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I have had dogs and cats, it has been recommended to spay/neuter at 6 months. I believe the world truly has enough unwanted puppies and kittens. Not all rescues or shelters are no kill which means that puppy or kitten may end up being put to sleep. You need to ask yourself if you would prefer the possibility of puppies and kittens being put to sleep or preventing them from being put to sleep. I currently have 4 cats, not that I wanted this many but people keep throwing away perfectly good cats. I adopted two from a rescue, one was thrown away and the last one was dropped from the sky by a rather large bird. He was 3 weeks old, weighted about 12 ounces and not a tooth in his head. They have all been spayed or neutered and only 1 is overweight. The throw away cat is overweight but I chalk that up to abandonment issues.
As a child we had 3 German Shepherds which also tend to have hip dysplasia, which is a genetic flaw and has nothing to do with spaying/neutering. Our first Shepherd puppy had hip dysplasia in both hips and we had to put him to sleep before he was 6 months old so he wasn't even neutered yet. So that throws the spay/neuter issue out the window. Age has nothing to do with it either the dogs are born with it. In the case of only one bad hip you may not notice it right away but as the dog ages you will. Any breed that has a tendency for hip dysplasia should be x-rayed by your vet not the breeders vet prior to purchase. It will save you a lot of heart ache.
Yes we all know about those unwanted pets. It is beyond tragic. I work with organized rescue and we have three rescued companions...one snatched from a high kill shelter, one from a county shelter and one confiscated from an animal hoarder as a neglect/abuse case.
The author is not suggesting that people who cannot control their pets keep them intact nor is he even trying to convince those who cannot control their pets to start controlling them so they can avoid spay/neuter. <sigh> So your "too many pets get put to sleep" as a counter has no basis. There is no argument there.
From your link: "Another contributor to the increased longevity of altered pets involves the reduced risk of certain types of cancers. Unspayed female cats and dogs have a far greater chance of developing pyrometra (a fatal uterine infection), uterine cancer, and other cancers of the reproductive system. Medical evidence indicates that females spayed before their first heat are typically healthier. (Many veterinarians now sterilize dogs and cats as young as eight weeks of age.)
Male pets who are neutered eliminate their chances of getting testicular cancer, and it is thought they they have lowered rates of prostate cancer, as well."
But I digress. Pyometra is a valid concern. Heck, any cancer of the reproductive organs is a valid concern. No one said that spay/neuter has no benefits. It does. As would the yanking of any organ that might become cancerous. But spay/neuter also likely has serious side effects that are recently coming to light. Turns out the yanking of the organs that produce those sex hormones is not as simple as we thought.
I suspect your strong emotional feelings about our country's pet overpopulation problem are getting in the way of your ability to cognitively assess the information in the article. But really, there is no need to try and convince me or anyone else on this thread that we have a serious pet overpopulation problem in this country. That is a known fact. And I am certain that the author of the article would agree with you on that point.
Everything I own is fixed: dogs, cats, horses. Always have been since the beginning of my adult life.
There was never a method to spay mares until recently and I believe it is only temporary. It is called "marbeling" and is reserved for mares with PMS times 1,200 pounds of "I think I will kill you today
I bring up the horses because I can just see what someone with a grade stallion or a poor quality registered stallion (that shouldn't be breeding) would do with that article. Holy Cow, they would have that shoved in the face of everyone who tells them their stallion is worth a lot more and will be a lot happier if his n*** are cut off
No, no and no, IMHO.
Why would that stallion owner do anything with the article? Unless they had a dog or a cat? Nobody suggested this approach for horses. And nobody in his right mind would. Dogs are not horses. Cats are not horses. Dogs are not cats. The author makes his distinctions between them pretty clear especially if you sub cattle for horses. Although cattle are not horses.
As a child we had 3 German Shepherds which also tend to have hip dysplasia, which is a genetic flaw and has nothing to do with spaying/neutering. Our first Shepherd puppy had hip dysplasia in both hips and we had to put him to sleep before he was 6 months old so he wasn't even neutered yet. So that throws the spay/neuter issue out the window. Age has nothing to do with it either the dogs are born with it.
If only the field of medical research was this black and white.
Spay and neuter. I've had to euthanize more cats and dogs due to lack of space at the shelter than I ever care to remember. I hope to god this article doesn't give people an excuse to be irresponsible. Until permits for breeding are mandatory and fines are put into place we will always have an overpopulation problem.
