When did you Spay/Neuter Your Dog

[Lambchop]

I was at the dog park the other day and mentioned I would be getting my pup fixed soon because his daycare doesn’t allow dogs after 6 months of age to attend without being fixed, they have me an extra month to get it done and so he’s getting fixed on the exact day he turns 7 months. As soon as I said it the 2 people near my friend and I got on my case about how terrible it is to fix your dog so young and asked if I was aware of all the issues that I was going to cause my poor dog by going ahead with the surgery!

Now, I was going to wait untill he turned 1 but since I prefer to have him in daycare than crated all day and his level of energy and need for socailness, his surgery was booked. I spoke with the vet and she said anytime after 6 months is generally fine for most dogs, it’s nice to wait if you have a dog that is going to grow up to be a large breed (great Danes, bloodhounds, St.Bernards etc) but that most of the issues that are caused by fixing your dog to early are from people who get there dogs fixed young (8 weeks old kind of deal) but to do my own research.

Problem is, much of the “research” I see is opinion pieces that will reference a study but not cite it so I can’t find it to see how long the study was, what breeds they focused on, what size of dogs they used, how many dogs they used, did they use litter mates to compare? etc So I have a hard time really taking it at face value, especaily when they say “early neuter” but don’t specify what they consider an “early neuter”.

I called around and other vets seem to agree with my own but I figured I would still take it to the wise members of COTH to discuss

[LauraKY]

Oh boy. We have some dedicated never spay or neuter people on here. Somewhere around 6 months is my usual practice though.

[FatCatFarm]

Any time after 6 months but preferably before they are a year old.

[RacetrackReject]

I do right after the 6 month mark for spays. My vet told me that the risk of an altered dog getting certain cancers was reduced greatly by waiting until at least 6 months for a spay. I believe they do recommend waiting a bit longer for a neuter though, closer to a year, for much the same reason.

[BuddyRoo]

At pretty much every practice I have worked in, it has been recommended at 4-6 mos. However, one of the last veterinarians I used (number one of three now in one year) said that she thought my dog (now 13) would’ve had better muscle mass and such had he not been neutered so young (6 mos). That was the first time I’d heard a vet make a case for waiting. So I looked into it more and ya know, there are some pretty good arguments out there (scientifically based) for waiting and now I’ve heard similar from two more vets.

I think the primary reason that early spay/neuter is advocated for is because very few pet owners are willing/able to properly monitor and restrict their pets so once they are physically capable of breeding or being bred, they do and they are. And most pet daycare facilities aren’t set up to keep your dog separate from other dogs–since the whole point is interaction–so it makes sense that they don’t want to take on dogs of breeding age and run the risk.

I think there are two relatively recent studies on this–one from CSU and one from MSU. There might be another from Cornell. I would have to dig in to my accounts to find them.

But I think that if I were to get another large breed dog, I’d get pretty studious and think hard about waiting. My current vet (so number two )and the neurologist (number three) think that there may be a correlation with my dog’s GOLPP and being neutered too early.

[Lambchop]

[QUOTE=LauraKY;8301352]
Oh boy. We have some dedicated never spay or neuter people on here. Somewhere around 6 months is my usual practice though.[/QUOTE]

Haha, I will throw sterilization into the equation than aswell. I’ve been hearing more about people who sterilize instead of going through with removing the organs in a spay/neauter

[bambam]

I know my friend who is a small animal vet has told me that, based on new research, their recommendation (and that this is becoming the norm) is to wait until one year as it helps with certain cancers, muscle mass, and a few other things that currently escape my recollection at the moment. That being said, it is not a hard rule and if there are other good reasons for doing it sooner and your own vet agrees, I would not sweat it much.

[chism]

[QUOTE=bambam;8301390]
I know my friend who is a small animal vet has told me that, based on new research, their recommendation (and that this is becoming the norm) is to wait until one year as it helps with certain cancers, muscle mass, and a few other things that currently escape my recollection at the moment. That being said, it is not a hard rule and if there are other good reasons for doing it sooner and your own vet agrees, I would not sweat it much.[/QUOTE]

My female GSD just turned a year old this week. I’d done a ton of reading pros and cons 6 months vs a year, and decided to compromise somewhere in the middle. When she was around 10 months old, I scheduled an appt, she promptly went into heat. My vet won’t spay until 2-3 months after a heat, so now we’re going to do it in October. I asked him his thoughts about the “right time” and he said that he said he prefers to do it younger because of the reduced risk of pregnancy and that everything is smaller…? He didn’t really have an opinion on whether one was healthier than the other, said the research indicates benefits and negatives depending on what sort of disease/condition you’re talking about.
Personally, other than the constant monitoring…I didn’t find having to deal with her in heat to be all that difficult, she sticks to me like glue anyway and we live in New ENgland where unneutered dogs are rare. The worst part was that she had a personality change while in heat, became nervous and irritable, and aggressive with our other dogs, which was not her normal personality.

