do you think its right to have your pet vaccinated and neutered?

Question

i have read conflicting opinions on both these issues. some say to neuter a dog is cruel and unessecary. and ive read that vaccinating your dog once a year is pointless and vets are just trying to rip people off!? what you think?

paintedrain we know that docking a nd declawing are cruel!! thats obvious isnt it but im not talking bout them so chill out!

i have had my pet vaccinated and neutered, its not a question bout me!

Answer 1

I think it is torture not to have a dog or a cat fixed. The same with vaccinations. It is very important to have these done. You have to pretend that these animals are children, you would want to have your child vaccinated. Even though some children may never get chicken pox, measles, mumps, or rubella. Its a safety precaution. You never know if your dog will get bitten and get rabies.
As far as nuetering and spaying goes, unless the dog is going to be used for breeding purposes, which I still dont entirely agree with, its very important to have your animal fixed. The only reason that there are so many stray dogs and cats in world, is because an owner at some time did not have their animal fixed.

Answer 2

From reading 99.9% of the answers to your question, it's like everyone feels that anyone that doesn't spay/neuter their dog(s), they will start having litter after litter of pups. I know from my own personal experience this isn't true.

I have 4 dogs, 1 male and 3 females. The male is neutered because he came from the SPCA, but the 3 females are intact. We will not spay them because they will not be getting pregnant. When they are in season, they are watched like a hawk. They are let out into a yard with privacy fence. There are no male dogs that come calling as our town enforces it's leash law.

That last sentence is the major key to reducing the amount of pets in shelters. The majority of animals dropped off at shelters that are truly "homeless", are the result of animals not kept confined by a fence or leash. If the leash law was enforced in all towns, it would go a long way to reducing the number of animals in shelters.

Most everyone I have seen reply here also has to realize that not all of the 4-6 million pets euthanized in shelters are because there isn't enough homes for them. Some are owner requested euthanasia's and animals that aren't adoptable for a myriad of reasons. This includes behavior issues, too old or too sick. What we have in shelters isn't so much of an overpopulation problem as it is a retention problem. Most of those animals had homes, but they were dumped for whatever reason. Here, education would go a long way.

The reason why we aren't altering our 3 females is because there are studies now coming out that say spaying to early and at all, can cause more issues then it prevents down the road. Besides, most of the dogs that we had when I was growing up were left intact, we never had a pregnancy and they never had an illness that was caused by being left intact.

Answer 3

I definitely think dogs should be Vaccinated, however I do think sometimes the yearly vaccinations are unnecessary. You can over vaccinate them this way and that can cause more problems than it can actually prevent, because the vaccines keep building up in their system. I believe there is a test you can have done on your dog each year to see if they actually need to be re vaccinated again or not. That way you can find out what vaccines need to be given to them again and what ones don’t.

As for neutering and spaying I think that should be done as well, not only so they don’t produce more unwanted pets but also for their health. Neutering can lower the risk of some cancers in dogs.

Answer 4

And some people think that training is cruel and unnecessary, that keeping a pet is cruel, that feeding a cat meat is cruel etc etc.

Personally I am pro vaccination because you can prevent some diseases but not cure them.
And pro neutering usually, because the death toll of unwanted pets is sickening.

My reasons are that;
Puppies gain some immunity from their mothers milk IF the mother has all the relevant antibodies.
Immunity wears off at around 6-8 weeks and the shots are given to boost them.
Only last week on this site someones pup died of parvo and another had symptoms. Parvo is preventable, so is distemper, hardpad and leptospirosis and so thats why we vaccinate.

Giuide Dogs For the Blind didn't use to automatically vaccinate at 8 weeks; BUT every week the pup had a blood titre test to measure the level of antibodies and a top up vaccine was given as needed while the pup was being socialised. But they have good funding.
Most owners won't pay for the blood titre tests, one is needed each week for each of the 4 main diseases and each test costs the same as one vaccine!
So vaccinating is the cheaper, safer option.

