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Neutering at a young age???

jeni

Well-known member
I know this subject has been covered in the past, mostly it has been about spaying the female. I am sure it is the same but it never hurts to ask... right??? My vet recomended that I neuter my male puppy in the next few weeks. My female ( the puppies mother ) is due to come into season any day now. At all costs, we have to keep my male dog away from the female, as it is the females son. I have heard that it is not good to neuter them early. Contrary to that my vet recomends it because he said they recover better while they are young and he claims it will not affect his growth.
My puppy will be 17 weeks old (4-months) at the time of the neutering. I have no problem keeping the dogs apart while she is in heat. My sister can babysit to make sure that they are not even at the same house. I don't want to put my male at any risk with this surgery if it is going to harm him by him being to young. Any suggestions or comments are welcome. I just want to do the right thing.
Thanks-
Jeni
 
Our vets recommend males are done at 6 months, making sure that both testicles are down, and that the females have their first season ....
 
What is the thinking behind letting the female have her first season, do you know?
Our vet recommended getting Zola done before her first heat, as it meant her mammarian glands would not develop and so radically reduce her risk of cancer.
 
Found this in the Purina website....

Neutering your canine companion helps contribute to better health and longer life for the pet, and peace of mind for you.

We look at three dog reasons to spay your dog and people's excuses for not having this simple operation done.

Here are three good reasons to neuter your dog:

1. Neutering your bitch or dog is better for your dog's health.

For bitches: spaying your dog reduces her chances of developing breast cancer and helps to eliminate the threat of uterine and ovarian cancer and uterine infection, which are common occurrences in unaltered females. An unplanned pregnancy can also place your bitch at risk from trying to give birth to pups from a mate that is just too big for her to have safely. It also reduces the risks associated with abortions. Some vets prefer to neuter bitches before they have their first season, but others don't, so the timing will be your vet's decision.

For male dogs: neutering your male dog will prevent testicular tumours and may prevent prostate problems. Neutering also decreases the possibility of perianal tumours and hernias, which are commonly observed in older, unaltered dogs. Neutering also reduces the aggressive impulses of your dog and thus decreases the likelihood of injury due to fighting.

2. You are helping to alleviate the dog overpopulation problem.

Each year, millions of unwanted dogs are euthanised (put to sleep) at shelters across the country. Many of these are the result of accidental breeding by free-roaming unaltered dogs. The more dogs spayed or neutered, the fewer will have to be destroyed.

3. A neutered dog is a better pet for your family.

No family wants to cope with an unwanted litter. Spaying prevents your dog from giving birth to unwanted puppies. Males neutered early in life are less aggressive toward other males and are not distracted by females in heat. Neutered males are also less likely to mark territory with their urine or try to 'mate' with objects and people. Spaying your female dog eliminates the problem of stray males camping in your garden and decreases her desire to roam and breed.

Excuses, excuses, excuses

Here are the four most common excuses for not having your dog spayed.

1. My dog will get fat and lazy.

Neutering may diminish your dog's natural tendency to wander, but will not affect the overall activity level. When dogs do gain weight after being spayed, it is usually attributed to a combination of overfeeding and inactivity. Just remember to adjust the amount of feeding to your dog's activity level.

2. My dog's personality will change.

After being spayed, your dog may be less aggressive toward other animals, will be less likely to wander, and may have a better personality. Spraying (urine marking), often done by dogs to mark their territory, diminishes or ceases after they are spayed.

3. We can sell puppies and make money.

Even well-known breeders are fortunate if they break even on raising purebred litters. That's if firstly your bitch is a purebred and secondly you actually get your bitch to a stud dog before she becomes pregnant to an unknown wanderer. Bitches can get pregnant as early as six months and until the day they die so don't assume your bitch is not a potential mother just because she is very young or old. The cost of raising such a litter - which includes stud fees, vaccinations and other health care costs - consumes most of the 'profit'. Finding good homes for these puppies can be difficult, and shelters are already crowded with unwanted dogs. Leave the breeding to professional dog breeders.

