Spaying a dog
Should I Spay My Dog?
By Craig McPherson
What are the medical advantages of spaying? The medical advantages of neutering? How about the disadvantages?
Photo: sierraanimalhospital.com
Medical Advantages
Your bitch is no longer subject to reproductive cancers, such as mammary cancer (the most common tumor of the sexually intact bitch).
Bitches spayed prior to their first estrus have about 0.5 percent risk of developing mammary cancer. If spaying is delayed after the second heat period, the chance of developing a tumor jumps 8-26 percent.
Bitches spayed later than this remain at the same level of risk, 8-26 percent.
The incidence of pyometra is eliminated in spayed bitches.
Pyometra is a common disease of intact bitches, particularly in bitches over 6 years of age, although it can occur at any age.
It is a potentially fatal disease.
Your dog is less at risk from prostate disease and testicular cancer, both of which can be life threatening. Even non-malignant growths are a threat because the growth can cause infection that can eventually kill your dog.
Medical Disadvantages
General anesthesia is a risk to any dog. A small percentage of spayed bitches may develop estrogen imbalances in later life that causes incontinence (or rather, "leaking"), which is easily controlled with dosages of estrogen. There are no medical disadvantages (other than anesthetic risk) to male dogs.
What are the psychological effects on your dog?
There is wide disagreement over this, but there are various relevant facts to note.
First, neutered dogs are no longer concerned with reproduction.
This is a psychological effect, but the extent of it is confined to its behaviour with respect to heat.
The argument is often over whether or not neutered dogs remain "aggressive". In particular, guard dogs and working dogs are often thought to lose something by neutering.
This is accountable with specific examples.
E.g. Seeing Eye dogs are always neutered and they are fine, working dogs.
There are many neutered animals that are dominant over intact animals.
For each claim made about the effect of neutering an animal, a counter-example can be cited. This means that the effect of neutering is largely dependent on the individual dog. And, most likely, because dogs are so attuned to their owners, dependent on the owner.
Dogs are very good at picking up expectations: if you expect your dog to mellow after neutering, it probably will, whether or not the neutering was actually responsible for it.
The question also arises over whether dogs "miss" sex or not.
Neutered animals never display interest in sex afterwards; the argument is fairly strong that dogs do NOT miss their sexual capability.
"Mounting" or "humping" is a dominance related behaviour that any alpha dog, of either sex, intact or neutered, will engage in.
On a more serious note, there could come a time when you have to make the gut wrenching decision to put your dog down.
For a detailed procedure of dog euthanasia and to help prepare you for the day, there is a tutorial at http://here-is-your.info/dog-training/when-to-put-a-dog-down.php
I just filmed a segement for my web video show about dogs in which we filmed a spaying. It only took 10 minutes and seemed relatively simple. Hopefully we will have the episode up in January.
Comment by The Dog Files — October 29, 2008 @ 5:26 pm
Good for you! I’m glad that you are into saving dogs! Keep it up!
You might like a friend of mine and my site.
http/www.friendlyfootsteps.weebly.com
(its an animal lover, earth friendly kind of one!
Keep it up!!
Comment by Jess — November 28, 2009 @ 8:17 pm