Side effects Spays and Neuters

[NycVet]

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After working at a clinc for quite some time, I have noticed a major problem with returning spay/neuter paitents: all but around 5% become obese. So I started pulling out some files and showed the trends I found to the vet I work with, and we noticed the after the procedure, by 6 months, the animal gains a considerable amount of weight.

Has anyone noticed this? Maybe with your pets, or the pets youve seen at the clinc you work in?

Also, please feel free to comment.

 

[Backwoods Boy]

I noticed this a little but didn't think much of it. But now that you mention it, I may have to check that out at the clinic I work out.

On a side note, my beagle has had this happen.

 

[susiewaits]

You also have to consider that most spays and neuters (i don't know if this is true where you work) are between 5-6 mos old. These are still young animals, that are still growing. You can not attribute weight gain in these cases soley to spay/neuter surgeries. Also puppies are much more active, and as they age they become less so.

There are too many outside factors when considering a young dog pre and post surgery.

An Isolated study would have to be performed on older intact animals inorder to eliminate outside factors.

 

[dyachei]

We were taught this in our surgery class. Our teacher was telling us it was a good way to justify the cost of the surgery - the client will save money on food because the metabolism decreases without the need for reproduction.

 

[lailanni]

This is true - we were taught in nutrition that after spay/neuter (especially in cats) they have a higher tendency to gain weight and become obese. Lets face it, reproduction takes up a lot of energy!

The nutritionist recommended giving the client a talk about feeding during the nuter/spay admit. After the proceedure, they will not require as much energy intake. I always like to take out pictures of the 5 point scale and show them what the ideal body type is and where on their pet they can monitor (ribs, base of tail, etc). Most of them just don't know.

Also after puppy/kitten shots and the spay/neuter is done, many clients don't come back for a year (if you're lucky) or not until their animal has an illness. The spay/neuter admit exam may be your last chance to impart some health/nutrition info before it's too late.

I don't see people taking the time to do this and the client sure doesn't know on their own. Thus fluffy gets a little too much food each day and.. voila! 20 pound cats.

 

[zpinkpanther]

We also learned about this is nutrition, and as far as I know, it's a widely accepted theory (or fact, not sure if it's 100% proven) that neutered animals are more obese-prone. Taking away the repro aspect considerably lowers the animal's energy requirements, so we were told to speak with the client about altering the animal's diet accordingly.

We were also taught that all cats are obese-prone and that we'll never see our own animals as overweight, even if they are. Ah, nutrition.

 

[susiewaits]

80lb Beagle "Tank". Owner: "he is NOT fat, just big boned"...uh huh...

 

[GellaBella]

don't we see this often in humans as well? I'm thinking weight gain post-menopause or post-hysterectomy?

 

[Angelo84]

I agree with others. We were also taught in our nutrition class to adjust the amount of food fed after spaying or neutering. Looking up the equations for fun I found that an intact animal to calculate the Maintence energy requirement (MER) is 1.8 X Resting energy requirment (RER). While a neutered animal the MER is 1.6 X RER. An obese prone adult you can drop to 1.0-1.4 X RER. RER = 70 (wt in kg)^ (0.75)

 

[Ben and Me]

I find the correlation between overweight owners and overweight pets equally interesting...Especially trying to figure out how to impart to said owner that their cat is fat without offending them in the process...

 

[aspiringDVM]

One of our food company reps suggested advising clients to reduce food by 30-50% post surgery.
In addition to the direct consequences of the surgery, I think that Susiewaits makes a very good point about all the other factors influencing weight gain.
I also find the owner/pet obesity correlation intriguing, especially when the owners cite their own weight problems as a reason to excuse their dog/cat's issues. You and your pet are not genetically related, so the "my whole family is big-boned" thing does not apply in this situation. Yeesh.

 

[sumstorm]

On average, zoo animals on display are kept at 10% over ideal weight due to complaints of starvation if they are kept at optimal weight. Learned that at AZA conference in 2005. In that case, intact or altered conditions aren't as crucial as feed amounts due to public opinion. In other words, we aren't use to seeing animals at healthy weights anymore, and attribute it to disease or mistreatment. I realized this at a dog show recently as well....many dogs, who were placing, were overweight. Not horrendously, but enough that a decade or so ago a judge would have advised getting the weight off.

 

[cozycleo]

I've actually been surprised at one of my females, who never gained much weight after her spay. My other female did gain quite a bit of weight, but I was just recently given a big thumbs up 👍 from my vet for getting her down over one full pound at her annual checkup just this week.

My male, on the other hand, has just completely slowed down. He was neutered very young at the shelter, and did very well right up until about 8-9 months of age. Then he just became the furry blob and LAZY! I've been trying the same diet that got my female to lose weight, but nothing is working. We may have to switch foods with him (they're all on Wellness right now). Vet and I are going to get him weighed and discuss it next week.