4. I am concerned about my dog undergoing anaesthesia.

Placing a dog under anaesthesia is a common concern of owners. Although there is always a slight risk involved, the procedures currently used by vets use equipment that monitors heart and respiratory rates during surgery to ensure that their patients are doing well under anaesthesia. The medical benefits of having your dog spayed or neutered far outweigh the slight risk involved with undergoing anaesthesia. Consult your veterinarian if you are concerned about this aspect of the procedure. Remember this operation is routine.

Before and after the operation

Normally your veterinarian will instruct you to withhold food and water from your dog for 12 hours or overnight before the operation. Most dogs go home on the day of the operation, but sometimes your vet may prefer to keep them in slightly longer if your dog are still very sleepy. For male dogs the operation involves removal of both testicles; for bitches, spaying involves the removal of womb and ovaries.

When your dog comes home, he/she must be confined to the house for a few days. You must keep your dog quiet and prevent him/her from jumping, or biting at the sutures. Your veterinarian will discuss post-operative care of the incision, including when the sutures will be removed.
 
My vet also said that both testies must be down and that his baby teeth need to fall out before neutering. Both testies are down and I am not sure about the baby teeth. I am just concerned that my boy might be too young. There is a lot of talk about spaying females but hardly any opinions or comments on male neutering... so it is quite confusing.
 
I've been thinking and wondering about this a lot lately. Zack is 6 months old and i would prefer if he didn't develop the characteristics of lifting his leg to pee and marking territory and humping, which my former vet said would be minimized or eliminated by neutering before those characteristics develop. At the same time, i want Zack to have as long and healthy a life as possible and while I've heard (from my daughter's breeder and other sources) that spaying before the first menstruation reduces risk of ovarian or other cancer, i also am simply aware that it's a big strain on a person's health when they have their ovaries removed at a young age so that makes me cautious, i've known a couple of people who had ovaries removed in their 30s and it was pretty hard on them afterwards. So in a common sense kind of way, i am cautious and hesitant to have Zack's natural hormones interfered with. So, i've been on the fence. I am glad you asked, i am really interested in hearing discussions of this.

here http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html is an article that goes into some of the potential health risks related to neutering.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

"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.(6) 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, a cancer that is much more life-threatening than mammary cancer, and that affects both genders.(7) A separate study showed that neutered dogs had a two-fold higher risk of developing bone cancer.(8) Despite the common belief that neutering dogs helps prevent prostate cancer, at least one study suggests that neutering provides no benefit.(9)"

I hate to give an opinion on neutering a puppy at 4 months since i don't consider myself informed, but my gut reaction is that it seems too young. But then, i'm worried about doing it at all so that's just me. My former vet said that in shelters, puppies are routinely neutered at a very young age, less than 4 months. She said that as far as whether this is a risk to their health, this is unknown because it hasn't been being done for long enough to know how it affects dogs as they get older.
 
There remains a lot of controversy about the studies that demonstrate problems with neutering. This is not directly related to the issue of early spaying but keep in mind pregnancy and ensuing possible complications are ALWAYS a greater life risk to any female than any of the minor risks associated with spaying. Most pet owners cannot manage bitches going thru heat after heat throughout a lifetime. I also can tell you we regularly see older unspayed female dogs of all breeds/mixes coming into rescue with ovarian tumours. This is one of the more common cancers in unpsayed females and can be avoided by spaying.

You can do early neuters and personally I support them in some rescue situations where I feel it is better to know there's no risk of further litters. In your situation Jeni IF you feel you can manage him I think I would opt to wait til at least 6 months, keep them totally separated and make this an absolute religion -- one must be crated whenever the other is around -- keep her in those bitch panties as an extra precaution/barrier when she is out and in the house. If this seems too difficult especially if there are children around who may be prone to accidentally opening a door etc, then I'd consider the early neuter.

Most vets see very very low levels of the small risk factors associated with spaying and neutering. It is important to remember this as the benefits of avoiding unwanted dogs/pups when there are so many dying every day I feel hugely outweighs any minor risks.
 
Last weekend, for the first time, Zack escaped from his pen where he stays when i can't supervise him like when i'm at work. He never tried to get out before. He usually goes in his crate and sleeps or plays with his toys. But on the weekend, he learned to spring straight up into the air and land on the kitchen table which is partly sheltering the pen. It's about 30 inches tall i'd say.

