About neutering?

Question

I have some questions about neutering. I know we will -definitely- be neutering our dog, but I'd like to know a bit more about it.

What age do you recommend? Yes, yes, I know most vets recommend 6 months. I know many do it much earlier. I know it's often recommended for larger dogs to wait 'til, say, a year.
Our dog is a 6 month old English Mastiff. I've read many things -- about how many terrible illness neutering prevents. But also how neutering before a certain age can increase likelihood of bone cancer by a considerable amount. Also how my Mastiff's growth will be affected -- he'll probably be a little more lanky than hefty.

How stressful is being neutered for the dog? Does it take a big toll on his body? How long will it be before he recovers, and how will I have to treat him while he is recovering?
What kind of neutering should I have done? Regular or laser? (Probably regular right?) I've also heard stuff about different ways of stitching them up & how one way's best.

Answer 1

Neutering can be safely done at almost any age with little stress. Recovery is usually a day or two, depending on age. The biggest advantage to early neutering is it helps prevent marking, aggressiveness, and unwanted pregancy (or running off to find girls).

Answer 2

The recommended age is 6 months. For large breeds it's 9-11 months, up to a year old so they have time to mature and develop bone and muscle mass.

Neutering prevents testicle and prostate cancer as well as prevents aggression and behavioral problems (due to lack of testosterone). They will not be as likely to roam to find a female in season.

Neutering a dog is quite simple. A incision is made at the base of the penis and scrotal sack. The testicles are then removed and the sack is left (sorry if I'm being graphic). They are then sutured up, usually with sutures that will dissolve in a few weeks or so.

After the anesthesia wears off, they bounce back pretty quick. They may seem a little tired for a day or two. You will want to restrict activity for 7-10 days (leash walk, no running, jumping or rough play) and monitor the incision for any redness, swelling or discharge. You can request pain medication, but for neuters they usually aren't necessary.The night you bring him home you can offer small amounts of food and water. You will want to keep him away from steps etc, since he may still be a little groggy and unsteady.

He will do just fine, so don't be too worried. Feel free to contact with any other questions.

Answer 3

Neutering is a very quick and safe procedure. The preparation for the surgery takes longer than the surgery itself. It's basically 2 little snips, and done. Most dogs come home from the vet the same day and you can't even tell they've had surgery. You just have to keep him from licking at the little wound, which is about 1 inch long. Most vets do dissolvable stitches so you don't even have to worry about getting the stitches out.

Answer 4

You are making this harder than it has to be and worrying a little too much over a simple procedure. It will be fine if you neuter your pup at six months. The longer you wait the more problems I say he will have, younger pups are easier to handle and easier to control. If you are uneasy with him going under the knife wait till he is 8 mos., but I wouldn't wait any longer. The thing is you don't really want to wait too long cause as soon as his hormones really kick in he will start "hicking" his leg and marking his territory, and if he is an inside dog this will most likely make problems for you and him. And even if you neuter him after the fact....it is almost always too late to correct the problem. So if he were mine I would neuter him at 6 mos. to make sure. I'm not sure how much of an affect it will have on his growth. Testicles do produce testosterone, and testosterone does have an affect on mucsle mass and fat distribution. I would discuss all this with your vet, but I say what will most likely have the most affect on your dog's size is first off genetics, then diet and exercise. Your dog will be sewn up with sutra which will probably be dissolvable, but you can have it removed after 7 days (make sure to ask the vet if it is dissolvable if they don't tell you either way.) He might have to be fashioned with a fancy elizabethan collar to keep him from tearing his stitches out and opening up the incision. You really don't have to treat them with anything. I would just put him in a clean quiet area of the house, and keep a check on the stitches to make sure he hasn't managed to tear them. Some Dr.s will prescribe pain medicine and a spray. My vet does not prescribe pain medicine. I know it sounds mean, but it will help the dog in the long run, if no pain medication was given. The reason being is...if the pup takes the medication he will feel better and want run around and play as usual when what he really needs to be doing is resting and healing. Dogs are not people and your pup will not understand that he needs to lay still to heal properly and not tear his stitches. So if he doesn't feel that well and hurts a little he will lay still like he needs to and heal faster. The laser is new to me....sounds like a fancy way to get your money. Probably what all laser really does is minimize the bleeding, but to be honest with you there's not that much blood loss to begin with when you neuter and spay, if it's done right of course. There is all kinds of different ways to stitch, but if you just want to get right down to it; there are only two ways, neat and sloppy. If the vet takes his time and doesn't get the stitches too tight or loose and uses a quality sutra in a clean disinfected environment, your pup will heal faster and will have less chance of infections and will have less scarring. Some of these questions are a little unnecessary, but it is refreshing to see a pet owner that is this concerned about their pet. You have also spent a lot of time researching it sounds like and it sounds like you love your pet. But all in all this is a simple procedure that all vets should be very familiar with. Just make sure your vet has good credentials and all should be fine. It also makes a difference if the vet is in it for the dog and not in it for the money. Like vets prescribing pain medicine to pets after minor procedures like these to get an extra buck when it will actually hender the healing process as I explained above. If they offer a disinfectant spray for the stitches I might take that, but not the pain medication. I hope this helps.

