Spay/neuter?

[eaglemeag]

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Does anyone know of any sources suggesting that spay/neuter might not be healthy for pets?

I know I'm gonna get some eyerolls for this one... my b/f insists that the speuter recommendations are simply dogma and not necessarily what's "right" because we "don't know everything about how the endocrine system works" and therefore it theoretically could be bad. He claims he's seen studies to that effect, but can't direct me to any of them, nor can I find any myself. (For the record, my argument against him is that, if speutering were bad, wouldn't we have figured it out by now?)

I'm open to any suggestions or thoughts anyone has, since I've never seen anything from his side of the fence.

 

[birdvet2006]

Do a search on VIN. There have been plenty of discussions, with references/studies, on this topic.

 

[QTkitty]

I can kind of understand where he's coming from from an endocrine standpoint, however I believe studies have actually shown that animals that have been speutered (great word btw haha) have a higher tendency to live longer healthier lives. Sorry, I don't have sources to back this up it's only something I've heard.

 

[silverelf]

i did my speech in speech class in undergrad on why you should have your pet spayed or neutered....it prevents all sorts of cancers (mammary, testicular, etc), the research suggests that almost 100% of intact females will get a pyrometra during their lifetime, which obviously is treated and prevented by spaying, and you tend to have less behavioral problems...i.e. aggression and territory/resource guarding. everything that i looked up and found for this speech suggested that speutering was the way to go (and no i did research it, i didn't just look for sources that helped my arguement). i don't know what your boyfriend is talking about, but if he had some links or papers to back him up i'd be interested in reading them.

 

[TherapistDave]

Bob Barker said we should always spay and neuter our cats and dogs, so that's good enough for me. I trust Bob...🙂

 

[chris03333]

nevermind....brainfart

 

[Boxsterluv]

I'd recommend taking a look in Fossum.. In the section that describes how to do reproductive surgeries, there is a little table with the positives and negatives associated with the surgeries. I would type it out for you here but I am out of town and don't have my Fossum with me.

 

[VeganSoprano]

Shelter euthanasia is the #1 cause of dog and cat death in this country, by far. The easiest way to stop the killing is to stop the reproduction.

The only complications I know of from spay/neuter is the rare spay incontinence in dogs and complications from the surgery itself.

The complications from not spaying/neutering include mammary, uterine, testicular, and prostate cancer. And from the standpoint of controlling reproduction, which is theoretically possible without spay/neuter, a large percentage of female animals who are not bred eventually develop pyometra which is potentially fatal even if treated promptly.

That's not to mention the behavioral benefits of spay/neuter. Sterilized animals make better companions and better companions are more likely get to keep their homes.

 

[wivet2011]

And from the standpoint of controlling reproduction, which is theoretically possible without spay/neuter.

That's not to mention the behavioral benefits of spay/neuter. Sterilized animals make better companions and better companions are more likely get to keep their homes.

Controlling reproduction is not theoretically possible without spay/neuter, it is absolutely possible! You just need to have enough sense to keep intact animals of opposite sexes seperate. Trust me, it works. You know the statement 'multiplying like rabbits'? I have both males and females (intact) and they have not multiplied (well, not in this sense... hey, I can't help it if I'm a sucker for the 'biters' at the shelter!)

 

[eaglemeag]

Vegan, I totally agree with you based on both anecdotal evidence and what studies I've read. However, I'm looking for *literature* that points to the contrary.


FWIW, I found one study that suggests that castrated animals are more likely to get osteosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, and hypothyroidism, among a handful of other diseases. I doubt the study mostly because you're simply more likely to see castrated animals in practice and therefore will statistically see more cases of castrated animals with the above diseases. The author was aware of this bias, but I still think it needs to be researched more.

 

[VeganSoprano]

Controlling reproduction is not theoretically possible without spay/neuter, it is absolutely possible! You just need to have enough sense to keep intact animals of opposite sexes seperate. Trust me, it works. You know the statement 'multiplying like rabbits'? I have both males and females (intact) and they have not multiplied (well, not in this sense... hey, I can't help it if I'm a sucker for the 'biters' at the shelter!)

It's possible all right, but it takes work and one slip-up on your part or one very determined cat in heat will mean that you have failed to control reproduction.

I do think it's possible to control the reproduction of dogs without sterilizing. But for cats - it's too difficult for me to consider it reliable, under most circumstances. I think it's possible for a time, but consistently for the 10 or so years a female cat will be fertile? I wouldn't want to try. I suspect even my best efforts would fail at least once.

That's not to mention the quality of life issues for an animal who is thinking of nothing other than mating, but is not allowed to. To me, it's much better for their quality of life to have their sex drive eliminated completely rather than suppressed. That way, they care about the pleasures they are allowed rather than what is forbidden.

 

[littledog]

Not being a professional, my only knowledge is based on personal experience that neutered pets make better companions, plus all the literature encouraging us to neuter our pets. Even if there may be some health benefits to leaving our pets intact (and I'd be interested to hear about this) the big picture of pet ownership today means the vast majority of family pets will live a longer, happier and more fulfilling life if they are neutered.

 

[Bill59]

Canine ovariohysterectomy and orchiectomy increases the prevalence of ACL injury

Not a particularly strong study IMO, but there ya go

 

[jfitzpatri8]

The endocrine argument holds no water with me, since animals also have adrenal glands to produce steroid hormones... there is not a complete loss of estrogen or testosterone, just a loss of pulsatile release. Tissues that require these hormones still do get excited by their steroid hormone of choice.

 

[Electrophile]

One of the better more recent papers on this subject is by Spain et al. in JAVMA 2004 vol 224:372-9. It goes through the positives and negatives and timing of them fairly clearly. I having a working sport Malinois puppy (we'll do Schutzhund and agility and probably other stuff as well) and he will not be neutered until he is finished growing.

 

[Electrophile]

the research suggests that almost 100% of intact females will get a pyrometra during their lifetime, which obviously is treated and prevented by spaying

Can you cite a source for this for me please?

 

[silverelf]

i don't have the source anymore, it was a few years old (the laptop that that speech was on has since died and gone to heaven). i just remembered the statistic because it was so vivid. i looked around a little bit and saw at least 23% on another website, but couldn't find the original place i found my statistic (which i believe may have been in an article and not on the interweb anyways...)

 

[VelcroSky]

I know this is not helpful but shouldn't the onus be on your boyfriend to find these articles? It is his argument after all.