Not Neutering is Now A Thing

[Tarlo Farm]

Seriously. Makes me CRAZY some of my (younger) best friends have this (could be) wonderful 22 month old retriever they haven't neutered. They aren't totally effective owner/trainers, and he's getting big and obnoxious. And I LOVED this dog as a pup. I don't think they're going to neuter him either - unless he starts humping their little girl. At least he's only got one descended testicle.
I know others of this generation of 40-somethings also not neutering. Don't know about spaying. I could see waiting until dogs are a year old, but adult males not neutered? I think that's irresponsible.
Please don't post commentary about better health issues without citing your sources.

[exvet]

Well the dog I euthanized on the table, estimated age was 8-10, that had two sertoli cell tumors in his abdomen that began as retained testicles probably wishes his (at the time) owners had neutered him when he was a pup. His abdomen was extremely distended when he was surrendered. A volunteer asked that I give him a chance and do an abdominal exploratory................unfortunately a chance is all he got.

Because of a number of articles that have been published within the last decade suggest waiting until the dog or bitch is past a specific age this is more than a trend. I actually found the most recent article, published last month, very interesting and helpful in that it compared the risk rates of each sex and breed (they covered approximately 20) of early sterilization and the resulting consequences to those if left intact. The recommendations of timing to sterilize wasn't the same for each sex of each breed which I found most compelling. I would say half of the breeds, both sexes, listed were deemed - sterilize when your vet recommends it (ie, don't wait). I will admit that even I was surprised at some of the breeds that ended up in that list. I will also add that some of the risks of sterilizing early are better mitigated by appropriate nutrition and calorie control; so, imo it's a decision of convenience. I also find it interesting that many of the articles don't warn owners of the increased cost of sterilization at an age of 2 or 3. While most would agree that the decision should be based on what is best for the dog and not the wallet, the realities speak otherwise. At the end of the day, imo as a former shelter veterinarian, if an animal isn't a good citizen or has an increased chance of becoming a behavior problem (be that escaping, etc) then sterilization should be done ASAP once 'that' is established even if waiting until they're 2 reduces a dog's risk of ACL rupture by 23%.............HBC (hit by car) imo is often deadly. Being surrendered to a shelter can be just as deadly. ACL rupture can often be managed medically vs surgically (expensive and labor intensive) though I will admit in some cases the injury can shorten the life span and lessens the QOL of the dog - just ONE example of all that should go into the thought process. I don't think there is any ONE RIGHT ANSWER. Each patient and client situation should receive individual consideration including the capabilities of the owner, their management style and the patient's overall physical, mental and behavioral health.

[Tarlo Farm]

Thanks Exvet, I was hoping you'd chime in. Can you find and share that recent article?

[exvet]

Here are the two I found most relevant.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10 ... 00388/full

https://www.cliniciansbrief.com/article ... breed-dogs

[Tarlo Farm]

Thanks. I can't read the brief without creating an account. I can see waiting a year, but not two years, or worse, never.

[exvet]

I wasn't sure if you would be able to read it or not because it's comes up in my google search with an active link; but, I'm a member so that's probably why. I'll see if I can get it posted some other way.

[piedmontfields]

I have no idea if ideas are changing about neutering, but I do know there are still plenty of irresponsible dog owners who simply shouldn't have any dog.

FWIW, we usually wait until about age 2 or so to neuter a male dog---just to help their physical development and give them an improved shot of avoiding joint/ligament injuries (we have bird dogs). However, as exvet noted, if there were behavioral issues or other problems, they would get neutered earlier.

[Quelah]

Later spay and neuter is definitely a thing in working GSDs. At least among people who are working their working GSDs. The fact that the dogs are working generally makes hormone related behavior probs less of a thing.

I can't imagine NOT neutering a cryptorchid. If it's as with horses, it totally takes them off the table as a breeding animal, and it's not going to get any cheaper as they get older, and in dogs at least, the cancer risk is real.

I waited until Leika was 1-2 years old to spay, can't remember exact age. I'd do same for a male dog. I might do differently if I lived in town. Ziva came to me as an unspayed female, she lived to 12 as an unspayed female. I can't say I had a valid reason for not doing it, but it was never an issue.

[Chancellor]

I think the problem is that those who think they are doing it for the dog's benefit are not the responsible owners they think they are.
I mean, a cryptorchid should be neutered period. Like Piedmontfields said, there are still plenty of irresponsible dog owners who shouldn't have a dog at all.
I waited until almost a year to get Jackson (the cat) neutered because I wanted to let him develop a bit. He was an indoor cat who lived with a spayed older female who wouldn't take any nonsense from him.

Both Sherman and Bailey came to us fixed already. They are both rescues so I understand why it was done. But I am not thrilled about pediatric neutering. I do wonder about later developmental issues. But it is what it is.

Bailey's original owners are examples of someone who should never own a dog given the very serious abuse she endured.

[exvet]

Both Sherman and Bailey came to us fixed already. They are both rescues so I understand why it was done. But I am not thrilled about pediatric neutering. I do wonder about later developmental issues. But it is what it is.

