Community Chat

[dreamytoo]

I am relieved that the truth is now coming out...

My experience with spay/neuter has not been a positive one in my pets and I have been lambasted repeatedly for my views. Well now here it is in black and white with the research to back it up. I have not imagined the illnesses, vaccine reactions causing even death and odd growth and behavior issues.

Thank you!

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/09/30/neutering-health-risks.aspx

[Kachina624]

This is not new information. The study done on Rottweilers was done quite sometime ago. The only thing it proves is that in one group, one breed had issues. My own male dog was neutered at 10 months of age, and try though I might, I've never been able to break him of the habit of marking in the house. He's now 9 years old.

The removal of the ability to reproduce is but one advantage of spaying/neutering. We who have spent a lifetime with animals know that neutering makes males less aggressive, they lose the urge to roam (causes many serious problems) and generally makes them a more docile and attentive pet.

With a spayed female the relief to an owner must be tremendous with no longer have to periodically supervise the dog every minute and having to cope with everything being in heat entails. I have known more than just a few cases where spayed females became incontinent in their senior years. Vets don't talk a lot about this but it's usually attributed to the spay. It can be controlled with medication. I've had females, have two right now but they have all been rescues and were spayed when I got them.

Working in rescue, I've never known of a male dog that had any condition that could be attributed to neutering but I don't work with Rotties. In females, the I continence is the only ramification of which I'm aware. The risks of possible harm to an animal is miniscule and most dog people have read and chosen to disregard this information. We are in far more danger from an over-abundance of puppies.

[ennui_too]

On 8/4/2014 kachina624 said:

We who have spent a lifetime with animals know that neutering makes males less aggressive, they lose the urge to roam (causes many serious problems) and generally makes them a more docile and attentive pet.

I had a male German Shepherd that was very sweet and attentive, and never roamed ... but I sure got a lot of flack over the years that he wasn't neutered. He wasn't broken and he didn't need to be fixed.

I object to blanket assessments that have nothing to do with an individual dog.

We live in crazy times regarding pets, where people care more about dogs and cats than they care about other people. It's more challenging to adopt a dog than it is to adopt a child.

[dreamytoo]

Kachina624,

Who are you referring to as "most dog people"? Did you even read the article or view the video?

Problems with joint issues, cancers, endocrine issues, cushings, addisons, hypothyroidism, vaccine reactions, etc...in all breeds have now been attributed to spay/neuter, especially early spay/neuter. I am happy that the Veterinary Community is finally beginning to take notice.

I have had many dogs, many breeds male and female in my 54 years and never ever experienced the health issues with my unaltered dogs that I have with the ones I was shamed into spay/neuter in the past 8-10 years. Not once in my 54 years has any of my dogs produced a litter of pups either...they are loved, cared for and supervised by someone at all times.

The benefits to a family pet no longer out weigh the risks of spay/neuter.

[goodstuff]

There are pros and cons to many medical procedures. For me, there's no question: the problems of dealing with animals regularly going into heat, trying to get out of the house or yard, getting into fights with other non-neutered animals, and quite possibly producing unwanted litters of kittens or puppies make the decision easy for me. All of our pets for the past 40 years have been neutered with no obvious problems. And LOTS of major problems avoided.

[dreamytoo]

On 8/5/2014 GoodStuff said:

There are pros and cons to many medical procedures. For me, there's no question: the problems of dealing with animals regularly going into heat, trying to get out of the house or yard, getting into fights with other non-neutered animals, and quite possibly producing unwanted litters of kittens or puppies make the decision easy for me. All of our pets for the past 40 years have been neutered with no obvious problems. And LOTS of major problems avoided.

Those are training issues, train and supervise your dogs!

[goodstuff]

On 8/5/2014 dreamytoo said:

On 8/5/2014 GoodStuff said:

There are pros and cons to many medical procedures. For me, there's no question: the problems of dealing with animals regularly going into heat, trying to get out of the house or yard, getting into fights with other non-neutered animals, and quite possibly producing unwanted litters of kittens or puppies make the decision easy for me. All of our pets for the past 40 years have been neutered with no obvious problems. And LOTS of major problems <em>avoided.</em>

Those are training issues, train and supervise your dogs!

Baloney. And I don't have dogs; I have cats. Both are neutered, as all of our past pets have been and as any future pets in our household will be.

[dreamytoo]

On 8/5/2014 GoodStuff said:

Baloney. And I don't have dogs; I have cats. Both are neutered, as all of our past pets have been and as any future pets in our household will be.

I guess you didn't read the article or watch the video either...Dr. Becker clearly states that this pertains to dogs not cats.

[shamalamadingdong4]

Dr. Becker said de-sexing at an early age. What about at a later age? I've had many dogs of both sexes, and none of them had reactions to spay/neutering. This is just one vet. It would be interesting to see what other vets have to say on the subject.

[kittymomNC]

Years ago I had two miniature poodles, both female (at different times). I was in my early twenties when I got the first one, and didn't know that much about these kinds of things. I never had her spayed, but I didn't want to breed her either. We never had any problems until she was about 13 and had a heart condition. She developed "breast tumors" which could have become cancerous and we had to have them removed, even though it was risky with her heart condition. The vet said that if I had had her spayed when she was young, OR if she had had at least one litter of puppies, this would have been unlikely. After she came through that surgery, a number of months later she developed a female infection and had to have emergency surgery. I'm still not sure if that might have been avoided by spaying.

In any case, when I got my second one, I got her spayed as soon as it was recommended. She lived to the ripe old age of 18, and was still like a puppy until she got sick a few months before we lost her. So, with my personal experience, I would lean toward getting a dog spayed or neutered if I got another one.