the 16+ months to spay/neuter. Breeders usually do understand the risks of early spay/neuter and are willing to work with you. After all....if they trust you enough to let you have one of their precious pups, I'd hope they trust you to do the right thing per the agreement with them.

As far as "type" of registration, if the dog is sold on a Limited Registration, and happens to parent a litter, that litter cannot be registered with the AKC. Plus, you'd no doubt have a breach of contract issue.

What's of paramount importance are two things: owner responsibility and the contract with the breeder, whether the dog is sold on Full or Limited Registration.

Know your home situation, what you truly believe you're willing and not willing to deal with........and research the literature about the health related pros and cons. Then make your decision based on all relevant factors.
 

Ginny

New member
When you buy dogs that you decide not to neuter are you violating your breeder's contract or have you been buying show quality dogs to circumvent that.
If you buy a show quality pup, the breeder expects you to show if the pup grows up as expected. It's very important, as Ardeagold stated, to follow the contract and have discussions with your breeder before purchasing and after.
 

lucky's mom

New member
My vet was not anxious to neuter Lucky, 'wait until he is doing goofy things" which meant showing real interst in females. I didn't wait that long, but he was done at a little over a year. My vet was of the mind that since they take so long to mature, don't mess up the system. He was right, as with most things, and lucky is healthy and almost 5 yrs. The trick is finding a good vet who understands giant breeds. . . . . . they are as tricky as the very small dogs. interesting article. .. .
 

Sound Bay Newfs

Active member
I posted a link to a similar article above, about spaying/neutering, but the end of the article was missing from the publication I took it from. I was able to find the missing conclusion elsewhere and here it is:

In addition, when considering cancer, there is another study of 3218 dogs that showed that dogs that were neutered before a year of age had a significantly increased chance of developing bone cancer (Cooley DM, Beranek BC, Schlittler DL, Glickman NW, Glickman LT, Waters D, Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2002 Nov;11(11):1434-40), a cancer that is much more life-threatening than mammary cancer, and which affects both genders. Finally, in another study, unneutered males were significantly less likely than neutered males to suffer cognitive impairment when they were older (Hart BL. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2001 Jul 1;219(1):51-6). Females were not evaluated in that study. For these reasons, I have significant concerns with spaying or neutering dogs before puberty, particularly for the canine athlete. And frankly, if something is more healthy for the canine athlete, would we not also want that for pet dogs as well? I think it is important, therefore, that we assess each situation individually. If a pet dog is going to live with an intelligent, well-informed family that understands the problem of pet overpopulation and can be trusted to keep their dogs under their control at all times and to not breed them, I do not recommend spaying or neutering before 14 months of age.

 
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