Neutering/Spaying: What age?

As most know, Mufasa is unaltered. All 3 of the older dogs were altered before adopted: Simba before 8 months, Nala at 8 weeks, Kiara at 15 weeks.

Mufasa will be 6 months old on the 16th of this month. He has shown no signs of aggression, dominance, etc. so I'm not necessarily worried about getting him neutered right away. When we first got him, I was worried about him becoming aggressive.

I'm curious at what age everyone's pups were altered or if you currently have a puppy, what age do you plan for?

Depends on the dog, with the rescues they are altered asap. The puppies depending on if they are vWB+ or not, if they are we wait a bit, if not many are done at 8 weeks.

The kittens were done at 6 weeks except for one who was too tiny and will be neutered in april.

When we had show dogs we waited on several of the prospects to see if they were keepers or not. If not they were neutered and found great pet homes.

I would neuter him sooner rather than later simply to halt some male issues that can occur with unaltered males(marking etc.)

Just my thoughts.
Kym

Raven was spayed at 5 months and so was Tasha. That is about the age my vet starts doing them. Of course, having a girl I think it's even more important to be done earlier if possible. Tommy was done after he came to live here at 6 months old. Willie was older, after his showing was done, about 6 years old I think. Cody was around 2 I think. None of my dogs ever showed any aggression or dominance issues beforehand. I really think that has a lot more to do about being a good pack leader than hormonal issues, although hormonal issues can certainly add to it if things are already unstable. I suppose it can vary from dog to dog too though.

From what you have said and the pictures I've seen, Mufasa seems like a pretty laid back pup with no interest in taking the lead. I'd be really surprised if you ever had those types of issues with him :)

It depends on the vet at what age.

Where I work the vet prefers to do male cats/dogs at 6-7 months old, and female cats/dogs at 5-6 months old before the first heat cycle. But I've heard of other vets in our area that do them as young as 2-3 months old. I think it depends on what age they feel comfortable doing it at.

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Originally Posted by Catlady711

I think it depends on what age they feel comfortable doing it at.

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I think so too, and also if it is an owner neuter or in our case rescue/fosters that are neutered before being adopted out.

I think Kay is a great dog mom and will do what is best for Moo, (like send him here for cuddles)

My dogs were altered at 6.5 years (Winston), 7 months (Tango), 6 weeks (Morgan), 4 years (Tia). Past dogs were altered between 6 months and 2 years. My next dog (and all of my future dogs) will not be altered before the age of 18 months - there is a huge difference between both the appearance and temperaments of my dogs (and dogs of friends) that were altered young and those that were altered later on. Morgan, for instance, is the most immature dog both physically and mentally and I'm sure that a lot of that has to do with being spayed so early in life. Other people I know say the same about their dogs who were spayed early vs. those that they did later on in life. Of course you don't see this with all early altered dogs, but it does happen. Even Tango probably should've had more time to mature. I don't have a problem with altering at 6+ months at all, but I prefer to wait longer and give my dog's body a chance to fully mature. It's just something I feel is important, after researching about it a lot throughout the past year. As far as aggression goes, I don't feel hormones have a whole lot to do with whether a dog will become aggressive or not. Of course they might contribute a bit, but if a dog is aggressive, chances are it would have been that way no matter when it was altered. Just do what you feel most comfortable doing. :)

All of my animals were done at 6 months, except Duke who wasnt done until 8 months.

Nova was spayed at 9 months and if I could take that back and wait until after her first heat, I would. I'm a big believer in those hormones are there for a reason and removing them too early could cause more harm than good. I would wait until 12 months at least, but 18 months would probably be even better. Buck is 13 months and not neutered and I don't regret not having done it already. As long as you can control your dog, there's no reason to rush into anything. Take your time to research and make a decision you're comfortable with.

I should also mention that any dog/cat adopted unaltered from my shelter (only puppies really, they alter any adults first if they are unaltered) you sign a contract and you have a deadline the dog has to be altered by. For Raven the deadline is March 12. They can reclaim the dog if you don't have it done by the date stated on the contract. So I had to have it done by 6 months no matter what, but I chose to get it over with after she turned 5 months.