 

[CatVet2Be]

80lb Beagle "Tank". Owner: "he is NOT fat, just big boned"...uh huh...

Seriously when has anyone ever seen an obese skeleton???

I think there is an accepted trend that spayed/neutered pets will have a tendency to become obese but just because you can doesn't mean you have to. I tell people to think of themselves as their dogs personal trainer, they control the food, they control the exercise therefore they have full control over what their dog/cat weighs. On the flip side spaying early reduces chances of mammary tumors which is something you have less control over. Me personally, I'd prefer to monitor weight than potentially cancerous tumors.

We also will tell clients to switch their pets to adult food around 9 months if they've been fixed vs waiting until 12 months for the unaltered ones. Why add extra unnecessary calories?

 

[r00]

I, reluctantly, got my schnauzer neutered after reading a JAVMA article on the benefits and risks of Spay/neuter said that Miniature Schnauzers actually have an increased risk of diabetes after being neutered. Also in the article I believe it said that the instance of weight gain to the point of obesity after surgery is only like 3.8%, but I'm not sure that number is accurate.

My furry son has definitely put some weight on, he went from 16.7lbs to about 19.5 in the past 5 months even with me feeding him significantly less food. He has started knocking it off a bit in the past 2 months, but he put it on so quickly in the beginning that it definitely scared me....

On a note about owners and their fat pets: I absolutely hate it when they are like "Oh, but he looks so cute like this"
Also, I find it very hard to have a conversation about a pet's weight when the owner is not very small as well because I feel like it would be rude to point out the health risks for the animal knowing that these are the same things they are probably hearing from their doctors.

 

[jglovicz]

Also, I find it very hard to have a conversation about a pet's weight when the owner is not very small as well because I feel like it would be rude to point out the health risks for the animal knowing that these are the same things they are probably hearing from their doctors.

Agreed...perhaps I don't have as good of a filter as the rest of you, but the client is paying you for your professional opinion. If you see an obese animal you need to explain the risks. Sorry mom/dad/family, clearly you feed your animal the way you feed yourself/family...it isn't healthy and you control everything that fido eats, so perhaps you need to change something before you need to start sharing your insulin...
On the flip side, as many have pointed out, the public is incredibly sensitive to "underweight" animals. I saw a documentary on 20/20 or something where there was a couple who looked emaciated! They weighed out everything they ate (along the lines of 1000 calories?) and did a lot of hiking and other exercise. There is research that shows that slightly underweight people are healthier (and I believe have a longer lifespan) than overweight people (and I think also healthier than "normal" weight people). I'm sure the same is true for animals...

 

[NycVet]

Ha, I never noticed the fat owner/fat pet correlation before, but come to think of it, I remember a bunch of similar cases. Someone should really look deeply into that.

 

[CookieBear]

Seriously when has anyone ever seen an obese skeleton???

I think there is an accepted trend that spayed/neutered pets will have a tendency to become obese but just because you can doesn't mean you have to. I tell people to think of themselves as their dogs personal trainer, they control the food, they control the exercise therefore they have full control over what their dog/cat weighs. On the flip side spaying early reduces chances of mammary tumors which is something you have less control over. Me personally, I'd prefer to monitor weight than potentially cancerous tumors.

We also will tell clients to switch their pets to adult food around 9 months if they've been fixed vs waiting until 12 months for the unaltered ones. Why add extra unnecessary calories?

Very well said. The personal trainer analogy is awesome!

Our dogs and cats aren't driving themselves to McDonald's, and most of 'em shouldn't be able to open the fridge on their own...

The risk of pyo, MGTs, prostate or testicular cancer, and not to mention the behavior ... . Do some extra dog walks and get your cat a laser toy?

(I'm guilty of having big cats too - not terribly so, but at least the dogs are at ideal weights!)

 

[david594]

The risk of pyo, MGTs, prostate or testicular cancer, and not to mention the behavior ... . Do some extra dog walks and get your cat a laser toy?

Careful now..... the incidence of prostate cancer is actually higher in neutered dogs.

The benefit is the reduction in the incidence of benign prostatic hyperplasia in neutered male dogs.

 

[Poochlover11]

When I got my dick cut off I had trouble peeing

Pretty sure you will be getting banned here pretty soon.....

 

[Poochlover11]

I know that you laugh cow dont ruin the fun for the rest of the people

No, actually you are not funny. But it will be funny when I see that you are banned tomorrow. Ya, that will be funny.

 

[CookieBear]

Careful now..... the incidence of prostate cancer is actually higher in neutered dogs.

The benefit is the reduction in the incidence of benign prostatic hyperplasia in neutered male dogs.

I stand corrected! Yes, there's some interesting stuff on VIN when I searched the boards with "neutered male risks" under canine-only. Too much info there, but I scanned several posts. The take-away message was unchanged though.

I better go feed my fat neutered cat now, before I get another foot caught in my mouth.