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

karina

New member
I second that!

Edited to add that we need solid numbers on the rates of osteosarcoma and mammary cancers in Newfs before we can make solid judgments on that. Mammary cancer is very common across the board and is a serious killer. Osteosarcoma is obviously deadly and horrible as well, neither one should be minimized. It seems that neutering before or after the first spay puts you either more at risk for one or the other.

When does the average Newf female go into her first heat? If you wait till ten months or so when they have done more growing (and could, possibly, arrange a preventative gastroplexy at the same time as the spay) could you still be confident in missing the first heat cycle?
 
Last edited:

karina

New member
I just wanted to add that for people with male newfs who are against neutering for whatever reason, a vasectomy would be the answer. All the hormones you could ever want, none of the pups.

It is very common down here. I had never even considered it in the states.
 

BLCOLE

Active member
I just wanted to add that for people with male newfs who are against neutering for whatever reason, a vasectomy would be the answer. All the hormones you could ever want, none of the pups.

It is very common down here. I had never even considered it in the states.

I didn't even know vasectomies were DONE on dogs!
 

R Taft

Active member
After reading all of this I have been worried about speying Annabelle. So I chatted with our vet, he says he likes about 14-18 months. He said that Mammary Ca increases with every ovulation. But that she needs to be fully developed bone structure wise too. And the season has some importance. Dry weather is best for healing if you are able to choose surgery dates. I have had all my bitches previously speyed at 12 months, due to the fact I lost my darling Jessie to Ovarian Ca, paranoia on my behalf. But at the same token Abbey had a lot of bone issues, which the rest of her litter did not. She grew to be a very large bitch, about 140lbs. And she was quite osteoporotic. Which in humans happen when all the hormones reduce (menopause), so I still am at a loss as to what is PERFECT. I will just stick to doing it this coming Spring/Summer, when the weather is better.
 

R Taft

Active member
One more thing.................If a dog has a vasectomy he will still behave like a normal dog and have all those unwanted "urges". Because he will still have the production of all that testosterone. And he will still be able to mate. He will just be firing blanks, sorry no other way to explain this.............
 

Sound Bay Newfs

Active member
Interesting article, Donna. But Goldens seem to have a high incidence of cancer than some breeds so the statistics may be a little different for newfs. There is a new study taking place at Cornell, that I was asked to participate in, studying the size of the dog and the incidence of cancers. I will be posting more about this study, when I get it this week, and hopefully many here will participate. It is a DNA study.
 

Snowden

New member
I got Van as a show dog and did not plan on neutering him at all, however I made the decision to neuter him because of Miles my 10 year old Weimaraner. I adopted Miles last Dec and he came to me intact. I was going to have him neutered but he had early on set kidney failure and it would have been very dangerous to put him under anesthesia. So I left him alone. Last Wed Miles became very sick with a prostate infection. I brought him to my vet and had to put the poor boy down because the infection was so bad that even with treatment in the hospital the prognosis did not look good and he was in a lot of pain... If his original owner had neutered him, Miles would still be here.
I feel that for all large breed dogs you should wait to neuter until they are older, but it should be done to avoid illness as they enter their senior years 7+. I do not plan to neuter Van until he is much older 4-5 years of age.

***Miles really did not have any behavioral issues that were not due to his poor living situation prior to me adopting him.
 

janices

New member
I posted a link for a Cancer Report from UC Davis and there's stuff in there on spay/neuter and Cancer:
Center for Companion Animal Health
UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
Special Report: Understanding Canine Cancer
http://www.sonic.net/~cdlcruz/GPCC/library/ccah-cancer001.pdf
 

Capt. Dave

New member
Well after reading all of the threads I have come to a decision. Our Max is not getting neutered until he is 18-24 months old. Our breeder sent us an update at 6 months begging us not to get him neutered until he was atleast a year old. Our Vet wants us to neuter him soon. The Vet said "he will heal much better" if we do it at an earlier age. He is still a puppy and is doing puppy things. He is currently 13 months old. He was to obedience school; however, he is still on the wild playful side. We are going to wait.
 
Last edited:

Crispinbear

New member
We had our 6 year old spayed at 9 months and she has leaked urineever since which is really not great in the Summer months. ( I am getting to that age so I just hope people don't think that its me when we are out!) I have not spayed the others and would not be keen to do so for non-medical reasons.

Crispinbear
 

Ivoryudx

New member
There are meds available here in the U.S. to help control the leaking from spay incontenence. My girl is on DES and used to be on phenylpropanolamine (PPH) before that. The PPH quit working for her as she got older, but the DES has been perfect and its cheaper. I would discuss this with your Vet and talk to others if your Vet isn't familiar with something to help with the leaking.

Leaking for other reasons can sometimes be managed with these meds, but simple spay incontenence can be controled.
 

Gallagher

New member
Interesting article, Donna. But Goldens seem to have a high incidence of cancer than some breeds so the statistics may be a little different for newfs. There is a new study taking place at Cornell, that I was asked to participate in, studying the size of the dog and the incidence of cancers. I will be posting more about this study, when I get it this week, and hopefully many here will participate. It is a DNA study.
Any more info on this study?
 

cammy

New member
Post spay diarrhea

Hi guys and gals, I just had my 4yr old spayed, it is less then 24hrs since the surgery. This morning she ate her breakfast and less then an hour later she had a big accident in the house before i could let her out....is this normal after surgery? The vets office said it was normal and if it continued on over the weekend I should bring her back? is this the right advice? Please help!
 

khughes

New member
I waited on spaying my rottie, she was over 2 years. I never had any health problems with her. Other that bad hips. My BINGO, 10months, Female, think ill wait.
 

Arktos

New member
Interesting article and with an intact male and spayed female (rescue) it really does not sway me one way or another. I would have to read the actual studies cited. I would caution simply taking this article at face value since no actual statistics were provided. Ratios were given, but without looking at the actual statistical analysis, this article really can sway one in the direction of the article's goals. The Rottweiler comparison and osteosarcoma has a good scare factor. Osteosarcoma is very common in large breed/big bone dogs and spay/neuter may only be one variable. There is no data given explaining history of participants (genetics), number of participants, diet, health, etc. As for neutering/spaying for maturing factors my vet was very clear that as long as the testosterone in the male is manageable, neutering/spaying before two was not her preference for large breeds (growth plates and normal development). I think for me that is a bigger issue. People neutering/spaying their large breeds at 6 month are unaware of the long term effects it has on bone development. The growth plates seal very quickly after neutering/spaying and you end up with some unusual looking big dogs. Anyways, just my point of view and caution jumping into "research" articles (as a researcher I tend to advocate going to the actual source :).
 
Last edited:

Sheila B.

New member
Recently neutered our 4 yr old male. Our vet of many years made sure we knew of the surgical risks but no mention was made of possible long-term issues. Thanks so much for the info.
 
Top