Answer 5

I do rescue and have always found that neutering is no big deal as far as the surgery is concerned.
Most dogs are running around the next day, the younger the dog, the faster the recovery.

I always insist on a 24 hour pain injection, after that most dogs are just fine, maybe a little stiff, at least the older dogs, but the young ones are ready to go - hard part is keeping them relatively calm so they don't pull out the stitches.

There are internal stitches and external, but only a couple. I have had dogs so active that the external stiches, which are usually just glued, come open, but the internal ones hold, so it is just a matter of seeing whether the outside skin flap (very small) is closing.
On one occasion I had a very young dog 6 lb. male who was so hyper that he had to have 2 staples put on the outside, but he was fine.

My vet will neuter at 5 months, some rescues do it even earlier - it really is not a problem for the dog, it is done all the time and prevents a lot of problems, from over population to dog fights to certain diseases to the male dog's inclination to wander in search of females in heat.

Don't worry, have it done as soon as your vet recommends, your dog will be just fine.

Answer 6

A lot of these are questions you should be asking both your vet and your dog's breeder since they know the breed best.

A giant breed dog shouldn't be neutered as a puppy.

As for stress, neutering is a minor procedure. By the 2nd day after surgery, provided there's no problems, he'll be back to normal as far as his behaviour goes.

Answer 7

For a giant breed, I personally would not neuter at all as long as you can be responsible and prevent your dog from breeding. There is little to no benefit of neutering a giant breed.

Neutering can prevent testicular cancer, which is rare in dogs and rarely fatal if it is found.

Neutering can also prevent prostate enlargement, but enlarged prostates occur in senior dogs. For a breed with a life expectancy of 8-10 years, the dog likely isn't going to live long enough to be effected by enlarged prostate. If the prostate does enlarge, the dog can be neutered at that time.

If you choose to neuter, I would wait until the dog is completely mature, at about 1.5 to 2 years.

If you do decide to neuter, the procedure is very simple. I recently had my 12 year old dog neutered because of an enlarged prostate. Day 2 and he was ready to run around and get back to normal. I also foster dogs and almost all the males don't seem to really notice anything is different and are back to normal in 24 hours.

Answer 8

I have giant breed dogs also. When it is my own dogs or when selling male puppies, I advise waiting until they are 18 months or older. Early neutering in these dgos WILL cause the growth to be effected. The bone mass will not form correctly, and often they have a less than nice head. They do tend to be taller and lankier. There is also the increased chance of bone cancer.
Females are a different story, but males I would wait on!!!

Your standard neuter is fine...just be aware that because of the size of the testicles and scrotum, there is usually a LOT of swelling!!!!! Not always, but most often!! I have had a few that swelled like grapefruits!!!! No lasting problems though, and it did not seem to bother the dog!!!

Answer 9

No nuetering isn't s major as spaying and even spayed females perk back up a few days ater surgery. 18 months is fine since large breeds grow very slowly.


I've never heard of laser nuetering, but it sounds painful

Answer 10

well my vet recomended that we get our dog neutered because he was having prostate problems and if we didnt neuter him it could have caused prostate cancer