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Desexing young

Alana

Well-known member
Hi everyone and Happy Boxing Day (the day we recover from the festivities),

Jessie and me posted in another thread of mine about desexing at 4 months and many people posted that they thought this was unnecessary. I am also from Australia and I was advised to get Bella desexed by 5 months. I was told that undesirable behaviours develop if dogs go through puberty and have not been desexed. I was also told that male and female dogs have different personality traits and that boys are more playful and that if they get desexed before 6 months, females keep their playful behaviour. Please tell me that this is all rot so I can just enjoy her being a puppy and not have to put her through surgery so young. She also has a hernia but it isn't big and since it seems so common in CKCS and may go away on its own I won't bother worrying about it.
 
I can only say that my Ben who is entire is the most playful and loving Cavalier that I have had the pleasure to have as a companion.

All dogs are individuals, what may be true for one is not true for another. My gut reaxtion is what you have been told is as you say rot.
 
I would never get them done so young. I had Harley done at about 11 month and he is the most playful dog I had. In my opinion a dog should go through puberty it’s only natural and undesirable behaviours happen if the dog doesn’t get socialized and gets no proper training.
 
I had my male done at 1 year, my female is 13 months now, she'll be done soon.

Both have always been playful, bouncy dogs.

I wouldn't neuter before 6 months without a good reason, and really don't see the point of neutering younger than a year. A female will go through one heat (early bloomers could do 2, I think), which does require management, but really isn't that bad.
 
Hi Alana & everyone.

Our Jessie was desexed at 4 months and had his hernia removed, upon our vet's recommendation. They were concerned at the rate in
which his hernia was growing and it kept increasing in size. They said that it was best to perform both procedures while he is under, as
to not have the stress on Jessie going through surgery again for desexing. On the plus side, he healed very quickly and nothing has changed.
He still has the same temperament, still bouncing off the walls, still naughty and sweet natured and still eats like a horse.

Even growing up, our pets were always desexed at 6 months and they were happy & healthy. It comes down to personal
preference and weighing up the pros and cons. I think female desexing it far more invasive though. You can always seek another opinion
from another veterinarian clinic, which I wish we had of at the time.
 
I would never neuter so young unless it was a life saving surgery or something!

I like my dogs to grow naturally with all the hormones that they need to do so- grow at a natural rate, develop their personality and mature naturally.

I let my little lady have 2 seasons before she was done at 14 months and my little man was 14 months also - I wanted to wait longer for him as he came for a poor background and was under nourished and very small. I was waiting for him to bulk up a bit but we had it done alongside his xrays, ecg and ultra sounds after finding out he had a grade 6 murmor.

I'm a beleiver in letting them develop and mature naturally!
 
I have worked with a lot of dogs in rescue and with trainer friends -- literally hundreds -- and have never seen less playful female dogs simply based on whether they were neutered, not neutered, or neutered at a given age. I know a lot of vets, and also have worked on our annual Spayweek campaign in Ireland, and have NEVER heard anyone anywhere make a claim that females would be more playful if neutered younger!! Most vets will advise neutering as old as possible but before dogs go into puberty. once they have gone into puberty it is males, rather than females, that can have unwanted behaviours that are harder to manage or eliminate -- such as humping, marking etc.

I have seen some debate whether it is better not to neuter at all as a long term health issue but setting aside that neutering prevents or lowers the rate for the most common and potentially lethal cancers and pyometra in females, anyone working in dog welfare that works with pounds and sees the day to day reality will know that intact dogs definitely end up in pounds and in accidents and potentially fatal fights at a massively greater rate than neutered dogs (especially males!) and also are more attractive to steal (to breed). My pound contacts estimate that at any time 70% of all dogs in the pound and killed in car accidents are intact males -- because they escape, they roam, they chase females in heat, and can end up miles from home at a pound so distant families never look there for their dog. It is also only ever the intact males that have behaviour issues like marking indoors that caused problems on adoption, in my own experience.

Females lose some cancer-protective benefits if not neutered before their first heat but some prefer to wait til they reach maturity before neutering, which means managing them through one heat.

I neutered my males at around 10 months and never have had any indoor marking problems or other issues.

I have had three females -- one spayed before I got her at an unknown age (probably 6 months), and two spayed at age 6, and all have been sweet and playful. I cannot imagine how neytering earlier would possibly have changed their playfuness!

It is true that all else being equal, males and females in dogs and cats do have different personalities. Males tend to be a bit more affectionate and playful. Females tend to be slightly more aloof and can be temperamental with other females (hence the word 'bitch' making it into the language as a disparagement for humans! :lol:). But this is very general and cavaliers tend to be very even across the genders and also tend to get along very well in groups. :D

With a female I'd either neuter around 6-7 months before 1st heat or wait til a couple of months after 1st heat, likely around a year.

There are special cases for neutering early that need to be decided case by case but I'd never neuter earlier than 6 month minimum unless there was a serious need to do so.
 
I'd be careful at the 6 month mark as many Cavaliers (and other small breeds) will come in to season at around that age and you need a couple of months either way of a season before you spay.
Ruby came in at 6 months exactly and friends have had as early as 5 months.
 
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