I'm so happy I delayed my puppies neutering!

[swordfish11]

@fx1 I agree, our vet told us our puppy should be spayed at 6 months (before her first heat) so we are going with that advice. That being said, ours will be 25-28 pounds full grown so I’m not sure the whole waiting for 12+ months thing applies to her anyway.

 

[lightlovehope]

@swordfish11 I would definitely go with your vets advice!

 

[fx1]

@swordfish11 My dog is 59lb (27kg), I neutered at that age by the advice of the vet.

 

[jaxxie]

@swordfish11 We just got ours spayed at 6.5 months, as per our vet. He said that he recommends over 6 months. Go with the expert!

 

[lightlovehope]

@fx1 That's awesome to hear! I think my friends dog is what worried me the most since he is an anxious mess. But of course there are more factors that could of played into that. And the enlongated bones for larger dogs that my vet and my research stated. At that time my dog had very long deer like legs and I would never forgive myself if I neutered him and later in life had joint problems even if it wasn't related.

 

[fx1]

@lightlovehope It's always good to ask for the vet opinion, I just ask my vet about the best age to neuter mine and she told me the best was right after finishing his vaccines round, so we did, the recovery was in just a few days and super comfortable to be honest, I was expecting more troubles, but my puppy was playing the very next day as nothing has happened to him.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@lightlovehope Curious, what research are you talking about in terms of confidence ?

 

[jongault]

@imagebeastmarkbeast "Large-breed dogs (over 45 pounds projected adult body weight) should be neutered after growth stops, which usually is between 9 and 15 months of age."

This is from the American Animal Hospital Association: https://www.aaha.org/your-pet/pet-owner-education/ask-aaha/spay-or-neuter/

This link cites several studies and includes German Shepherd Dogs and Border Collies, both of which are prone to hip dysplasia. Since that's my dog's mix, it weighs heavily in my decision to delay spaying until she stops growing. Per this study, female Border Collies shouldn't be spayed earlier than 11 months, and German Shepherds no earlier than 23 months. Since she's a mix, she'll probably stop growing somewhere between. My vet will let me know.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2020.00388/full

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@jongault Thank you very much.

 

[lightlovehope]

@imagebeastmarkbeast It was months ago that I looked into it. I don't remember if I looked at peer reviewed articles or not but I know I looked at AKC and the American vet association or what ever

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@lightlovehope What I’ve found is most of the research is more anecdotal and not peer reviewed. The one large peer reviewed study from I think UC Davis was very interesting but basically said more research is needed. If you do find any good studies feel free to share.

 

[lchelling1029]

@imagebeastmarkbeast Every peer reviewed paper will have some sort of statement saying more research is needed, but that is not the main point of the finding. The conclusion from the UC Davis study clearly highlights the benefits of waiting to neuter in larger dogs.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@lchelling1029 Please take this as question and not argument. The way I read it was there was pros in terms of joint health especially in GSD and goldens. But early neuter showed reduction of certain cancers.

 

[lchelling1029]

@imagebeastmarkbeast No worries! I went through the paper and found the sections for GSD and Goldens (sorry, no highlights for goldens since the page cutoff got in the way).

Essentially, they found the rate of joint disorders and cancers in both males and females of each breed by looking at how many intact animals are affected. Then this rate was compared against the rate of joint disorders and cancers in animals that were neutered before 6 months, from 6-11 months, etc. And from this comparison, they found an increased risk of joint disorders if these animals are neutered before 2 years old for male and female GSD. For cancer risks, they found no increase in cancer risks regardless of neutering age.

For male Goldens, the same trend is seen if neutered before 1 year of age. For females, there is also an increased risk of joint disorders if neutered before 1 year of age. However, like you said, there IS an increased risk of cancers regardless of neutering age compared to the intact females, so the paper suggests to leave the female intact or neuter after 1 year of age and continue monitoring for cancer. But this is only the case for female Goldens and not for male Goldens or male/female GSDs.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@lchelling1029 Thanks taking time to help explain! I hope these large studies continue.

 

[lightlovehope]

@imagebeastmarkbeast Of course more research is needed. But as a nurse I use the American medical association as a reference so I'm hoping the American vet association is the same

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@lightlovehope That makes sense

 

[rigogpu]

@lightlovehope I wish our breeder was so understanding! We have a 17 week old labradoodle pup who is required to be spayed by 6 months old, and she is charting to 55 pounds full grown. I plan on asking the vet to recommend a later spay date but I don’t know if the breeder will be understanding as it’s part of our contract. If I’d known what it meant to spay at 6 months I wouldn’t have gotten a pup from this breeder but we have her and can’t change it now.

 

[lightlovehope]

@rigogpu I know it was common to just fix early, but more research is being done. But that being said, if course there is a chance that there might be long term issues, but there is a chance that nothing will happen!

 

[kaferty]

@rigogpu What happens if you don't get the dog spayed by 6 months? Is the breeder going to come take the dog from you? No... Get her spayed when you/your vet wants. You can provide proof of the surgery after it happens.