Nebo was neutered at 4 months. Reggie and Smokey were both neutered when they were older, I think Reggie was about 9 years and Smokey maybe 12 years, I'm not sure. No they were not bred my parents just didn't see the need to neuter them (they have since changed their minds). Smokey especially developed some bad habits from not being neutered earlier...he'd try to dig out of the yard and run off, lift his leg on the couch, etc. I prefer to neuter/spay around 4-6 months (though I would wait longer for a large-giant breed). Keva is 5 months, I wanted to get her spayed before she went into heat, but I don't know if she'll be over the infection by then. I'm not sure when Sydney was spayed, my sister had her then, it was before she went into heat though, so likely 4-6 months.

I know many dogs that were spayed/neutered before they were a year old and I have not seen any health or behavior problems because of early spaying/neutering. I have seen plenty of unneutered males come into my work that pee on literally everything, multiple times.

Here's some info about early spay/neuter, I just browsed and found it, I don't have time to read the whole thing, just providing a link http://www.danesonline.com/earlyspayneuter.htm

Kay I think you should do whatever you feel the most confortable with. Nebo would likely get along better with him if he's neutered, but who knows with that crazy husky of mine. :rolleyes:

all of my dogs were fixed before 6 months. :)

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Originally Posted by .sarah

Nova was spayed at 9 months and if I could take that back and wait until after her first heat, I would. I'm a big believer in those hormones are there for a reason and removing them too early could cause more harm than good. I would wait until 12 months at least, but 18 months would probably be even better. Buck is 13 months and not neutered and I don't regret not having done it already. As long as you can control your dog, there's no reason to rush into anything. Take your time to research and make a decision you're comfortable with.

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Each person should do what they are most comfortable with, and what their vet reccommends for optimal health.

As far as research goes, I whole-heartedly agree.

However I dissagree with waiting to spay females (particularly dogs) until after their first or second heat cycle. Those hormones are there to help them produce puppies/kittens, unless a person is planning on breeding it is more harmful to leave them than to remove them.

These are the reasons I believe that, and have seen many instances of both diseases in my 6 years working for the vet, not all the pets survived the diseases even with treatment.


Excerpt Taken From PetEducation.com

Mammary Tumors

"Mammary tumors are more common in unspayed, middle-aged female dogs (those between 5 and 10 years of age), although they can, on rare occasions, be found in dogs as young as 2 years. These tumors are rare in dogs that were spayed under 2 years of age. Spaying greatly reduces the chances of a female dog developing this condition. In those females spayed prior to their first heat cycle, breast cancer is very, very rare. The risk of malignant mammary tumors in dogs spayed prior to their first heat is 0.05%. It is 8% for dog spayed after one heat, and 26% in dogs spayed after their second heat.It is believed that the elimination or reduction of certain hormonal factors causes the lowering of incidence of the disease in dogs that have been spayed."

Additional but similar information available atVeterinaryPartner.com.



Excerpt Taken From PetEducation.com

Pyometra (uterine infection)

Pyometra is a disease mainly of middle-aged female dogs that have not been spayed. In the past, we thought pyometra was simply a uterine infection, but today, we know that it is a hormonal abnormality, and a secondary bacterial infection may or may not be present. Pyometra follows a heat cycle in which fertilization did not occur. Typically, within two to four months after the cycle, the female starts showing signs of the disease.

Additional but similar information available at VeterinaryPartner.com

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I'm a big believer in those hormones are there for a reason and removing them too early could cause more harm than good.

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My thoughts exactly Sarah.. i personaly prefer is to hold off as long as possible. Chloe was spayed after her first heat. Malakai is still intact, he will be 2 at the end of April..i plan to have him fixed somewhere around then. Im really not in a rush to get it done, I am a responsible pet owner, hes not out wondering the streets looking for females, hes not agressive, and has not once lifted his leg indoors.

Lacey and Layla were both fixed at 6 months. :)

King was a rescue and I never got him neutered... and he was one of the friendliest dogs you could ever meet. (Well there was an emergency surgery he had to have and he end up getting 1/2 neutered when he was 13.)

With any future dogs I plan on getting them neutered/spayed when they are three years old. (If they aren't already.)

