ABOUT EARLY SPAY AND NEUTER

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EARLY SPAYING AND NEUTERING, AND THE

DANGERS THAT CAN BE INVOLVED ! Learn the truth !!!!

Note from Sher:

I am a strong advocate of HEALTHY living, not to overvaccinate and wonderful natural food for our beloved pets. Breeders that spay/neuter at 8 weeks old is done for selfish gain and NOT watching out for the welfare of the puppies. I have posted this so you all can make an intelligent decision on the proper to age to "fix" your furry friend. It is important to do this, but ONLY at an appropriate age!

(written by Pam Davol, a noted research scientist and a genetic expert)

Owners who are considering neutering need to take all factors into consideration, not simply the benefits of neutering when making a decision as to when to neuter.

If one looks close enough, one will find that neutering is one of those topics in veterinary medicine that is extremely biased: that is, most often one will find more emphasis placed on the pros of neutering with more often than not, very little or no discussion of the cons. Veterinarians, and responsible breeders as well, face a true dilemma when discussing neutering. The overpopulation crisis presents a very real concern with regard to the necessity of ownership responsibility. Prepubertal/early neutering or required neutering provides a means for vets/breeders to enforce owner responsibility by ensuring surgical sterilization of dogs not destined to be used in breeding programs. Again, this enforced neutering is typically presented along with a preamble of all the benefits that go along with neutering. However, I believe that breeders, if not veterinarians, need to begin questioning the ethics of this approach to prompt or require owners to neuter; especially in light of the facts that early neutering may not be as benign a process to the health of a dog as one would believe.

Yes, neutering prior to the beginning of estrus does reduce risk for mammary cancer in females, but it also significantly increases risk for urinary incontinence in bitches which predisposes these bitches to diethylstilbestrol (DES) dependency (Stocklin-Gautschi et al., J. Reprod. Fertile. Suppl. 57:233-6, 2001 and many other references)--in some instances, DES is not effective at controlling incontinence and will force some owners to elect euthanasia. Though with lesser risk compared to females, early neutering also increases risk of urethral sphincter incontinence in males (A. Aaron et al., Vet Rec. 139:542-6, 1996.)

With regard to cancer, spayed females have a 4 times greater risk for developing cardiac hemangiosarcomas (vascular tumors) compared to intact females (neutered males also show a significant increase in risk for these tumors compared to intact males) (Ware and Hysper, J. Vet. Intern. Med. 13:95-103, 1999.). Additionally, both neutered males and females have a 2-fold greater risk for developing bone tumors (osteosarcoma) compared to intact males and females (Ru et al., Vet J. 156:31-9, 1998.).

Some evidence suggests that early neutering may also predispose to endocrine disorders later in life (Panciera DL. J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc., 204:761-7 1994.). Furthermore, there is also an indication that early neutering (because absence of sex hormones delays maturation of osteoclasts and thus results in delayed closing of the growth plates in the long-bones) may predispose to increased risk for various orthopedic disorders (such as cruciate ligament disease as I had mentioned in a previous post). Also, some evidence suggests that there is a correlation between increased time for growth plate closure and incidence of HD in Labs (Todhunter et al. J. Am. Vet Assoc., 1997).

If one conducted a research of the literature on the detrimental effects on physiological development associated with sex hormone deficiencies during adolescent development in any other species other than the dog and cat, one will find a wealth of literature stressing the importance of sex hormones for sound physiological, endocrine and metabolic development. Additionally, if one examines the scientific research that reports the benefits of early neutering in absence of any side-effects in dogs, one will discover that the methodology of these studies are designed in very specific ways to assure that outcome in neutering is presented in a favorable light (this does not mean that the data is biased, this simply means that the comparisons made do not provide for adequate interpretation of long-term effects of neutering).

In light of this, though it is understandable for vets/breeders to urge dog owners to neuter their pets early with regard to the greater good (i.e. reducing risk of accidental breeding), the physiological soundness of the individual dog should take precedence over any other issues. As such, it is my opinion, based upon the literature that I have reviewed that to reduce risks to physiological soundness, etc, that I am of the personal opinion that dogs should be a minimum of 1 year of age before neutering.

"And in Addition"

To Neuter or not to Neuter...

There are a number of studies that suggest that those of us with canine athletes should be carefully considering our current recommendations to spay or neuter all dogs at 6 months of age or earlier. A study by Salmeri et al in 1991 (Salmeri et al JAVMA 1991;198:1193-1203) found that bitches spayed at 7 weeks were significantly taller than those spayed at 7 months, and that those spayed at at 7 months had significantly delayed closure of the growth plates than those not spayed (or presumably spayed after the growth plates had closed). The sex hormones close the growth plates, so the bones of dogs or bitches neutered or spayed before puberty continue to grow. This growth frequently results in a dog that does not have the same body proportions as he/she was genetically meant to. For example, if the femur is normal length at 8 months when a dog gets spayed or neutered, but the tibia, which normally stops growing at 12 to 14 months of age continues to grow, then an abnormal angle may develop at the stifle. In addition, with the extra growth, the lower leg below the stifle becomes heavier (because it is longer), causing increased stresses on the cranial cruciate ligament. This is confirmed by a recent study showing that spayed and neutered dogs have a higher incidence of CCL rupture (Slauterbeck JR, Pankratz K, Xu KT, Bozeman SC, Hardy DM. Canine ovariohysterectomy and orchiectomy increases the prevalence of ACL injury. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2004 Dec;(429):301-5).

