[dgeggis]

I haven't had a puppy for many years. Upon searching and learning about Labradoodles, I discovered that the Pet puppies are "fixed" before they come home at 8 weeks. :shock: I found that interesting as I remember that our cats and dogs had to be around 6 months old for this to be done.

While doing some research, I found a couple of research articles that indicated that there could be some negative health consequences from performing these procedures so early. The one that really caught my eye was regarding the increased incidence of Hip Dysplasia. :roll:

See: http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

One thought that I had was why do we have the entire reproduction mechanism removed. Why not leave the ovaries and the testicles so that the animals benefit from the hormones?

Has anyone given any thought to this issue?

I am really interested in hearing what you think.

 

[Doodlesville]

You have good reason to be concerned, i am a firm beliver that we have no business altering a pup at that age,
forget the chance of the pup not handling the surgury well, not coming out of sedative,
but they have a hugs chance of bone cancers developing later as well as incontinance,
Its a scary thing.. this will im sure open a can of worms ,for that i am sorry,
there is a really big controvery that always pops up when this question is asked, i guess you just need to do your own research and decide for yourself,
we dont spay early, they must be done right around 6mths old, (after 5mths) and i dont ever have issues of it being done on time, probably due to the way my contract reads, (we charge extra if not done by date on contract)
Im sure if you research it you will find your answers :wink:

 

[dgeggis]

Hi Nancy,
Thank you for your input. There are so many things to consider. for the past 22 years I've only adopted full grown dogs and cats and this is my only my second puppy. I was but a child when we got our first puppy. Most things have stayed the same, tryed and true. But this early spay/neuter thing has me concerned.

I will be meeting with the breeder this weekend and I am going to discuss this with her. I have no intention of keeping a pet whole as there are way too many unwanted pup's in the world. I can't imagine having a puppy that gets put to sleep because there is no home for them.

The other issue that I question is the Dew claw removal. It seems to me that this is more of a convenience thing as I haven't seen any medical evidence that dogs are getting their dew claws caught in things. Unlike the early spay/neuter, I haven't seen any detrimental health effects.

 

[emilee]

here's an article on this issue, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association in December, 2007. it is available to anyone as a free download:

http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10 ... 31.11.1665

the abstract reads:

Elective gonadectomy of dogs and cats, most commonly
performed as an OHE of females and castration
of males, is one of the most common veterinary
procedures performed in the United States. Increasingly,
dog owners and members of the veterinary profession
throughout the world have questioned the optimal
age for performance of these surgeries or whether they
should even be performed as elective surgeries. The objective
for the information reported here was to provide
a review of the scientific evidence, which could be used
by veterinarians to counsel clients appropriately on this
issue.

a review and discussion of the points in the paper can be found here:

http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2008/ ... ience-say/

-em

 

[blueteal]

For me when I was researching breeders,
if I saw they did early spay/neuter they were crossed off my list.
That is my own preference from research I had done on the subject.

Denver was done at around 8 months old.

 

[Doodlesville]

I believe that there was/is scientific evidence and results of such in the article that was posted and several articles i have acquired thruout my 20+yrs breeding dogs,
in fact with all the research I personally have done, including talking to any vets i can,, they dont recommend it either, of course there are exceptions ,,shelter dogs, for one, in this case it is best to alter them early so as not to produce more pups, and if they have a problem later ,their thinking maybe is oh well at least they had a chance at some type or life, otherwise they may wouldnt have,,is the only thing i can think of,
if even a inkling of a chance that ESN will cause health issues most of which are deadly,,,isnt it better NOT to do it? unfortunatly in the case of ESN , there has been numerouse studies that say that there ARE problems arising from ESN

 

[Doodlesville]

For me when I was researching breeders,
if I saw they did early spay/neuter they were crossed off my list.
That is my own preference from research I had done on the subject.

Good for You Sue!!!!
ya know i KNEW i like Ya!!! :lol:

 

[MaxandMe]

call me old fashioned but i prefer to neuter/spay dogs between 6mos to 8mos old. i try not to wait longer.
I feel that the risks perhaps outweigh the pros to doing early neuter/spay
as they systems are still maturing.

I do know Jac once had a puppy die from early spay/neuter about a year or so ago.
that scared me!

 

[Paintsmeblue]

Most Australian Breeders have signed contracts in order to gain their breeding dogs to maintain the ESN. Most of the pups are just fine. Neither age is "safe" from all possible problems associated with Spay or Neutering. There is also a person on this forum who lost her dog when she went in for her spaying, after 6 months.

Most Animal Hospitals are now doing this procedure on all of their animals, regardless of age. Also, other countries do this procedure more commonly than we do.

I'm not saying that its right for everyone. Everyone has their own beliefs and their own comfort levels when it comes to this topic.

I for one liked the fact that I didn't have to worry about a recovery period at 6 months, which ironically was actually around my finals week..... So, the timing would have been horrible. I can't fully say that Napa's not suffered any of the effects of ESN, but I don't really believe that his premature closer was because of ESN. His legs were already turning from the age of 14 weeks.

I did get some breeders, when I was looking into getting another pup, to possibly keep the pup longer and hold off doing the procedure a little later. But, its completely up to the person. I just wanted to voice the other side of ESN.

 

[lindamarie]

call me old fashioned but i prefer to neuter/spay dogs between 6mos to 8mos old. i try not to wait longer.

Ditto on this!!
OMG!! 8 weeks!!??? That's awful!!