[BuddyRoo]

[QUOTE=chism;8301422]
My female GSD just turned a year old this week. I’d done a ton of reading pros and cons 6 months vs a year, and decided to compromise somewhere in the middle. When she was around 10 months old, I scheduled an appt, she promptly went into heat. My vet won’t spay until 2-3 months after a heat, so now we’re going to do it in October. I asked him his thoughts about the “right time” and he said that he said he prefers to do it younger because of the reduced risk of pregnancy and that everything is smaller…? He didn’t really have an opinion on whether one was healthier than the other, said the research indicates benefits and negatives depending on what sort of disease/condition you’re talking about.[/QUOTE]

It certainly is messier and requires more packing material when you spay a dog in heat or a pregnant. And the organs are bigger when an animal is an adult. But I’m a little baffled by the 2-3 mos after a heat. We just charged extra for supplies if they were in heat or pregnant at the time of the surgery. That’s interesting.

[Mosey_2003]

We ended up doing our female Boxer at about a year, we were going to sneak it in before her first heat, but she surprised us and we had to wait.

If I were to get a young dog now, I’d probably still wait for a year old. But, my living situation makes it very easy to avoid accidental dog pregnancy.

[Bluey]

Our vet said it depends on the dog and the management, but basically, still before puberty is ideal, less estrogen or testosterone driven cancers later.
Those are huge concerns, compared with all others.
Plus pregnancies for females can have complications, if someone slips and she gets pregnant in the first heat.

My dog was spayed as soon as he would do it.
Since she is small, at six months.
She is almost ten years old and any health problems she had were not related to spaying at six months.
The more that wait, the more breast cancer when older and that is always very sad.
Every dog we ever had was spayed around six months old.

In our dog club, opinions are all over, some spay sooner, some later.

[PlanB]

@ 6 mos in accordance with the adoption contract.

[arapaloosa_lady]

@Bluey;8301438

Our vet said it depends on the dog and the management, but basically, still before puberty is ideal, less estrogen or testosterone driven cancers later.
Those are huge concerns, compared with all others.

That’s true for females… not so much for males (unless the male is cryptorchid).

OP: Your dog may grow a little taller & be a little less bulky than if you didn’t neuter. Does that really matter, though? That’s the question. There’s no great research showing either health benefits or long-term health risks from neutering early. Most people neuter for behavioral and management reasons. Needing to neuter to keep your dog in daycare is as good a reason as any.

[Mondo]

Wow. It sounds as though the pendulum has swung the other way. I remember not long ago hearing of kittens that were spayed/neutered at 12 weeks. (Not kidding!) I’ve always had mine “fixed” as soon as the vet recommended. I have a 10 year old bitch that is intact and have never had any health issues with her whatsoever. She has never been bred (not for lack of trying).

[Laurierace]

With the males I like to get them done while they are still squatting to pee, I waited a little too long with my last dog as he started lifting his leg at four months. Generally speaking by six months is my cut off. I do not accept unaltered dogs of either gender after 12 months of age for boarding. Learned that one the hard way a couple of times unfortunately.

[ynl063w]

I’ve had dogs for decades (all my life really) and not one was ever spayed/neutered later than 7 months. Not one of them ever had any health problems related to having the surgery before 1 year.

Does anyone have any links to actual studies showing the health risks of altering a dog before 1 year? I have seen articles listing all kinds of life-threatening ailments that will surely happen, but none that I’ve ever read have provided references to any data to support those conclusions. The studies must be out there, right?

[pezk]

Thinking about the dogs I’ve owned over many yrs:
Corky,GSD/collie mix, came from shelter, 6months old when adopted, already n. Lived to 15
Dixie, dobe/huskies mix, came from shelter, adopted at 3 months, spayed at 4 lived to 14
Nugget, 4yr dobe from breed rescue, already n lived to 15-17
Samantha, 10 weeks from dobe rescue, already s. (Too early IMO) she’s 10.5 now still alive
Zach, 10 yr old GSD from private owner, intact. Championship dog when young. Still alive.

[RedmondDressage]

Got mine at 12 weeks, had already been neutered by the rescue. Not sure I would’ve opted to do it that early but what was done was done. He’s only 2 so no idea on long term effects of that.

[Simkie]

This is the article that I’ve seen. I think it’s pretty well researched and covers both sides, with a hefty reference list.

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

I have one 11 yo girl spayed after her first or second heat, and one 3 yo girl that’s still intact. I do prefer to wait and just don’t find intact girls to be an issue.

CATS, on the other hand, get fixed WELL before puberty. There’s nothing worse than a cat in heat! :lol:

[Casey09]

I’m in the wait camp, past a heat cycle for females and older for males. One vet in the practice I use prefers them younger, the other one had worked with a vet that was passionate about waiting. A small dog I’d feel more comfortable altering earlier. With big dogs, I’d prefer to let them grow a bit. Obviously I would only wait if I could prevent breeding accidentally, and with my lifestyle and the way I keep dogs I can.