-SPAYING AND NEUTERING 101-


A crucial part of responsible pet ownership includes preventing your pet from breeding or being bred. While spaying and neutering prevents 100% of unplanned pregnancies, we have learned that this practice isn't benign, as everyone hoped.

"The diseases for which spayed or neutered dogs are at increased risk are, as you also might expect, some of the most common disorders seen in dogs today. They include obesity, cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) ruptures, hip dysplasia, several types of cancer, urine dribbling (incontinence) and cystitis (bladder inflammation).


Whenever possible, I prefer to leave dogs intact. However, this approach requires a highly responsible pet guardian who is fully committed to and capable of preventing the dog from mating.
My second choice is to sterilize without desexing. This means performing a procedure that will prevent pregnancy while sparing the testes or ovaries so they can continue to produce hormones essential for the dog's health and well-being.

This typically involves a vasectomy for male dogs, and either a tubal ligation or modified spay (a hysterectomy) for females. The modified spay removes the uterus while preserving the hormone-producing ovaries. It also eliminates the possibility of pyometra because the uterus is removed."

The modified spay removes the uterus while preserving the hormone-producing ovaries. It also eliminates the possibility of pyometra because the uterus is removed." -Dr Karen Becker, DVM

 

But when we took these photos, it hit us. Something was really wrong, and we couldn't fix our mistakes. 

We could only learn from them.



You can read more about our experience, tracking the cause of CCL injuries in our dogs on our orthopaedic health page.


At twelve months of age, this male was returned to us. He has been neutered around 6 months of age, and compared to his sister, he looked very alien compared our intact breeding dogs. He wasn't dramatically underweight, but his bone structure had been permanently altered because he had been sterilized far too young. 


We have a lifetime return policy on all of our dogs and puppies, and we are so grateful to the people who returned this boy to us. It was pure luck that his sister was with us to compare him to, and we are grateful that we were able to learn more about the effects that premature spaying and neutering have on large breed dogs like Labrador Retrievers.



What if THAT isn't the worst of it?



A study on Golden Retrievers reveals the following;
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"Of early-neutered males, 10 percent were diagnosed with HD [Hip Dysplasia], double the occurrence in intact males. There were no cases of CCL [Knee injury, requiring surgery] diagnosed in intact males or females, but in early-neutered males and females the occurrences were 5 percent and 8 percent, respectively.  

Almost 10 percent of early-neutered males were diagnosed with LSA [Cancer], 3 times more than intact males. 

The percentage of HSA [Cancer] cases in late-neutered females (about 8 percent) was 4 times more than intact and early-neutered females. There were no cases of MCT [Mass Cell Tumours] in intact females, but the occurrence was nearly 6 percent in late-neutered females."

  1. On the negative side, neutering male dogs

    • if done before 1 year of age, significantly increases the risk of osteosarcoma (bone cancer); this is a

      common cancer in medium/large and larger breeds with a poor prognosis.

    • increases the risk of cardiac hemangiosarcoma by a factor of 1.6

    • triples the risk of hypothyroidism

    • increases the risk of progressive geriatric cognitive impairment

    • triples the risk of obesity, a common health problem in dogs with many associated health problems

    • quadruples the small risk (<0.6%) of prostate cancer

    • doubles the small risk (<1%) of urinary tract cancers

    • increases the risk of orthopedic disorders

    • increases the risk of adverse reactions to vaccinations

  1. On the negative side, spaying female dogs

    • if done before 1 year of age, significantly increases the risk of osteosarcoma (bone cancer); this is a

      common cancer in larger breeds with a poor prognosis

    • increases the risk of splenic hemangiosarcoma by a factor of 2.2 and cardiac hemangiosarcoma by

      a factor of >5; this is a common cancer and major cause of death in some breeds

    • triples the risk of hypothyroidism

    • increases the risk of obesity by a factor of 1.6-2, a common health problem in dogs with many

      associated health problems

    • causes urinary “spay incontinence” in 4-20% of female dogs

    • increases the risk of persistent or recurring urinary tract infections by a factor of 3-4

    • increases the risk of recessed vulva, vaginal dermatitis, and vaginitis, especially for female dogs

      spayed before puberty

    • doubles the small risk (<1%) of urinary tract tumors

    • increases the risk of orthopedic disorders

    • increases the risk of adverse reactions to vaccinations



Our takeaway message: 


You only know what you know! We learned the hard way on this one, and can't go back in time to prevent the damage done to those dogs who were sterilized very young. But when we know better, we can do better! If this is your first time reading about this issue, take the time to consider the following questions:

If it is so healthy for a mammal to be "fixed", why don't we spay and neuter humans for their health?

Could you find even one physician who would recommend elective castration or ovariohysterectomy for the benefit of a healthy human child?