What I find equally interesting about the articles is that they support that in certain breeds/types there is little evidence that pediatric neutering causes an increased risk of medical problems later in life versus waiting; however, it has been proven [elsewhere] that the national average for programs which adopt animals out intact with a spay/neuter voucher results in a 50% at best sterilization rate of intact animals that ended up at a shelter/rescue for 'some' reason. Again, I am not against keeping animals intact if there is a purpose and responsible hand (person) involved especially if they know, understand, accept and can fully manage the outcome for the good of the animals (meaning prevent suffering where and when possible). Unfortunately adopting out previously unwanted animals intact or no is a challenge and barriers to adoption which require certain skill sets, economic resources, etc just are not feasible nor are they enforceable. I don't think there is any 'one' 'right' answer because there are multiple issues at play here.

As one who has literally performed thousands of pediatric procedures (not just spay and neuter but other surgeries to address both congenital and acquired medical problems) and have practiced and lived long enough to see some of those animals in their teenage years I would be hard pressed to ban it or try to stop it across the board. Especially when every day an animal spends its life in a shelter its chances of acquiring an infectious disease, stress-related disease (including behavior problems) or being deemed 'unadoptable' and ending up an a euthanasia list increases (and this is true for those in no-kill shelters as well despite best practices and endless efforts). I respect those who's beliefs are opposed to pediatric neutering; and I will raise my hand and admit that I've placed certain breeds (puppies) in foster or rescue (great danes for example) in order to give them time to mature but get them out of my population (stats). Unfortunately steps like this aren't always possible for a myriad of reasons.

Still, I have no trouble sleeping at night if pediatric sterilization gets an animal into a forever home faster and thus keeps it safer [no guarantee but stats prove a higher success in placement particularly for mixed breeds] when you weigh all the risks on both sides of the coin. I, unfortunately, had to resign from shelter medicine because I could no longer perform the HQHVSN with the speed I once did. My body simply gave out - carpal tunnel and arthritis; so, I had to move on but I still support the overall mission where it's needed. In some places we did almost too good of a job; but, again, I'm not ashamed of that.

[Chancellor]

exvet, interesting thoughts. I certainly wouldn't ban it outright at all. Actually, I think it does prevent more unwanted animals.

[greenhorse]

Having to go through three CCL surgeries, I can fully understand why someone would want to wait to spay or neuter if it would decrease the chances of a CCL issue. It was hell. And, for those requiring tplo, it is crazy expensive.

[exvet]

Having to go through three CCL surgeries, I can fully understand why someone would want to wait to spay or neuter if it would decrease the chances of a CCL issue. It was hell. And, for those requiring tplo, it is crazy expensive.

I too understand and would support the decision. I just think it's a shame for people to leave out one little fact that can also greatly impact the risk of CCL and that is body weight and body condition. There are two different but relatively common scenarios for CCL injury: (1) The true athlete injury like football players get - sport dog doing frisbee competition or agility or similar type of activity - young, fit, uneven ground or just dumb luck while training/competing, (2) The overweight, out-of-shape middle age and older dog. Dogs don't have to get fat. Dogs don't have to be unfit. That onus is on us, the owner. If you have a fat overweight female that didn't get spayed until 3 years of age she still has a high risk of CCL injury as she gets older.

Having had the unfortunate circumstance of losing two females to mammary adenocarcinoma due to them being breeders and having been spayed later in life and one of them on DES for incontinence. I try to spay my females before their first heat cycle - be it my JRTs, my spanish water dogs or my mutts. Admittedly I do not tend to gravitate towards breeds that have recommendations of waiting two years to spay. I try to keep all of my dogs of the appropriate weight and fit. I have three dogs with congestive heart failure. They are all living with a 4/9 body condition score in order to slow down the progression of disease and not put too much strain on their heart. One of the three is 2.5 years out from diagnosis and treatment so he's beating the odds. The others are 1.5 years and 6 months out from their respective diagnoses and treatment. Both are still going strong and are slowing down more due to their other ailments. Weight is a big deal when it comes to risk factors for a variety of diseases.

[khall]

My dog who is now gone was one of those that would have probably done best if we had waited to neuter him until he got older. We adopted him at 5 months old and he was 50 lbs ended up 96 lbs. I did not have a choice nor was that a thing at that time. 2005. He ended up at a year old needing surgery but we did the fishing line then at 18 months blew the second CL and had a second fishing line surgery. I know it is not usually recommended for a dog his size but he did well. Never had lameness in either stifle just his left elbow that had arthritis in it from a young age then was fractured 3 yrs before we had to make the call to put him down in 2018.

We were lucky his recovery was no issue and he was a medium active dog. Too big and clunky to be an athlete but liked to do his patrols of the farm. My holistic vet is one to wait to spay and neuter. I did not with my pit rescue. She was spayed before she was a year. I just could not guarantee here on the farm that we would not have a roving stray that might come around if she was in heat.