Why Don't You?????

Question

I have been reading of late several people who know they should spay or neuter their dogs but don't!
I would like you to tell me "Why"? Is it the cost? Is it because you like to have your female go into heat and then don't know what to do? Do you like having your male marking it territory all over your house?
Are you afraid to have it done?
Give me your thoughts on this.
Thanks!
Oh just to be fair, I will say at the right age.

I thought I'd give it a shot Howldine!

KiKi B: I totally understand show dogs! They must be intact. I'm just wondering why the general population doesn't spay or neuter their dogs?
There has to be a reason, Right?

Thanks for the giggle lorraine! I know olly is very well taken care of!

Answer 1

It has been my experience at the clinic that there are three distinct reasons (which I put into order) why clients decline spaying and neutering.

First, many clients see no reason to neuter their male dog since they don't go into heat and bleed all over the place like females, they see no need. Many clients are simply ignorant (not completely by their own fault) and do not know the potential risks of cancer and infections that could occur in intact males. Usually we can convince those clients to neuter once we mention the "C" word (cancer).

The clients that still decline neutering at that point are primarily MALE clients (in my experience). Seems to me that males (human males) have a very hard time "parting" with their dogs testicles. It is harder on them than their dog! I guess the simple act of thinking about the surgery makes their own testicles ache, who knows.

Secondly, they want to breed their cute little dog to have more cute little puppies just like their Fluffy. They have no idea of all the work and expenses that go into breeding properly and having a sucessful litter. They just assume they can put two dogs of the opposite sex in a room and BAM! 63 days later there are little ones. They tend to get caught up in all the "awww puppies!" and neglect to think about all the other details.

I comprised an informative write-up on breeding dogs and will hand it to clients who declare they would like to breed. The write-up is very honest, but done in a respectuful and educational manner (honestly, sometimes people just don't know). I usually get a phone call 3 days after clients take home my write-up and they set up an appointment to spay/neuter. However, we still have those determined BYB who probably use my write-up as coasters on their coffee tables and will breed anyways. And like clock work... 63 days later we get frantic, desperate phone calls from these owners who ignored my advice who need help because their dog has run into trouble.

Thirdly, the cost. Some clients genuinely cannot afford much, but the majority CAN (again, in my experience). Many clients will say it is the cost, but I really believe it is either #1 or #2 above. The reason why I say this is because we refer them to low cost clinics, talk to them about insurance, tell them about CareCredit, and give them lists of clinics that have payment plans and then still decide to not go through with it. I can go on and on about clients declining spaying and neutering and then they have "accidental" litters coincidently seem pretty well planned. Who knows.

Sadly, many clients learn the “hard way” that the cost of spaying and neutering would have been WELL worth it. Just last week for example, we had a client learn the hard way. The family had declined spaying their cat, Emmie, 2 years ago because he had felt the cost of spaying was much too expensive (our clinic charges $120 for a feline spay). Well, Emmie came in as an emergency because she was lethargic, vomiting, and had puss draining from her vulva. You guessed it… pyometra… which requires an emergency spay. The owner was kicking himself when he picked Emmie up because the bill was close to $500 and not to mention that his beloved cat almost lost her life.

Ok, that is my two cents on the topic!


NOTE: Thank GOODNESS!!! Just when I started to get concerned!!! My thumbs down fairy found me! I thought I had lost my fairy forever! ::phew!::

Answer 2

I have a gsd who we were forced to neuter due to a locked testicle.I have another we have not neutered altho we have no plans to breed him.
My unaltered male does not leave my side let alone the yard when out alone.He does not mark his territory all over the house.The yard is a different story but if neighbors would not allow their dogs to roam and pee all over my trees and shrubs he would'nt do it then.
These 2 are given the opportunity daily to run off- leash at the park for at least 45 minutes.They get several play sessions in the yard thruout the day regardless of the weather.They have plenty of mental stimulation and are quite well behaved and mannered thank you.
Neutering changes them.They are'nt the happy dogs they were before it was done.You can see it in their eyes.
Yes,my unaltered male is quite rambuncious and at times will test me so he requires a firm hand.But that only re-inforces the fact that I'm the boss and I won't tolerate his silliness.
I have owned different sex unaltered dogs in the past and it's alot of extra work and aggravation to keep them seperated but no more so than having teen-agers with raging hormones.
I do not feel a dog must mate at least once in it's life.I just feel that they can live happily without ever mating without surgery.And as pack leader I have control over that.If I have to have them altered due to a health condition then so be it.
I'm always in favor of others spaying/neutering their pets because not everyone has the time or the sense to give their dogs or cats the care and consideration mine get.

Answer 3

The next dog I get will not be neutered. I'm banking money to buy a male show-prospect papillon. (Can't show confirmation with a spayed/neutered dog.)

But pets or competition-only (agility, obedience, etc.) dogs? Those should be spayed/neutered. There's no reason that I can think of why someone would not alter them.

I weighed a lot of cons of having an unaltered dog in my head before deciding I would do it. After all, even when I get my show-prospect male (which probably won't be for another year at least, depending on the waiting list of the breeder I choose), the dog will be my companion first, my show-dog second.