After he had done this a few times over a few days, I put him in the pen and encouraged him to get out on his own without me opening the gate or picking him up. At first he just gestured for me to help him get out, but finally, he went over in front of the table and just sprang straight up and gracefully landed on the table. I was impressed.

Anyway, today I had put a cover over most of the pen and thought that it would keep him from getting out but when i came home, he had gotten out again. As for chewing damage while he was out unsupervised, it was very minimal. I'm glad of that. But, i discovered that Zack had made a huge pee right on the seat and arm of my favorite easy chair and feather comforter that was on the chair. He apparently did a whole pee right there. He's very housetrained, but today it was raining and he tends to pee inside when it rains, which isn't very often. But he always has peed on the floor, on the rug, and i was sort of expecting to find a pee on the floor. He's never done anything like pee on furniture before.

I am wondering if this new leaping behavior, determination to get out of the pen, and peeing on up on the chair, is related to the dawning of secondary sex characteristics. If coming of age causes peeing on and destroying of furniture, this definitely pushes me off the fence i was sitting on about neutering and I am ready to have it done. I called all three of my vets to see what the prices were. They ranged from $120 to $180 to $200.

Are there any common complications to this surgery? I'm sure it's the most common surgery vets do. Should i be worried about a vet messing it up? The vet I had the best result with when Zack was sick is the one who costs the most. I'm wondering if i need to pay more to make sure nothing goes wrong...

I ordered two pressure walk through gates to put on the two openings to the kitchen. Not sure what to do between now and when they arrive next week.
 
There are very few possible complications for a male being neutered. There's always a slight risk with anaesthesia as there is for humans as well -- but it is very small. I'd go with the vet you are most comfortable with.

An unneutered male will definitely be a bit more difficult to take anywhere on visits -- you can train males not to mark but this takes some efffort and generally they do tend to lift a leg in other people's houses, not your own, once they have established their own home as it were. I have not had a sngle unneutered male rescue come into my house who has not tried to mark. I always take up my rugs when one is staying here. BTW the pee of unneutered males is quite smelly as well compared to neutered males (I am reminded of this having just had an unnuetered male in the house!! Boy is that pee *smelly*). :shock:

I would not be encouraging him to escape from his pen. But overall it sounds like he is a jumper and the pen is no longer going to be adequate for holding him. I'd just puppy-proof a room or keep him in a tiled or linoleum floored area like a kitchen (unless you get a pen that is already fitted with a proper cover). Or can you put an extra-high baby or pet gate across the doorway if there isn't a closable door? You can also work on crate training but I think this is not much of a life for a dog if someone works all day, for a dog to be crated the whole time. I know this is a hotly disputed topic but if a dog is crated all day, then crated at night, it spends nearly 2/3rds of its life in a space it can only just turn around in. Having a room that is dog-safe is so much nicer for a dog.

Make sure he has lots of interesting and safe chew toys (eg strong nylabones, not rawhides if you aren't supervising) and I'd be using a kong (frozen) and something like a treat ball to keep him busy. One suggestion from Dee Ganley's seminar here was to take an empty box like a shoe box, put a handful of kibble in it and tape it shut with masking tape. Dogs love the challenge of tearing it open and the cardboard is fine and safe for them to be shredding. Jaspar had great fun with this. It will get you saving small boxes from shopping and work too! :)

Dogs (and young cats) often like to pee on soft surfaces especially someplace full of interesting smells for them, like bedding or chairs/sofas. Make sure you use an enzymatic cleaner to remove all odor from HIS point of view or he may well try to wee there again.
 
I have mixed feelings about neutering dogs early, or in some cases, ever. I agree with Dr. Christine Zink that athletes should not be neutered until after a year. One of our Cavaliers was neutered at about 8 weeks, before he was placed with us. It may be a coincidence, but he grew to over 14 inches at the withers, which means that in AKC agility trials, he must jump bars set at 16 inches rather than the 12 inch bars nearly every other Cavalier jumps.

Also, I know of Cavalier males who, according to vets I respect, should not be neutered because their immune systems are not strong enough to compensate for the lack of hormones which their reproductive systems provide. This probably would be equally applicable to females. So, neutering at any age should not be a knee jerk decision, based mainly upon the convenience of the owner -- which usually is the underlying real reason.

