Early spay/neuter in canines

[crittermom]

Oh, I am all for altering them.Unless you are breeding quality dogs/cats.
Our local shelter actually gives you a paper for a free Vet visit,and a spay/neuter.

 

[whiteforest]

Originally Posted by crittermom

Oh, I am all for altering them.Unless you are breeding quality dogs/cats.

But keep in mind that there are several health reasons why responsible owners may choose to keep a dog intact. Studies are showing sex hormones in dogs are a lot more important than were previously known. By keeping my dog intact I am lowering the risk of osteosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, prostatic tumors, diabetes...(http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/ful...65?cookieSet=1) Not to mention orthopedic issues relate to spaying/neutering, particularly before growth plates have closed. It is with all of that knowledge I am choosing not to neuter my dog right now. Every situation is circumstantial, and every dog different so it's something that each owner should make an educated decision on what is best for them personally.

Shelters are another issue altogether and should spay/neuter animals before they are placed as they then lose the control how that dog is cared for.

 

[momofmany]

Both of my males were neutered at 8 weeks old. They are now 5. After reading the list of adverse effects of early spay, particularly the behavioral ones, I have to bawk at the article. Perhaps its the way that I'm raising them.

I live in an area that is on the edge of being rural. Most people in the neighborhood allow their dogs to roam free and while they get their females spayed, they leave their male dogs intact. I have never met a group of completely messed up dogs as these intact males. If the health issues are correct, I would say that any savings they have for being intact is entirely counter balanced by the fact that these dogs get in fights with each other, bite people while they are out walking, and get hit by cars when they wander on the main road. In the 4 years that I've lived here, 3 unaltered male dogs were euthanized due to behavior problems and 2 more were hit by cars. And this is a subdivision with 18 homes, which puts this as an extremely high ratio. The good male dogs in the neighborhood are all altered and altered young.

There's a flip side that isn't represented with this information. There aren't enough responsible people in the world to allow their animals to remain intact that are responsible about it. I will always side with early spay/neuter.

 

[whiteforest]

Which is precisely why I ended my comment the way that I did - every situation, owner and dog need to be considered individually. This is something I feel it is important not to lose sight of because in places with manditory spay/neuter laws the right to make an educated choice is taken away. I'm not an owner that just lets my dog roam free and I guarantee that my intact dog is not contributing to the population or to fights.

 

[momofmany]

Originally Posted by whiteforest

Which is precisely why I ended my comment the way that I did - every situation, owner and dog need to be considered individually. This is something I feel it is important not to lose sight of because in places with manditory spay/neuter laws the right to make an educated choice is taken away. I'm not an owner that just lets my dog roam free and I guarantee that my intact dog is not contributing to the population or to fights.

The people that come to these forums are, with very few exceptions, very responsible for their pets. My comments are directed at the population in general. My fear about this type of article is that it gives the irresponsible people justification for not bothering to fix their dog.

My neighbors (unneutered male) dog almost bit me today. If I were to complain to my neighbor, she would have it euthanized, just like she did her last dog that got unruly because it was not neutered and not given any behavior guidance. I plead with her all the time to get her dogs fixed, but she simply doesn't get it. I'm at a point that I will need to call animal control to have them taken away from her. And she will simply adopt more dogs, leave them outside unaltered, and more dogs will die due to human irresponsibility. She is the type of person that would read that article and use it to rationalize her behavior.

 

[whiteforest]

Originally Posted by Momofmany

My fear about this type of article is that it gives the irresponsible people justification for not bothering to fix their dog.

Do you even think that those irresponsible people are really out there doing the research to weigh the pros and cons on behalf of their dog? I don't think so. And in addition to that, if I do a quick google search I will find a myriad of articles that just speak to why you SHOULD neuter your dog asap. It takes a lot more effort to find the legitimate information sited with actual medical studies (i.e. the link that I provided). I just hate to think that people are willing to dismiss entirely all of the great information that has been brought up in this thread because of the "bad apples".

At the end of the day, those irresponsible people you are referring to are not having their dogs neutered anyway.

 

[merrytreecats]

"This is something I feel it is important not to lose sight of because in places with manditory spay/neuter laws the right to make an educated choice is taken away."

The opportunity be educated on it at all is often lost along with it.

Draconian laws like this lessen the knowledge held by the general public regarding the "banned" material, whatever it might be. And in the case of animals, obviouly the animals themselves suffer the most.

Some animals can't get along in a household intact and need to be fixed once mature. Others do fine whole. My toms were an example. One had to be fixed at a year old for peeing all over the place as most males will do, the other I still have now, he's fine intact with no issues, and as he's an indoor kitty he's not going around spreading his seed, as they say.

 

[whiteforest]

IMO, cats are a different story. Not much, if anything, has come out regarding problems associated with early spay/neuter in felines. All of my cats were neutered before 6 months of age, regardless of the fact that they are indoor-only.

No matter how careful the owner is, keeping animals intact without good reason, i.e. health benefits or reputable and responsible breeding, is irresponsible.