I had every plan to breed King, but finding other responsible people with the right dog was impossible. (And finding people that weren't stuck up about being in breed clubs.)

Breeding isn't my thing though and i don't foresee ever finding a dog as perfect as King ever again. ...With that said I don't need any oops litters. I do however want my dogs to have the right dose of hormones. That's guaranteed by the age of three. After a certain age though those hormones have the opposite effect and actually start to cause bad health. I wouldn't get a female dog spayed any later than six or seven years and a male dog any later than nine or 10 years.

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Originally Posted by Kfamr

I'm curious at what age everyone's pups were altered or if you currently have a puppy, what age do you plan for?

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Tobey was neutered at 6 months on the advice of the vet and I guess Archie was done at about the same age.

Penny - About 3 or 4 years old, i would have liked her to be done earlier but it was not up to me.

Clover - 3 years old, same as above. Desexing her later was not so bad, she did calm down with in days and was trying to play with dogs shge did not like when entie ;). Clover has also become incontinent in the past 6 months or so.. i dont know if that has anything to do with her being desexed late or what.

Theo - 7 month old. He acts like an entire male, marking, checking out the 1 entire 'girl' we know.

Elvis - Also 7 months, wish i had of waited longer with him, atleast 12 - 14 months for growth and maturity reasons. Although he possibly still has a testicle left over.. blood tests in the next couple of weeks will tell us.

Tinny - Her old owners got her done after her first season, El and Tin's Dad was often caught sniffing around the farm after her so they had her done asap after that.

Harri - Has not been done yet, i would wait until he is atleast 12 months before having him done. He is going to be shown for a while and we will see how he goes, but he has a slighty overshot jaw & he was never going to be bred from, so he will be done eventually. Oh and his breeder said to defintely have hime done if he and Elvis start having problems or he starts marking inside etc.

NB: Harri in no way will be alowed to roam, we are resposible dog owners and i have no desire what so ever to ever breed & add to the over population ;).

Kay you will know when the time is right, you know your boy better than anyone and will know if nawtee habits start showing themselves.

Kay,

Both of my "girls", Lilly and Honey, were done as soon as my vet said they could be, before they ever went into their first heat. It was 5 months old, for both of them.

I asked Mack's breeder about the best time to neuter him since we had absolutely no plans to use him as a stud, even though I'm certain ;) he would have been a good one! :) We tried to wait until he was fully developed, one year old, but he did become aggressive, and he was neutered at 10 months old. You might remember that he got into it with a foster Golden Retriever, and he "lost" the fight, but we knew it was time. He did just fine. He has not settled down completely, yet, and we won't even attempt to foster for a while now, but had the breeder not said that we should wait until one year, we would have done it at six months.

I think with Moo being already six months old, you couldn't go wrong going ahead and neutering him, but it is your decision, with advise from your vet.

Good luck.
Logan

I feel that mixed breed dogs & pet dogs *unless they're giant breeds* should be neutered/spayed before they're sexually mature and able to reproduce... ideally 6 months. Fozzie was neutered at 6 months, and even if the rescue didn't require him to be neutered by then, I would've done it.

I know we're all responsible owners here, but accidents CAN and DO happen. Not only that... but an unaltered dog is much more likely to feel the need to roam. And, unfortunately, most people don't even realize when their female dogs are in heat; much less do they keep them locked away during it. I definitely want to prevent my dogs running off and impregnating unattended female dogs as much as I possibly can. Plus, lots of behavior problems really are avoided when those raging hormones are subdued. That is compared to the few and rare affects of speutering at 6 months.

That said, I definitely would avoid altering any young puppy. 4-6 months is ideal, imho. And puppies do heal incredibly fast & easily!

Dogs can be altered as young as six weeks old with no health/behavioral side effects. In fact, young puppies recover much more quickly from the anesthesia and the surgery itself than an adult dog does.

Having the sex hormones in the body while the dog is maturing results in the growth plates closing six to eight weeks earlier than in the altered dog. Some people speculate that this may predispose the animal to injury, but there isn't any solid evidence to back that up.

Waiting to spay a female until after her second heat takes away any protection you would have gotten from mammary cancer. Mammary cancer is the most common form of cancer in dogs, and around half of all mammary tumors are malignant. I think it's worthwhile, if you aren't planning on breeding the bitch, to spay before the second heat.

