Don’t Spay and Neuter Your Dog?

It may be much better for the health of your dog to delay when you spay or neuter your puppy. New research published from UC Davis, suggests waiting to at least 1 year for most dogs, and with some dogs better to wait until 2 years of age.

There is a clear association between early spay or neuter, and joint disorders such as:

• ACL tears
• Hip and Elbow Displaysia

As well, 4 different types of cancers such as:

• Lyphoma
• Mass Cell Toumors
• Hemangiosarcoma
• Osteosarcoma

In female dogs, there is a possibility of developing urinary incontinence.

So, how does this happen?

For the joint disorders, early spay and neuter results in the growth plates closing early, meaning bone growth can be stunted. This means the knee isn’t at the same angle it should be, which creates a higher risk for ACL tears.

In regards to why early spay and neuter causing cancer, the sex hormones are playing a key role, meaning the lymph system isn’t developing the same way, and altering the immune response.

So, what do you do?

I recommended you take a look at the links at the bottom of the page. With smaller dogs, you can wait up to a year to spay or neuter, and with larger dogs it was shown that you can wait up to two years.

I’ll give some pure-bred examples:

Lab Retriever – With males, wait until 6 months or older. With females, you’ll want to do so after a minimum of 11 months

Border Collie – With males and females, you’ll want to wait closer to 1 year of age.

Golden Retrievers – With males, you’ll want to wait a year, and for females they are actually recommending to keep them intact. This is because of the increase in risks of many diseases.

It’s best to discuss this with your veterinarian. Show them the research, and have a conversation. At the end of the day, this is your puppy!

Assisting Decision-Making on Age of Neutering for 35 Breeds of Dogs: Associated Joint Disorders, Cancers, and Urinary Incontinence… https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2020.00388/full

Assisting Decision-Making on Age of Neutering for Mixed Breed Dogs of Five Weight Categories: Associated Joint Disorders and Cancers… https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2020.00472/full

To see the Specifics based on Weights and Breeds of Dogs, see this post: https://veterinarysecrets.com/dog-spay-and-neuter-uc-davis-guidelines/