I have spoken to dog owners on my visit in the Netherlands. All their dogs are unneutered. When asked about the neuter, the owners looked at me confused as to why they would do such a crazy thing. Some thought it was as cruel as declawing. They do not have a unwanted over pet population problem. They have 1 dog in their shelter of 4 kennels in their town. There are no strays. Dogs were walked off leash. Off leashed! No aggression or behavior problems. All dogs, by law, must be cared and insured, from birth to death. Same for cats-they were encouraged to go outside. If someone neglect or abuse a pet, the person is prosecuted criminally with heavy fines and prison time. The best part is, you are not allowed to breed your pet for sale. You must be licensed and follow strict rules from the government to breed your pet. So that helps eliminate extra unwanted litters.
The article is very interesting. All my pets came neutered. Two of them were adopted already neutered and the third was required or I cannot adopt her. Even if I don't want the surgery, will the shelter or rescue let me adopt? No way.
Thanks for posting!
You're right. The shelter or rescue will not let you adopt unless you contract to spay/neuter. At least the vast majority won't. I know of two that I could adopt from and prolly keep the dog intact but they know me very well.
I look at it this way...if I get a puppy from a breeder I won't spay/neuter unless circumstances dictate such surgery is necessary. But the side effects of spay/neuter will not stop me from adopting a dog from a rescue. I am certain that both are in my future.
Location: Approximately 50 miles from Missoula MT/38 yrs full time after 4 yrs part time
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katie1
Obesity
The neutered animals tend to get obese more easily than their intact cohorts. This has been studied in cats as well as dogs. This has also been commonly seen in practice over many generations of dogs. I strongly suspect that this is due to carbohydrate laden foods (i.e. kibble) being fed to carnivores, especially the cat. You can have a big influence here by making good feeding choices in both species.
While this IS true MOST dogs & Cats become Fat do to the Thyroid Not Working Right After being put to sleep FOR the Operation! So YES getting Fix can cause an animal to become Fat! Before you blame Lack of Exercise or improper food! HAVE THYROID Tests Done!!
I've been a responsible dog owner since the age of (6).......and I'm now in my 84th year and have been accused by many of my friends and "hunting buddies" of treating my dogs better than some parents treat their children (particularly with regard to their diet and maintaining a healthy weight.)
Over these many years, I have have Labs, Goldens, German Shepards and Brittanys.
My current (neutered) (46#) dog companion is a 9 1/2 yr old Brittany (large for his Breed/22 inches at shoulder), very active, has 14 fenced acres to run on approx 1 hr/day, sleeps 9hr in utility room at night, is in house with me approx 6 hr/day and then is outside (8 hr) in very clean (10x20') dog run every day.....I got him at 12 weeks.
He is fed a dry (kibble/type) grain free...(turkey-chicken-barley-duck, oatmeal and fishmeal ) dog food (1 1/8 cup twice a day/9 hours apart)....341 kcal per cup.....resulting in 25% protein, 10% fat, 7% fiber & 10% moisture, plus a whole bunch of other ingredients.....I also give him one 300 mg Fish Oil capsule every morning.
Any comments and/or recommendations are welcome. He seems to be doing quite well on this food for the last 2 years. Younger years (when I hunted him a fair amount), he was on a 35/12/8/10 version.
Last edited by Oldhag1; 07-13-2015 at 01:32 AM..
Reason: Fixed formatting
Spay and neuter. I've had to euthanize more cats and dogs due to lack of space at the shelter than I ever care to remember. I hope to god this article doesn't give people an excuse to be irresponsible. Until permits for breeding are mandatory and fines are put into place we will always have an overpopulation problem.
The neutered animals tend to get obese more easily than their intact cohorts. This has been studied in cats as well as dogs. This has also been commonly seen in practice over many generations of dogs. I strongly suspect that this is due to carbohydrate laden foods (i.e. kibble) being fed to carnivores, especially the cat. You can have a big influence here by making good feeding choices in both species.
While this IS true MOST dogs & Cats become Fat do to the Thyroid Not Working Right After being put to sleep FOR the Operation! So YES getting Fix can cause an animal to become Fat! Before you blame Lack of Exercise or improper food! HAVE THYROID Tests Done!!
This is quite true. My female GSP was spayed after her first litter of pups proved to be a difficult affair for her. She damn near died after the procedure- a lot of internal bleeding. Several vet friends have said they HATE spaying females because it is not an easy procedure- the ovaries are not readily accessible and some breeds have a nasty time of it.
She got over that, but the weight gain has been horrid for a field dog. She should be 60lbs and she's over 70, and that's only two cups a day total. One in the morning, one in the evening. We're working her more and more, but she's not as energetic as she was prior to the spay (and she's not even 3 yet..)
I seriously doubt I will spay my next field dog. We'll keep them separate while in heat. My male is intact and he is a pure athlete and driven to hunt. That's what we need.
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