Plus, having seen three pyometras in the last two weeks, I'm all for ANYTHING that prevents that!

My vet was active in a research intended to see the effects of spaying and neutering at different ages. They found that altering before the dog's growth plates closed gave the dog a higher chance of bone cancer as opposed to the lower chance of the other cancers it could get from allowing it to mature sexually. Cancer is becoming a common thing in Belgians, and I have yet to see a case of any testicular/mammary cancer in a Belgians, but plenty of bone cancer. Therefore, I choose to wait until the dog is done growing -- no matter the breed, for me.

I agree with .sarah. Looking at the posts and reading how young some of your dogs were spayed/neutered makes me sick - especially the only several week old puppies. It's SO hard on their bodies! :(

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Originally Posted by BC_MoM

I agree with .sarah. Looking at the posts and reading how young some of your dogs were spayed/neutered makes me sick - especially the only several week old puppies. It's SO hard on their bodies! :(

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Wow, what a rude post. So it makes you sick that I had Nebo neutered at 4 months old and I plan to have Keva spayed ASAP (she's 5 1/2 months)? Just FYI Kay did not CHOOSE to spay Kiara and Nala that young, she adopted them from the shelter and the shelter spays/neuters the dogs before they can go home. I've been around both dogs and they are perfectly healthy.

I agree that spaying/neutering that young is not the best choice....but the shelters have had so many people adopt puppies then not hold their end of the deal by spaying/neutering its the only way they can completely prevent those dogs from producing more puppies later. The amount of dogs put to sleep every day makes me a lot more sick then spaying/neutering young pups.

Couldn't agree more Amy. I personally know someone who adopted two dogs from a rescue, signed a contract saying she would have them fixed, and never bothered to do it. It was "too expensive". The one female bred with another dog, had a false pregnancy, got a massive infection, and nearly died from "breeding" with a stray neighborhood dog, not to mention she got herpes or something! If people were responsible then shelters and rescues wouldn't have to do that, but since there is no way to know who is lying and who isn't...they have to have policy.

I also think it is inappropriate and rude to say things like "that makes me sick" when you aren't in another person's shoes and don't know anything about their situation. I'm GLAD Kay's dogs were fixed so early, look at the home they have now! Good trade off IMO.

I plan on getting Soda done at 6-7 months, as long as everything is good with her. I think people should do it at whatever time they feel is right and recommended by their personal vet and nobody ought pass judgement on it. Not everybody feels the same but there is no need to be rude about it.

Smokey and Buddy at 6 mos. Maggie spayed at 5 1/2 mos. All the kitties,
within a few weeks of getting each of them.

Maggie was spayed when she was 8 years old and lived to be 14 almost 15

Shadow and Keesha were spayed at 6 months
Eli and Ozzy were neutered around 7-8 months
Sheeba was spayed around 15 months because i thought she was already spayed but she just was really late coming into heat and didnt have her first heat(that i knew of anyways) until she was 15 months old

Tiny-3 years
Sprinkles-8 years
Lacy-7 or 8 years
Minnie-5 months
Triskit-1 year
Daphney-2 years

The males (excluding Tiny) have not be neutered yet. I'm trying to convice mom but she doesn't think it's necessary because "they can't have puppies" :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by BC_MoM

I agree with .sarah. Looking at the posts and reading how young some of your dogs were spayed/neutered makes me sick - especially the only several week old puppies. It's SO hard on their bodies! :(

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Puppies recover from surgery and anesthesia MANY TIMES FASTER than adult dogs do. The same thing goes for kittens/cats.

coco was "i think" right around 6 months old. i forget the exact age. Cainan hasnt been yet and im still not for sure what i want to do with him, he's not aggressive at all(coco is the dominant one...she prooves it ALL the time) and he's just a sweet as can be, never marks his territory just does his business then off to the next tree to sniff or puddle to play in, he's almost 10 months now. and corona isnt old enough, i would never do it any earlier then 6 months anyway. I want to get corona healthy before i throw something like that in the mix!

wolf_Q & Vela: I'm simply stating my opinion. I am entitled to it.