As for overcharging, it happens.
But I think that the real problem is that vets are seen as the sort of people who are 'supposed' to care and therefore don't deserve a well paid job, like nurses.
All vets have to put up with owners that do a runner and the rest of us foot the bill for those that don't pay.
It costs a lot of money to train and set up in practice as a vet, an x-ray machine costs £250,000 for example, and its true that routine vaccinations are expensive compared to the actual cost of the vaccine. The bills have to be paid.

As for neutering the fact is that neutering a male at a young age will affect his behaviour by reducing his dominance; but later on after sexual maturity, or after the onset of behaviour problems, or after first sexual experience it may be too late. Plus training is needed alongside neutering, its not magic.
And dominant females become MORE dominant after spaying, not less; people don't like this answer and will give it a thumbs down.

While some people think that neutering is cruel, the fact is that well over 5 million dogs are destroyed in the States alone every year because there aren't enough good homes to go round. And the RSPCA alone destroys over 4000 cats and dogs every week.

No one who works in a shelter feels that killing unwanted pets week in week out is a good thing. No Kill shelters only avoid the problem by refusing to take in dogs on demand. The RSPCA lets anyone drop a dog any time (in theory) and thats why they are forced to put down over 2000 dogs and 2000 cats every week. People just keep on dumping them.
And they are available to dump because they are easy to breed, any moron can churn out litter after litter, and people will buy them.

Answer 5

Yes it is right to do so, if the dog went out for a walk or escaped etc without these themselves and other dogs may be put in a dangerous situation, say for example a ***** was to get pregnant to the un neutered dog, they may not be the same breed therefore the puppies that result maybe deformed in any way. Also say if you had a dog that had not had it's vaccinations and it came into contact with another dog that had a serious virus, would you really want to pay for the treatment to your dog because of someone elses dog or even worse, would you want your dog to die because of it??

Answer 6

Vaccinations do give your pet a good level of protection against the symptoms of the illness and reduce its severity. Remember that some illnesses can be very severe or fatal. The same as human vaccinations when travelling etc.

Neutering stops the animal from coming into season. This stops the animal from trying to wander off in search of a mate, which can lead them into difficulties such as getting lost or involved in accidents. It also saves the problem of getting unwanted kittens and puppies, which can be hard to re-home and finish up in an animal rescue centre, running the risk of losing its life because it was born! Neutering doesn't affect the animal's personality and they live content lives.

Answer 7

I have seen some of the complications that come from a dog being left un neutered and un spayed. Male dogs can develop testicular cancer, prostate cancer, and just a benign enlargment of the prostate causing problems urinating etc. Females can and most eventually will develop an infection of the uterus called a pyometra. this is usually in older dogs, the uterus turns into one big abcess. This is a life threatening infection and very common. Females who are unspayed are also very likely to develop mammary tumors which have a 50-50 chance of being cancerous. Not to mention all of the unwanted animals in the world and high numbers of euthanias in animal shelters everywhere. As far as vaccinations go you are correct about over vaccination. The latest research shows that after the first 2 years of vaccines- This means two years of full vaccinations in a row- it is rec. that DHPPV vaccines be given every other year, Rabies every 3 years, Leptospirosis yearly, and Bordetella yearly(only if being boarded). I doubt that your vet was trying to rip you off but was probably waiting for all the research to come in. Better safe than sorry. I hope this info helps you out. They are good questions to ask before making any decisions for you pet.