The argument that a dog will be healthier without its reproductive system is, I think, mainly a false one. Sure, maybe a small percentage of un-neutered canines will have a higher likelihood of developing a form of cancer, but my guess is that an even higher percentage of neutered dogs are at greater risk to develop diseases which their removed hormones would have enabled the dogs to avoid.

We have a 7 year old female which was spayed about a year ago, and she promptly lost a lot of hair, including all of what had been on her chest and belly. The vet found that her endocrine system was out of wack because it was trying to do the job her ovaries used to do. The vet prescribed a homotoxicology mixture to bolster the adrenals and thyroid, and her hair came back. Otherwise, she might have been headed for Cushings disease.

So, for now, I lean towards not neutering Cavaliers at all, unless there is a really good medical reason for doing so to a particular dog, and not just because I want to keep my dogs from doing things un-neutered dogs are said to do.

Rod Russell
Orlando, Florida USA
 
Boy Rod, I'd have to totally disagree with you there I'm afraid -- from time spent with dogs and with working with rescue groups. I don't view it as only a convenience for owners to prevent unwanted puppies and the stress of pregnancy -- which is far more stressful on a female body (human or otherwise) than not to be pregnant. Also I have found very few cavaliers lacking the general robustness to not easily weather a basic neuter procedure. I think most dog owners generally do not have the wherewithal to manage unneutered males and unspayed females, heats and marking/roaming etc behaviour... dogs do live a life WITH humans and therefore I do think what owners can manage is a major part of the equation. I know many longtime, experienced breeders whose judgement I would totally trust who would not ever have any issues with a late spay either. I do acknowledge that there are different opinions but the potential complications just of basic pregnancies and lost, roaming male dogs (setting aside all other health issues) that would ensue if cavalier owners followed a general policy of not neutering would to me, be FAR more detrimental to individual dog's health and well-being than SM for example. I feel very strongly about that, and I live in a country where cavaliers are a very common breed and where vets have performed thousands of neuters without detrimental affect. I don;t think US cavaliers are that much more delicate than UK or Irish cavaliers. I don;t know a single vet who would feel cavaliers are to be marked out as being a special exemption to the benefits of spay and neuter.

Here in Ireland (and in the UK) we put down more dogs than can ever be homed and that includes cavaliers and cavalier mixes. I have been told by breed rescue individuals in the US that in some regions, a tipping point has been reached where there are more cavaliers than they can rescue from pounds/shelters. I do not ever think death of unwanted offspring is a reasonable alternative to a spay or neuter of a potential parent, whatever the other considerations.
 
On the one hand, i think karlin you are absolutely right that if the choice is between neutering with its risks and costs to dog health, or unwanted homeless litters of puppies, the higher priority is to take measures to prevent birth of unwanted puppies. On the other hand, i think rod, you are right, it creeps me out to think of altering a dog's hormones like that, we don't do that to humans as a form of birth control, i think because of the health risks (do they have tubal ligation and vasectomy for dogs?). Reading what both of you say, i think it should be on a case by case basis. I can approve of routinely neutering rescue/shelter dogs, or any pet dogs that are free to interact with opposite sex dogs in unintended sexual ways. On the other hand, if a responsible owner is willing to take social measures to prevent unwanted litters, and is able and willing to deal with training a male dog to behave in a "civilized" way that allows the dog to live comfortably people, that seems reasonable to me.

As for Zack, today i got two 48 inch high pressure mounted gates for the two openings to the kitchen and feel great about that. Now he can be in the whole kitchen when i can't be with him.

As for him peeing all over the chair--that's a problem. At least when i 'm with him, it seems unlikely he'll do anythnig like that, but i have some furniture that would be ruined if he does what he did to the chair. I did try to wash the chair and the comforter with water and then poured Natures Miracle over the area of the chair he peed on. I can only hope the Natures Miracle reached all the same places the pee reached. :?

I want to look into how to train him not to do the marking behavior. I don't consider it acceptable if i take him visiting and he pees in peoples' homes. I won't have the Natures Miracle there with me, and i'd end up leaving him home alone instead of taking him with. Which he would not like nor would i.