Just FYI, I was not "rude" because this was Kay's thread. I was not directing my post at anyone specific.

LOL, Gosh. :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by BC_MoM

I agree with .sarah. Looking at the posts and reading how young some of your dogs were spayed/neutered makes me sick - especially the only several week old puppies. It's SO hard on their bodies! :(

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Uhh how is this not specifically referring to people who posted in this thread?

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Originally Posted by BC_MOM

wolf_Q & Vela: I'm simply stating my opinion. I am entitled to it.

Just FYI, I was not "rude" because this was Kay's thread. I was not directing my post at anyone specific, stop being so defensive.

Gosh. LOL.

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Of course you are entitled to your opinion. I don't have a problem with your opinion, others said the same thing. I just don't appreciate the way you said it. Also, I'm entitled to mine...that your post was rude.

Offensive and accusing way of stating your opinion: "...reading how young some of your dogs were spayed/neutered makes me sick"

Non-offensive way of stating your opinion: I don't agree with early spaying/neutering.

If someone stated that a specific way you cared for your dogs makes them "sick," I just bet you might be a little put off.

I am not saying the PEOPLE in this thread make me sick. Don't attempt to twist my words.

I've seen many accusing others of "rude" posts, post rude posts themselves on their opinions of things.

Anyway, though, I don't have time for this. I'm sorry if you took offence to my post, it was not intended to be so.

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Originally Posted by BC_MoM

I am not saying the PEOPLE in this thread make me sick. Don't attempt to twist my words.

I've seen many accusing others of "rude" posts, post rude posts themselves on their opinions of things.

Anyway, though, I don't have time for this. I'm sorry if you took offence to my post, it was not intended to be so.

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Lets bring the drama and highschool antics elsewhere, please.

I was looking for opinions, however, there's no reason for them to be stated so rudely. Being that my dogs were among the youngest spayed in this thread, your comment was incredibly rude. And yes, it was specified and directed towards several of us.

Although you share the same opinion with her, Sarah stated her opinion eloquently without stepping on anyone's toes.

As Amy stated, the shelter my dogs were adopted from spay/neuter before they are adopted. I had no choice as many others have no choice when it comes to adoption/rescue.



Everyone else, thank you for remaining civil and posting your opinions/thoughts/advice politely. :) I will mosty definetly have him done before our trip to Utah, so no worries about Nebo not liking him. But I cannot decide to have it done this month or wait until April.

I got Molli done at 1 1/2, only because it took months of convincing my mom to spay her. I think Sam was about 7-8 months. He had an extremely painful and hard recovery, poor little man. But now they are both healthy and happy. :)

Kay, when are you coming down to Utah? What area will you be in?

Sending you a PM Danielle. ;)

I used to be a huge advocate for early/spaying neutering until I did alot more research. It defintly does have it's ups -- less recovery time being the biggest. Also, I don't think the vast majority of people know how to train out behaviours that are a result of hormones. Better to nip the hormones in the bud so the dog can have less training difficulties, than to end up in a shelter later in life because of issues resulting from hormones.
I've never had issues with hormone related behaviours, but my dogs are also properly trained. Average Joe-Blow may have no idea how to train a dog.
I think it's great that some shelters alter so early. I know many SPCA dogs that were sold on a contract, only the owners ignored it and bred the dog anyways. I have my own ways of doing things (waiting until the dog is full-grown), but if someone wants to spay/neuter early I certainly won't have any qualms about it. The earlier it's done, the less chance of the dog breeding. Those of us with intact dogs always have to keep in mind that our dogs are always at risk of being bred, whether intentional or not. We have added responsiblity that some people can't or don't want to deal with.
As long as it's done at some point, and the dog is kept safe from breeding if it's done later, than to each his own, I say! :)

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Originally Posted by Kfamr

And yes, it was specified and directed towards several of us.

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As I previously stated, no, it was not. :)

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I will mosty definetly have him done before our trip to Utah, so no worries about Nebo not liking him. But I cannot decide to have it done this month or wait until April.

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I was like that with Elvis, he was going to be done at 4 months, then 5, then 6 and eventually was done at 7 months. In the end i said he had to be done by a certain trip away and he was ;).