Answer 4

i think most of its to do with cost at the end of the day while I'm in the UK the cheapest spaying for a dog at my practice costs 150 pounds and neutering costs 105 pounds.
people just don't want to pay out the money.in the UK so many shelters are over run with dogs and puppies because people cant be bothered to get them spayed.
i work for the uks largest animal charity the rspca and we are over run with unwanted puppies at the moment and we are even giving out free neutering vouchers but the uptake on these are poor,
we are not government funded and we have to pick up the pieces and rely on donations for these unwanted puppies.
if more people realized that spaying and neutering your dog had more benefits than just cost I'm sure more people would have them done,
people don't realize the points you have mentioned along with the cancers and other problems dogs can get.

Answer 5

The local shelter where I live has a spay and neuter day where you can bring your dog in and get the surgery done for $25. I got my 12 pound 6 month old puppy spayed at the vet and it only cost $113 that included them keeping her overnight for observation and a free nail trimming. I don't know how vets are in other areas of the country and I am sure it would be more for a larger dog but it's worth it!

Answer 6

I have a little mixed breed that I put off spaying. I was super careful to keep her from becoming pregnant, BUT, I felt as several of my acquaintances do..FEAR and separation anxiety.
I couldn't stand the thought of even the possibility of losing her..I didn't even want to be away from her for a day.
I also didn't want to put her through the trauma of surgery and recovery.
Well, I finally decided that allowing her to come in heat, be miserable, and have the false pregnancy was more traumatic for her, than the brief ordeal of a spay surgery. I talked with my vet, and he told me he had never lost a dog during, or as a result of, spay surgery. I made the decision, and had it done. .
It was quite a relief! She bounced back so quickly, and I actually lived through it, as well!
Since then, I have had others spayed, and now its still a very anxious day for me, but I never regret having it done.

Anyway, just to give you another's point of view..It isn't always because we don't care. But, now I care 'enough' to do what is best for both of us. even when it is hard.

Just another note: It is far MORE expensive to raise a litter of puppies than it is to spay..even if the spay is at full price.

Answer 7

hi goldengirl , i have a confession to make i havent got olly fixed...yet , i am not interested in him making pups , i am not thinking about the money it will cost , i will get him done in the next few months , olly has never humped or tried to anything , he did start to hump his teddy , we told him off and he stopped ,i was talking to a police dog handler when we first got him and she said the best age to get them done is 2 because cavaliers put on a lot of weight if neutered to early and their coats go all wirey , i will get him done soon , he doesnt territory mark in the house , he is always in either our garden that has a wall around it and a locked gate ,in our house or on a lead with either me or my husband taking him out for a walk , i dont even allow my 13 year old daughter take him out because olly got attacked by another dog and is extremely afraid of any dog ,olly is more likely to run away from a female than to mount her lol , but i know he needs doing so he wont get some type of cancers , i dont want you to think he wont get done , he will i have already spoken to my vet about it .xx

Answer 8

After I went to a high kill shelter looking for another dog, i told my mother about how sad I was seeing so many dogs and cats there and i told her "spaying and neutering should be a law unless you're a breeder maybe". She said when she was a kid her parents and her never thought to fix there pets, they never thought of it back then, they're not stupid and not mean at all to animals, just i guess ignorant maybe. I think maybe some advertisements should go on TV, I would make a commercial showing people these animals in shelters on death row, make people shocked and moved enough , show how important it is and all the reasons why.

Answer 9

I have always had dogs and cats fixed.

There was a time when I was a kid that we didn't know how nice it was to have this done. I would spend weeks keeping my dog inside, walking her, and chasing off any males that followed us on the walk. My little dog was miserable. She didn't understand why she was bleeding. She didn't understand why she was tied to the foot of my bed and made stay on newspapers while I was at school. I was miserable because I had to take care of her and clean up after her.

Then we got a dog who had been spayed. It was wonderful. She never had to be confined. She was her natural loving self all year round and she never had to be tied to the bedpost.

From that time on, we always got our animals taken care of.

I think a lot of the reason folks don't do this for their animals is ignorance.

1.They don't know they can get it done at a reasonable price. 2. They think it will be hard on the animal
3. They're folks didn't do their animals and they think they should leave their animals "natural."
4.They have never lived with a neutered animal to know how much easier life is for everyone, animal included.
5. They somehow tie their animal's fertility to their own identity. "My dog is a real stud. Look how many puppies he has fathered!"
6. Probably least of all, they don't care.

Answer 10

All of my dogs are altered but I don't know why some people don't. I have heard that they are afriad they won't come out of the anatheisia. A co-worker of my mom's told me I was cruel for fixing my dogs because she thought it unfair that I wasn't going to let them have puppies as they were meant to do. I have heard cost but my vet works out a payment plan for low income families, the shelter hands out vouchers for qualifing families, and I just $20 a month in the puppy bank from the time we herad were where going to get our youngest dog and had her spayed when she was five months old so honestly I can't say.

Answer 11

Good Question GoldenGal! I don't know the answer it makes no sense to me. But I can tell you when our dogs get older, we have them spayed/neutered. Even tho we are used to keeping boys from girls when they are in season etc. It just is the right thing to do when they are older and retired from breeding, to have them spayed /neutered. It's not expensive. It's not hard on them.. It's the right and responsible thing to do. They won't be bred, so it just makes sense to have them spayed/neutered for their own sake.