I tried to get myself to make an appointment for the neutering today but procrastinated. I'm hesitating because to me it's a big step, a big intervention in his body.

Fortunately, so far, his pee doesn't have any odor at all. :flwr:

karlin, i feel as you do about crating all day. To me , it seems unnatural and counter to the needs of an exuberant energetic puppy who loves to run around and explore, it just doesn't seem like it can be a healthy thing psychologically, or physically, though i understand that people may have a need for it as i have. I think about the effect it would have on a human to keep them cooped up 16 hours a day in a very small space where all they can do is sit and wait to be let out. Obviously no one would ever want to do that to a child, it would be detrimental to development in many ways. When i first had Zack, i would leave him in the crate for about 4 hours and then come home from work at lunch and let him out and play with him for an hour or a bit more, and then put him back in for another 4 hours. It made me feel bad. i have felt a lot better since i got the pen, even though he still can't run around, it's definitely less claustrophobic and i could see the change in him. Before the pen, he would never never voluntarily go into his crate. Clearly, he didn't consider it a good place to go. But now, in the pen, the crate door is open and he likes to go in, he's comfortable in there, and he also goes into a smaller crate that's in the living room when he's really tired and wants some peace, but before the pen, he would never go in either one.

He does have lots of safe chew toys. Maybe that's why he doesn't chew my stuff any more than he does. but i know that at any time, he could chew the powerbook AC adapter wire again, or other cables or mementos or odds and ends that are around. I've puppy proofed somewhat but could do more.

Thank you for the idea about the cardboard box. that sounds like fun! i used to give him a Kong with protreats in it but then he was having all those GI problems and i stopped giving him everything, though i tried to give him duck/potato kibble in the Kong but it falls out too easy and he doesn't really like it anyway. Fortunately, having tried him on some new foods, he hasn't had any symptoms, so i guess i can put something yummy in the Kong again. I hadn't thought of freezing it. great idea!
 
Judy, most responsible breeders would only EVER home any cavalier -- male or female -- on the basis of a spay/neuter contract. I'd never home a single dog without doing this first.

I can unequivocally state that my two males had absolutely no personality or behaviour changes after neutering EXCEPT they stopped soem of the more unpleasant male behaviours. But even after neuter many males will still mark -- you don't neuter just for this reason but for a range of reasons.

I think people very detrimentally tend to anthropomorphise dogs and cats (eg think of them as smaller hairier children whose behaviour is just a smaller version of a lot of human behaviour). Dogs and cats are not humans. And for them, a sexual response is not part of a rich emotional side of life or even a pleasant experience but a strict animal response triggered by a flow of hormones that -- if you have ever seen males that cannot get out to reach a female in heat, or a female going through heat -- can literally torment them with its power. I have seen males nearly kill a female in gang sexual attacks because she was in heat and their drive to reach her and mate her becomes obsessive, and they would attack any human trying to intervene. Males will literally climb walls to escape to reach a female in heat they can scent a mile away. I spent a lot of time for one period going into the main Dublin pound and getting info on all dogs there to help with rehoming -- and at any given time, about 75% of the dogs in the pound are male, and of those, about 90% are *unneutered males*. The ones who have clearly been lost for ages and roaming are almost ALWAYS males and less frequently, females in heat. There is nothing pleasant to a dog about going through such cycles or being restrained from reaching something your hormones drive you relentlessly to want to reach.

Judy if you feel strongly about retaining Zack's testosterone levels then I strongly suggest having him go in for the equivalent of a vasectomy. This will at least make it impossible for him to father puppies (and believe me, they can mount and lock to a female in the three seconds you don't happen to notice a female has come into view). He will still have all his hormone levels and male behaviours and you will need to strongly guard against escape and other issues. Be aware that thius means extreme diligience every time you take him for walks, and being very cautious about ever letting him off lead unless you have perfect recall with him. You can train for these things -- he'd be at the point now where he'd be ready for some basic training as well.

I doubt he is peeing in your chair because he is male. He is peeing in your chair because he is still a puppy and not fully housetrained. Intact dogs mark -- lift their leg and spray urine on surfaces -- they don't tend to empty their whole bladder in this way.
 