In addition, a study in 2004 in JAVMA (Spain et al. JAVMA 2004;224:380-387) showed that dogs spayed or neutered before 5 1/2 months had a significantly higher incidence of hip dysplasia than dogs spayed or neutered after 5 1/2 months of age. If I were a breeder, I would be very concerned about this, because it would mean that I might be making incorrect breeding decisions if I were considering the hip status of pups I sold that were spayed or neutered early. Interestingly, this same author also identified an increased incidence of sexual behaviors in males and females that were neutered early.

A number of studies, including the one by Spain referenced above, have shown that there is an increase in the incidence of female urinary incontinence in dogs spayed early. This problem is an inconvenience, and not usually life-threatening, but nonetheless one that requires the dog to be medicated for life.

Yes, there is the concern that there is an increased risk of mammary cancer if a dog has a heat cycle. But it is my observation that fewer canine athletes develop mammary cancer as compared to the number that damage their cranial cruciate ligaments. In addition, only about 50 % of mammary cancers are malignant, and those that are malignant don't metastasize very often, particularly in these days when there is early identification and removal of lumps found on our dogs.

In addition, when considering cancer, there is another study of 3218 dogs that showed that dogs that were neutered before a year of age had a significantly increased chance of developing bone cancer (Cooley DM, Beranek BC, Schlittler DL, Glickman NW, Glickman LT, Waters D, Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2002 Nov;11(11):1434-40), a cancer that is much more life-threatening than mammary cancer, and which affects both genders.

Finally, in another study, unneutered males were significantly less likely than neutered males to suffer cognitive impairment when they were older (Hart BL. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2001 Jul 1;219(1):51-6). Females were not evaluated in that study.

For these reasons, I have significant concerns with spaying or neutering dogs before puberty, particularly for the canine athlete. And frankly, if something is more healthy for the canine athlete, would we not also want that for pet dogs as well? I think it is important, therefore, that we assess each situation individually. If a pet dog is going to live with an intelligent, well-informed family that understands the problem of pet overpopulation and can be trusted to keep their dogs under their control at all times and to not breed them, I do not recommend spaying or neutering before 14 months of age.

Below is an article copied directly from the AVMA for your information. We do not believe in spaying or neutering at a tender and young age, but suggest that you speak with your vet and make a sound decision in looking into all sides of this surgery, along with the appropriate age to have this done, and also the risks of putting a short nosed dog like a shihtzu under anesthetic at an early age. Two vet opinions might help you in your decision. Although shelters and pounds feel they must spay and neuter at a very early age along with some breeders doing this also, we feel it is a personal decision of the new owners and one that we believe our customers should have the right to make. Feel free to call or email me if you have any questions....I will be happy to chat with you about any of our protocols...

Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association

February 1, 2004, Vol. 224, No. 3, Pages 380-387

doi: 10.2460/javma.2004.224.380

Long-term risks and benefits of early-age gonadectomy in dogs

C. Victor Spain, DVM, PhDJanet M. Scarlett, DVM, PhDKatherine A. Houpt, VMD, PhD, DACVB

Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. (Spain, Scarlett); Present address: Philadelphia Department of Public Health, Division of Disease Control, 500 S Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19146. (Spain); Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. (Houpt)

Objective—To evaluate the long-term risks and benefits of early-age gonadectomy, compared with traditional- age gonadectomy, among dogs adopted from a large animal shelter.

Design—Retrospective cohort study.

Animals—1,842 dogs.

Procedure—Dogs underwent gonadectomy and were adopted from an animal shelter before 1 year of age; follow-up was available for as long as 11 years after surgery. Adopters completed a questionnaire about their dogs' behavior and medical history. When possible, the dogs' veterinary records were reviewed. Associations between the occurrence of 56 medical and behavioral conditions and dogs' age at gonadectomy were evaluated.

Results—Among female dogs, early-age gonadectomy was associated with increased rate of cystitis and decreasing age at gonadectomy was associated with increased rate of urinary incontinence. Among male and female dogs with early-age gonadectomy, hip dysplasia, noise phobias, and sexual behaviors were increased, whereas obesity, separation anxiety, escaping behaviors, inappropriate elimination when frightened, and relinquishment for any reason were decreased.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Because earlyage gonadectomy appears to offer more benefits than risks for male dogs, animal shelters can safely gonadectomize male dogs at a young age and veterinary practitioners should consider recommending routine gonadectomy for client-owned male dogs before the traditional age of 6 to 8 months. For female dogs, however, increased urinary incontinence suggests that delaying gonadectomy until at least 3 months of age may be beneficial. ( J Am Vet Med Assoc 2004; 224:380–387)