Early spay and neuter, I say, DON'T do it! - Page 1

     Just wondering what others think about this. I do have a few litters of pups here and there, and most are sold as pets.
     I strongly advise people to get their dogs spayed and neutered, but can't seem to relay the message strong enough to wait until the pup reaches a year old to do so. this gets extremely frustrating when I get updates that declare, "Oh, my boy 3 months-4 months is got an  appointment to get fixed this week, or my female, barely 6 months is getting spayed next week".
     How do you disagree with what the vet says is the best way to go, and what do others think IS the best way to go to approach this issue.
     This is just some excerpts of one article pertaining to the issue:
http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html 





Early Spay-Neuter Considerations
for the Canine Athlete
One Veterinarian's Opinion
© 2005 Chris Zink DVM, PhD, DACVP

Those of us with responsibility for the health of canine athletes need to continually read and evaluate new scientific studies to ensure that we are taking the most appropriate care of our performance dogs. This article provides evidence through a number of recent studies to suggest that veterinarians and owners working with canine athletes should revisit the standard protocol in which all dogs that are not intended for breeding are spayed and neutered at or before 6 months of age.

Orthopedic Considerations

A study by Salmeri et al in 1991 found that bitches spayed at 7 weeks grew significantly taller than those spayed at 7 months, who were taller than those not spayed (or presumably spayed after the growth plates had closed).(1) A study of 1444 Golden Retrievers performed in 1998 and 1999 also found bitches and dogs spayed and neutered at less than a year of age were significantly taller than those spayed or neutered at more than a year of age.(2) The sex hormones, by communicating with a number of other growth-related hormones, promote the closure of the growth plates at puberty (3), so the bones of dogs or bitches neutered or spayed before puberty continue to grow. Dogs that have been spayed or neutered well before puberty can frequently be identified by their longer limbs, lighter bone structure, narrow chests and narrow skulls. This abnormal growth frequently results in significant alterations in body proportions and particularly the lengths (and therefore weights) of certain bones relative to others. For example, if the femur has achieved its genetically determined normal length at 8 months when a dog gets spayed or neutered, but the tibia, which normally stops growing at 12 to 14 months of age continues to grow, then an abnormal angle may develop at the stifle. In addition, with the extra growth, the lower leg below the stifle likely becomes heavier (because it is longer), and may cause increased stresses on the cranial cruciate ligament. In addition, sex hormones are critical for achieving peak bone density.(4) These structural and physiological alterations may be the reason why at least one recent study showed that spayed and neutered dogs had a higher incidence of CCL rupture.(5) Another recent study showed that dogs spayed or neutered before 5 1/2 months had a significantly higher incidence of hip dysplasia than those spayed or neutered after 5 1/2 months of age, although it should be noted that in this study there were no standard criteria for the diagnosis of hip dysplasia.(6) Nonetheless, breeders of purebred dogs should be cognizant of these studies and should consider whether or not pups they bred were spayed or neutered when considering breeding decisions.

Cancer Considerations

A retrospective study of cardiac tumors in dogs showed that there was a 5 times greater risk of hemangiosarcoma, one of the three most common cancers in dogs, in spayed bitches than intact bitches and a 2.4 times greater risk of hemangiosarcoma in neutered dogs as compared to intact males.(7) A study of 3218 dogs demonstrated that dogs that were neutered before a year of age had a significantly increased chance of developing bone cancer.(8) A separate study showed that neutered dogs had a two-fold higher risk of developing bone cancer.(9) Despite the common belief that neutering dogs helps prevent prostate cancer, at least one study suggests that neutering provides no benefit.(10) There certainly is evidence of a slightly increased risk of mammary cancer in female dogs after one heat cycle, and for increased risk with each subsequent heat. While about 30 % of mammary cancers are malignant, as in humans, when caught and surgically removed early the prognosis is very good.(12) Luckily, canine athletes are handled frequently and generally receive prompt veterinary care.

Behavioral Considerations

The study that identified a higher incidence of cranial cruciate ligament rupture in spayed or neutered dogs also identified an increased incidence of sexual behaviors in males and females that were neutered early.(5) Further, the study that identified a higher incidence of hip dysplasia in dogs neutered or spayed before 5 1/2 months also showed that early age gonadectomy was associated with an increased incidence of noise phobias and undesirable sexual behaviors.(6) A recent report of the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation reported significantly more behavioral problems in spayed and neutered bitches and dogs. The most commonly observed behavioral problem in spayed females was fearful behavior and the most common problem in males was aggression.(12) s, promote the closure of the growth plates at puberty (3), so the bones of dogs or bitches neutered or spayed before puberty continue to grow. Dogs that have been spayed or neutered well before puberty can frequently be identified by their longer limbs, lighter bone structure, narrow chests and narrow skulls. This abnormal growth frequently results in significant alterations in body proportions and particularly the lengths (and therefore weights) of certain bones relative to others. For example, if the femur has achieved its genetically determined normal length at 8 months when a dog gets spayed or neutered, but the tibia, which normally stops growing at 12 to 14 months of age continues to grow, then an abnormal angle may develop at the stifle. In addition, with the extra growth, the lower leg below the stifle likely becomes heavier (because it is longer), and may cause increased stresses on the cranial cruciate ligament

     Anyone have any thoughts on this subject, and or any interesting articles I could read that might suggest otherwise?

t


     
 

i say that if an owner doesn't want puppies and is not responsible enough to keep their males or females from getting pregnant, than early spay / neuter is an excellent idea.

we have enough dogs / cat / puppies / kittens in the shelters already.

I think most of the time people want to do what's right by the dog. Growing up most people hear that you MUST have your dog spayed EARLY that it has become fact. I wonder if you could print off your research for your puppy packet? We finally read our puppy packet probably a week after we brought the pup home and found a LOT of very interesting things in there that inspired me to do more research. ;)

Thank you for the link to the article.  Some interesting info in there.