Yikes!! I have to completely disagree with not neutering at all! Jake was neutered at 6 months and it definitely did NOT change his personality. I don't have a general problem with him marking and never did. I do have to watch him initially when he goes into someone's house. As soon as he looks like he's about to lift his leg and I correct him before he can he knows that's not okay and won't try it again.
 
I am well aware of the conventional wisdom of breeders, and of most owners and veterinarians, to neuter pet dogs. I fully understand the reasonings behind this policy.

My concerns are with the affect of neutering upon the long term health of the neutered dogs vis-a-vis the intact ones. Dr. Christine Zink suggests that neutering young puppies may be a mistake, presumably due to the continuing need for sex hormones related to growth, particularly bone growth. She says more research is needed. I am all for that. Fortunately, this issue is an across-the-board one for all breeds, so we do not have to wait for the unlikely research paper focused solely upon Cavaliers.

I have a hunch that the research will show that dogs need their reproductive systems intact to keep their other systems functioning optimally, particularly the immune system. When the reproductive organs are removed, other bodily systems must compensate for the production of hormones which are not there anymore, and this could both overtax the other systems and result in inefficient compensating performances.

This hunch is based mainly upon conversations I have had recently with veterinarians who have noticed immune problems in Cavaliers and who are knowledgeable about the continuing value of the hormones produced by a functioning reproductive system.

When vets who previously advocated neutering young dogs now are questioning that policy, their views ought to be considered and may result in further research, much as recent research into the issue of annual vaccinations has resulted in new protocols. At the 2006 North American Veterinary Conference, there was not one paper presented on the topic of neutering canines. I would not be surprised if at the 2007 conference, this topic is discussed.

One comment about the alleged robustness of the average Cavalier. The average Cavalier has mitral valve disease, and while that disease may not manifest itself in visibly sickly behavior until it approaches the stage of congestive heart failure, it is progressive as sure as a pregnancy is progressive. We may not see the effects MVD has on the Cavalier with a grade 2 to 4 murmur, but it is having a continuous impact upon, not only the heart, but also the renal and hepatic and blood systems, guarantying an overtaxed immune system.

Knowlegeable veterinarians, particularly cardiologists, tend to agree that a Cavalier with moderate to advanced MVD should not be vaccinated, because of the impact of the vaccine viruses upon the immune system. (See, for example, Dr. Barrett's advice to Darcy on Darcy's Daily Blog on April 15 http://darcysdaily.blogspot.com/ )

If vaccines could adversely affect the immune system of Cavaliers with MVD, imagine the possible affect of the removal of an entire bodily system that is designed to contribute to the performance of the immune system. So, this is a topic which I think ought to be researched, and hopefully will be in the near future.

Rod Russell
Orlando, Florida USA
 
As soon as he looks like he's about to lift his leg and I correct him before he can

Yeah I know that look they get when they are thinking, "Hmmm, that chair leg sure looks like it needs a bit of a urine spritz..." :roll: Jaspar never marks, never has; but Leo (briefly) considers it now and then, only very occasionally, in a house where there are dogs so I know to watch him. Neutering in my experience *definitely* reduces the intent of a male in doing this though. If Leo tries it is a little spritz; CJ, the rescue boy I just had here, would do a major spray and then turn around and go again from the other direction. :yikes He was not a pushy or dominant dog at all either (little Leo is the boss around here and made sure he knew it), but he was very, very male.

My two were neutered at 9 months (Jaspar) and 11 months (Leo) and Jaspar did not get any leggier or taller than he already was at that time, nor did leo (Leo is a very compact, solid 'cobby' boy and fairly small at 15.5 lbs). No personality change whatsoever but it did curtail the marking and humping that started up very fast and was becoming more insistent.
 
karlin--sorry for the misunderstanding--it wasn't Zack's, or any dog's, sexuality i.e. sexual experience, that i was concerned about in being worried about neutering and altering hormones. It was health effects which i became aware of when a friend had a complete hysterectomy in her 30s and then later, studying the effects on the body of menopause. By analogy, I have worried that there can be effects like this on animals too, and that has caused me to hesitate on neutering Zack. But some of the health problems associated with early hysterectomy are caused by hormone replacement therapy, which dogs don't undergo.

