For those of us that remember Bob Barker on the Price is Right

I can’t count the amount of times owners have told me they didn’t want to neuter their dog because they wouldn’t feel right taking their pet’s ‘manhood’ away,……… …………

Or they wanted their cat to have a litter or two before they had them spayed so they could experience motherhood,……………………

I think, maybe, you already know the tone. Please please spay and neuter your pets! We have a pretty bad issue with pet over population and there isn’t much need for accidental or even planned breeding. There are many many dog and cat breeders already.

Un-neutered animals are at greater risk for things like cancer (mammary cancer/ testicular cancer), infections (pyometra- infected uterus) (prostatitis -infected/enlarged prostate gland), and unplanned pregnancies. Having animals spayed and neutered can also help managing certain behaviors (minimizing cats roaming and spraying, dogs mounting etc), although it shouldn’t be considered a treatment, more as a preventative step. Typically we aim to perform these procedures early in life before they hit sexual maturity.

But as with everything, it is not completely black and white. Certain breeds of dogs may be more appropriate to undergo these surgeries later in life. Studies have found that golden retrievers who were spayed/neutered at an early age were more likely to sustain an orthopedic injury later in life. This may be associated with growth related factors that are stimulated through the presence of sex hormones. Many veterinary practices are beginning to adopt late spay and neuter surgery policy for their large/giant dog breed patients. Another consideration is metabolism, once our pets have been,…liberated,… their metabolism slows down. The study mentioned above found that these golden retrievers are indeed at a greater odds of becoming overweight/obese (regardless of the age at which the surgery took place).

These surgeries typically involve:

• blood testing to ensure pets are healthy enough to metabolize the anaesthetic drugs
• pets are fasted overnight (no food and water prior to surgery)
• your pet is premedicated, before they are induced
• surgery is performed (regular surgical approach or laparoscopic approach) where ovaries and uterus are removed, or the testicles are removed
• your pet is ‘recovered’ from anaesthetic and monitored as they wake up
• they go home with pain medication
• keeping your pets rested is important post surgery, no running or jumping!
• often it is necessary to bring you pet back in 10-12 days to have sutures removed AND to make sure the surgery site healed properly

In the end my recommendation remains the same, please spay and neuter your pets! Maybe do it a bit later (if you have certain breeds) but do it. Talk to your veterinarian about when the best time would be!