Can someone educate me please?

Question

I feel that I am fairly educated but I will never close my mind to further knowledge as long as it is backed by Evidence.
Can anyone here give me solid facts backed up with links to medical reports to support the theory that waiting at least 6 months for spay/neuter is healthier on dogs and cats?
I would also welcome any and all medical reports showing the dangers of pediatric spay/neuter.
Conjecture is a fine thing... but I want proof via scientific studies.
Good Luck Guys...
Bash me with the truth until my blinded eyes can see!

~Tyed~

Elaine: I have always valued your opinion in Q&A... but today I want Links... I want Proof.
As it stands at this moment I condone spay/neuter as early as 8 weeks... Show me whay it is bad.

Keep it comming guys! This is really wonderful! I am about to go and grab a bite to eat and will check the progress as soon as I get back.

Thanks guys. I just finished purusing the links and I am very impressed. I must eat some crow as I was positive that no-one was going to be able to bring information to the table to make me second guess my position on this issue.
I must say that even after reading all of the links I must say that my advice for most of the Y! Answers people will remain the same. Spay/Neuter... the sooner the better... heck I would have them spay at birth if I could. But now I have a new perspective as far as the larger breeds go.
AND A NEW QUESTION:
I do not want to give any advice that may foster hostility or timid behavior in a breed that is already facing BSL (the Rottweiler) by telling people to get them spay/neuter as soon as possible BUT as you know most of these people are not responsible and should NOT breed their dogs. SO...
What is the less of two evils? Advise as always to prevent puppies or to stress no breeding but tell them to wait until one year? You know how well ppl listen here.

DP: Have you noticed if any of these dogs seem to suffer any ill effects such as increased arthritis or bone pain in later years or is it merely a cosmetic issue?

Kiki: I appreciate the new link but to strenghthen your argument there are a few phrases that you might want to leave out in the future. On one of the links it says: Would you castrate your ten-year-old son?
Would you allow your 8 year-old daughter to have a hysterectomy?
That doesn't work as who would do this to their children at any age... mature or immature?!
And I have a question. What does it matter if a male squats or appears feminine if it is a pet? PLEASE do not think that I am being argumentative! You are doing exactly what I have asked by bringing more to the table on this. I am just attempting to see all sides and from every angle!

Answer 1

In favor of early spay/neuter:

AVMA: http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/jun04/040601l.asp

To reduce the overpopulation problem in companion animals, the American Animal Hospital Association supports neutering of cats and dogs as early as eight to 16 weeks of age in animal care and control facilities.


AHAA: http://www.healthypet.com/faq_view.aspx?id=168

To reduce the overpopulation problem in companion animals, the American Animal Hospital Association supports neutering of cats and dogs as early as eight to 16 weeks of age in animal care and control facilities.


http://www.catvet.homestead.com/EarlyAlter.html has information on studies and research that you may find interesting.

Excerpt: "The most obvious reason for altering pets between 5 and 7 months of age is that veterinarians are comfortable performing surgery in this age group and adverse outcomes are uncommon. The safety of surgery and anesthesia for the pediatric patient has also been questioned, partly due to unfamiliarity with pediatric patients and partly due to concerns about anesthetic agents and protocols."


Possible complications of early spay/neuter:

http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/javma.231.11.1688?journalCode=javma

"Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results suggested that early neutering was a significant risk factor for development of excessive TPA in large-breed dogs with CCLD. Further research into the effects of early neutering on TPA and the pathophysiology of CCLD is warranted."

http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/full/11/11/1434

"There was a significant negative association between gonadal hormone exposure and risk of bone sarcoma [in the Rottweilers who were studied]. In males, bone sarcoma incidence rate for dogs castrated before 1 year of age (lowest gonadal exposure) was 28.4 bone tumors/10,000 dog-months at risk, which was almost four times greater than the rate of bone sarcoma in sexually intact males. In females, bone sarcoma incidence rate in dogs spayed before 1 year of age (lowest gonadal exposure) was 25.1 bone tumors/10,000 dog-months at risk, which was more than three times greater than the rate in sexually intact females.

[...]

Our finding that neutered Rottweiler dogs are at increased risk for bone sarcoma is consistent with the findings of Ru et al. [...] Our results indicate that dogs undergoing early gonadectomy have the highest risk for bone sarcoma development."

Additional article with references: http://www.mahoosiveleos.co.uk/spaying.html

Answer 2

I agree w/ you, spay / neuter at 8 weeks of age. We have been having our puppies done at that age for nearly 14 years. No problems at all. All these studies that they come out with, are absolutely untrue. I have never seen anything that they are suggesting. The only thing we see is the dogs growing slightly taller than their littermates that aren't spayed/neutered.