While I'm hesitating, I haven't concluded that neutering is the wrong thing to do for him. I'm just studying the issue, weighing pros and cons and trying to listen to various sides. Even if there were some negative long term health effects, there are other factors to consider, like those you mention--such as emotional factors (high levels of testosterone make some animals overly stressed out apparently) and social factors, such what the owner is willing and able to do and cope with.

if a general recommendation is to be made, aside from case by case considerations, I agree with you that pet overpopulation is the most urgent serious problem and cause of suffering.

As far as the negative health effects on dogs of neutering, from what i've seen so far, this hasn't been studied enough to have very certain answers. Osteoporosis is apparently a known risk, and is complicated by obesity, which can be constrolled by an owner, but without obesity, osteoporosis still occurs. I think there are other growth related skeletal problems but again, am not sure about how much research there's been. Apparently there is some evidence for an association with malignant prostate cancer risk, but i don't know how much.

These are things i have wanted to be more informed about, but i am not finding anything which is persuading me not to neuter, when weighing the pros and cons. I'm thinking about waiting until Zack is a year old, but again, i'm still studying this, and might have him neutered sooner. I had been putting off thinking about it, but now he's 6 months and i need to decide what to do.

I had a friend who had a male dog who had a very strong sex drive and that unneutered dog was always acting kind of frantic, panting, and he appeared to be in a chronic state of emotional stress and unable to relax. One time my friend went to visit his parents and they all went out to dinner and left the dog at home. When they returned there was a hole in their wooden front door! and the dog was gone. They really could not figure out what had happened at first. Later, the dog returned or was found. He was taken to a vet to talk about how he had apparently managed to bite and claw through a wooden door. The vet said it was his sex drive and that neutering him would be a big help. My friend had a lot of reservations about neutering his dog, for the kinds of reasons you mention, thinking this would deprive the dog of something basically essential, but eventually my friend did have the dog neutered, after continuing to observe the sort of always distraught emotional state of the dog, and the neutering made a huge difference for the better. the dog seemed much calmer and happier as a result.
 
Rod Russell said:
.....This hunch is based mainly upon conversations I have had recently with veterinarians who have noticed immune problems in Cavaliers and who are knowledgeable about the continuing value of the hormones produced by a functioning reproductive system.

When vets who previously advocated neutering young dogs now are questioning that policy, their views ought to be considered and may result in further research, much as recent research into the issue of annual vaccinations has resulted in new protocols....

In considering an association between neutering and immune system functioning, do these vets speculate that observed impairment of immunity can be caused by neutering independently of the chaotic effects on immunity suspected to be caused by vaccination? Clearly this is an area in need of good research.
 
judy said:
In considering an association between neutering and immune system functioning, do these vets speculate that observed impairment of immunity can be caused by neutering independently of the chaotic effects on immunity suspected to be caused by vaccination? Clearly this is an area in need of good research.

Not the vets I have discussed this with. The impact of vaccines upon the immune system probably is easier to observe than the impact of neutering. However, more and more dogs are not being vaccinated as often or with as many vaccines as in past generations, and yet immune system deficiencies still crop up. I know of one Cavalier, for example, that had such a deficient immune system from an early age that the vets recommended that the dog not even be given its first rabies booster injection.

So, if vaccines are the primary cause of immune system problems, a question may be whether the affects of vaccines are passed from parents, particularly the dam, to the un-vaccinated puppies.

Rod Russell
Orlando, Florida USA
 
I like to neuter puppies as early as possibly (especially males). I have had them neutered as young as 8 weeks. One time I had a rescue adult, a 4 month old pup, and an 8 week old that went in at the same time for neutering. The 8 week old pup was up and running around when I picked them up (a few hours after surgery). The 4 month old was drowsy that day, but back to normal the next day. The adult was lethargic and seemed to be in pain for about a week. The young pups had no ill effects (unless you count never lifting their leg). One reason most vets won't spay/ neuter early is because it is more difficult for them (anestitising them and getting out tiny "parts"). If they are extremely small (under 3 lbs) I do wait until they are larger.
 
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