Answer 8

im in the same debate. we have a 3 year old Chi, and he has not been neutered. One person said you should think of your dog like your child. ummm.. Hello, I certainly WOULD get my child vaccinated, however I WOULDN"T have him castrated. I mean honestly is it really the dog we are looking after in these cases or the rest of the population, furniture, how he acts, which in my mind correlates to selfish behaviour. Our Chi never leaves without us, he has NO way of escaping and will NEVER come in contact with a *****. so what is the point honestly? health issues. I still don't believe the idea that this has any less of chance making my dog living longer. My family has had dogs for years some neurtered some not, 1 lived intact, for 20 years then died of prostrate cancer. another was neutered lived for 11 years and died of stomach cancer. so go figure. its all relative in my opinion. I think vets want us to do this A) to make more money and b) to stave the overpopulation. Our Chi never pee's in the house, and he doesn't hump anyone. He can be agressive at times, but honestly thats who he is. I personally have been a body builder for many years, NO ONE can tell me that removing the testicles won't change there personality, that's completely rediculous. How can people say this with a straight face, after all sex drive makes up the personality of a human as well as a dog. Another said that its cruel to declaw a cat, but NOT cruel to chop its testicales off? lol. unreal. If we were to relate this to a person, personally i think i would as a person rather stay in tact, and take my chances with a normal life like G_d intended. p.s. men who are castrated are called, uniuqes. any any man who went thru a transgender operation will tell you the same thing your muscles die. because muscle is sustained by testosterone. if there is no production of it in the body, muscles slowly deteriorates, which is why many dogs get fat and flabby. I have seen it with my own eyes. My sisters dog (which is also a chi) is a male of 1 year and acts like a sissy. shows NO male charecteristics and doesn't even have a deep bark like our chi, thats is cruel to do to dogs in my honest opinion, its probably more cruel than the overpopulation.

we all know 1 in 3 men will develop some form of prostrate problem and die, if a doctor told me "we can make you live another 10 years if we chop your testsicles off" what do you think you would say as a man? Wouldn't you say you know what doc, ill take my chances. After all living another 10 years but not living like myself, well to me is not really living at all. .

Answer 9

Vaccinations are now recommended to be given every 3 yrs. Your local rabies laws may be different.
The American Animal Hospital Association has put their recommendations on the web.
http://www.aahanet.org
This is the protocol used by all 27 vet schools in the U.S.
The durations of immunity is a lot longer that 3 yrs. See the Univ. of Wisconsin weblink
http://svmweb.vetmed.wisc.edu/articles/68/5/39
Here's another from a vet in Texas
http://www.critteradvocacy.org
As for neutering, it'll say a lot of heartache. The dog won't be running off to chase every female in heat. He won't be producing puppies that will have a hard time being placed.

Answer 10

Neutering a pet dog (or cat) is neither cruel or unnecessary. In my opinion it is far crueller to allow your animal to have litter after litter of unwanted puppies, with the risks of birthing problems, infections and nutritional problems accompanying this. There are unfortunately far too many unwanted animals in rehoming centres, so allowing unplanned litters is contributing to the stray population, a hefty proportion of which eventually get destroyed. Neutering procedures nowadays are performed with minimal pain or distress to the animal, so are definitely not done with any cruelty intended towards the animal.

In terms of vaccination, having seen at first hand some of the diseases we routinely vaccinate our animals against is is potentially far crueller to not vaccinate and expose our pets to the risk of disease. Veterinary surgeons by-and-large are not just out to get your money, they are acting on the advice of the drug companies which make the vaccines, who recommend yearly boosters to maintain immunity. These recommendations are based on research, both into how long the vaccine is effective for and also research into the side effects of vaccines. You can argue that older animals will have developed their own immunities to infectious diseases, so will not need vaccinating, but I have seen parvovirus in both young puppies and much older animals who have not been vaccinated, showing that the animal's own immunity is not as good as that provided by a vaccine. A yearly booster is also a health check at which other potential problems may be picked up (eg heart problems) by your vet, it is not just an injection.

It can be argued that both neutering and vaccinating your animal is against nature in a way, it is interfering with an animal's natural behaviour and immune system. However, these days we keep animals in a very unnatural state, for example by confining cats to a house and never letting them out, or by keeping a naturally sociable dog on its own for 8 hours a day. We have a responsibility to our pets to keep them happy and healthy, in my opinion vaccination and neutering are essential to this.