Our vet said that she wouldn't even consider neutering our Malinois pup until he was at least a year old.

But she did caution us that even at his current 6.5mo. age, he could get a female dog preggers.  Not desirable at this point or any other point.

The little fella was getting pretty frisky in a juvenile way with our friends 150lb Great Dane.  Pretty cute as she was over double his height and three times his weight!

sitasmom-
    I DO NOT dispute the fact there are way toooo many unwanted dogs and cats in this world and I also promote getting them fixed.(and I wouldn't send a pup off to someone I thought was irresponsible).
    Believe me, I do my fair share of animal rescue.

    My posts is seeking thoughts and info on EARLY spay/neuter and the fact that I FEEL, having them fixed too early is NOT beneficial to the overall health and well being of the animal, and really, if the vets know there is higher occurances in some of these ailments, cancer, HD etc., WHY do so many of them make the decision to NOT tell owners of the adverse effects of early spay/neuter.
    I can understand to a limited degree why the shelters do it prior to sending an animal out, but not why the vets reccomend it to responsible pet owners.

Kitkat,

I believe that early spaying or neutering is responsible for dogs not growing up as they supposed to. There is a huge difference in looks and behavior between a dog at 12 months of age that isn't altered and others that have been. This same happened to the puppies from my last litter - the puppies that are not altered - developed quicker and better.

I made all buyers aware that early spaying/neutering WILL alter the dog and its looks in the future. My unaltered female pup has grow up, her head and chest started to broaden and she looks more impressive in comparison to skinny, narrow female puppies from the same litter that have been spayed at about 6 months of age.

There have been several studies done recently about effects of early spay/neuter - and one of the big impacts is high probability of developing joint issues (i.e. HD) in those puppies in comparison to unaltered puppies from the same litter. It has to do with growth plates not closing when they supposed to, as there are no hormones to help with that. The high risk rate drops drastically when spaying/neutering is done after 12 months of age.

I believe that early spaying/neutering is not about owner responsibility - it's all about convenience for vets and owners alike.

I can tell you my last male GSD rescue was the poster child for those descriptions. Since he was out of the pound and a mandatory neuter at 7-8 mos which I think he was when I got him out, he ended up being a very tall, slight boned, narrow headed and chested GSD that was afraid of thunder and he died of bone cancer at 8yrs old.

I know I wont fall for the spay/neuter vet spiel ever again, when given the choice. 2 out of my last 3 cats were spayed/neutered very young and the male stayed tiny and feminine, he had a kitten meow all of his short life (died at 5yrs of age) and my current female from the SPCA is just a fat lazy blob. I hope my female lives a long healthy life, I love her to death but she is pretty worthless as cats go. I have to keep her on a strict diet, she will gorge on anything even dog food if I leave it out. My other current cat I rescued from a rice drier and I didn't have him neutered until he started spraying (9-10mos). He is a medium size cat of good solid build, eats only what he needs and hunts/runs around allot. He has a nice big head on him, he thinks he is a dog. I am all for spaying and neutering for population control, especially in cats but I do agree it is best to let them sexually mature as much as possible before doing so.

It is much easier to keep a male intact for life than a female because stray males have/will jump the fence or eat a hole through it to get to your "locked up" female who you think is "safe". My 5 yr old GSD male doesn't even know what a bitch in heat is or it appears that way anyhow. He has never bred a bitch and he isn't much distracted by them at training or out and about. I'm not worried about him getting loose and having an oops with any future females I have at home or that live nearby. However if I have a female in the future that I don't plan to breed I would have her spayed at around 2 yrs to keep her safe from the neighboring males and just easier to keep with no heat cycles in the car or house...yuck.

Knowing that I am just lucky with my current male, I know many dogs will go to great lengths to reach their owners or any other wayward females in heat and can really make life miserable for their owners if a bitch in heat is around. Maybe in that case I would lose my cool and neuter at maturity to make life easier for me if it was a dog I never wanted to breed. Aside from having a 10x10 concrete room with a metal door and attached roof (escape/chew proof) allot of males and even many females will do nutty things to get the deed done. I once came home from camping to find a stray dog hanging by his choke chain on our fence, of course on his way out, not in. He got the job done unfortunately and man were they some ugly pups. Thankfully these days more can be done to end an unwanted litter if you know this kind of thing took place but shit still happens...obviously. 

If I was a breeder maybe I would print some of these facts up and hand them to puppy buyers and add a claus to my guarentee nulifying hip/health guarentees on any dogs fixed under 24 mos of age. I don't think 3 heat cycles is going to kill most people to live through.

I agree, I wait 24 months on any dog. They invented leads and crates and kennels for a reason. And even dog undies, though I am not sure as to their effectiveness as chastity devices. :D

That article by Zink is full of errors and misrepresentations.

This page has lots of good discussion on the issue, and Dr Tracy Land shoots plenty of holes in Dr. Zink's research and also claims by others.

http://www.columbusdogconnection.com/PedSpayNeuter.htm

Sample:

Comment from Breeder March 2011

As for spay/neuter prior to 8 weeks of age - absolutely not ! That is the worst thing you can do for the future of the dog. Please read:

www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html   Chris Zink DVM, PhD, DACVP

Response from Dr Tracy Land
A top vet in the Association of Shelter Vets wrote an excellent response to this shortly after it first came out.
Rebuttal  from Lisa Howe, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVS, Associate Professor, Small Animal Surgery, Texas A & M


I'm doing some research as a foster for a rescued hound mix and 11 puppies - the rescue org wants to spay and neuter the pups at 9 weeks, and after my research, so far I say its a good plan.