Added: I have not noticed any increase in arthritis or bone pain at all. I am in contact with pretty much everyone we have ever sold a dog to. The couple that I have noticed w/ spay incontinence were puppies that were done at 6+ months of age, rather than done at 8 weeks of age. The increased height is the only issue. And I don't think that it's a problem. There are no hips problems with that slight height increase.
One thing I have noticed tho. Puppies that are done at 8 weeks of age. When they go to their new homes and the owners new vet sees that the dog has been spayed/neutered, he has a fit and freaks on the new owners many times.. Acting like a horrible injustice has been done. But on the same hand there are just as many vets who are impressed that the puppies are already spayed/neutered. It's the vets that have caused this problem with the issues. I pay $60 to spay a 8 week old female $45 to neuter an 8 week old Male.. Vets charge 2 and 3 times that much to do it when they are 6 mos of age and older.. Just cause they can..

Answer 3

http://www.courageouscaucasians.com/neutering.htm

http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html this is written by a vet.
I have other articles against it, I can't find them right now, email me and I will get them to you, if you are interested.

Personally I do not recommend any early spay or neuter. I have an early neutered pit rescue and he is very leggy, bitchy looking and still squats. I also have a problem with taking away the hormones before the dog's growth plates are "finished" maturing. I often wonder how many dogs that are neutered in my breed turn up with hip/elbow problems. The thing is people who don't intend to work/breed/show their dogs rarely test for dysplasia, too bad breeders who sell pet dogs do not have them tested at two years to see how their stock is progressing....

I agree with you, they should not equate children with animals, and I didn't write the argument...I just linked it because of other parts of the article.....Also, my point about Diesel squatting is that he never matured, physically or mentally into a male. He is still a good pet, no question there...I think that whether you spay or neuter it doesn't really, really matter if you are responsible with your pet, problem is that people don't take responsibility with their dogs and we have an exploding pet population. Mandating sterilization on a pup is basically saying that the new owner (in my opinion) shouldn't really have a dog, since they can't be responsible about breeding, then are they going to be responsible about caring for the dog? Besides, many of the YA people are BYB's and they make some sheckles by breeding their "akc" dogs and regardless of what is said, they continue to do it. Some even in the name of "designer" mutts, telling them to spay or neuter falls on deaf ears and gets your answers deleted, just ask the St. Lady about that one...
My bottom line, is that I do think spaying and neutering has it's place but should not be mandated. Owner responsibility should be the number one priority. BSL is another thing, but that too boils down to owner irresponsibility.... good question by the way.

Answer 4

Tyed,

I did a little search on this and all I could find was that some had concerns that spaying a female dog early can lead to incontinence later in life. However, there are no recent studies that could back that. All I found was that the studies that were done found that there wasn't anything that proved that spaying or neutering after 6 mos was better than spaying or neutering at 8 weeks.

Answer 5

THey used to think that early spay/neuter was bad because the dog/cat wasn't at full adulthood and thought that the organs and hormones needed to be 'adult' to stop any problems down the line as the animal aged.

That turned out not to be true, and since so MANY dogs/cats were getting pregnant with people waiting till the animals went into their first heat/season, the downside of the population explosion was enough that they started neutering/spaying earlier.

It's fine for them, the spay/neuter BEFORE first heat/adulthood didn't trigger an epidemic of any cancers.

However some places spay/neuter at 2-3 months, which is WAY too early and has caused problems. Fixing them that early should be avoided. 4-6 months is standard and safe.

Answer 6

I can't help as the studies I've seen have been about the pros and cons of spaying/neutering versus keeping intact, I've never looked into early versus later, never even thought to to be honest, as I usually rescue adults or adolescent dogs, if they aren't already done then it's done within a month! My experience is with cats and I've always had them done as early as possible or not at all, they are outside animals, or they were breeding stock! now I don't want any kittens but I also don't want a tom fathering any either. I must say though that the earliest I had a tom done was 8 weeks! Our Vet had a cattery and suggested doing him and mum at the same time! They were already booked in for a week! He was certainly healthy enough (he died at 21)!
I doubt I'll need the info now but I'll be watching this with interest too so thanks for posting it!

Answer 7

I was curious. I'm not entirely educated on when to spay/neuter a dog. Everyone has just told me 5-8 months, even vets.

I found this site, though - the pros and cons of spaying/neutering your dog early.
http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html