- Not a substitute for professional veterinary help.
Ouch! If we’re thinking in purely human terms, the thought of neutering your dog might sound, well, inhumane. Are you taking something away from them? Does it make your beloved buddy feel inferior? Is it self-serving, or truly in the dog’s best interest?
Fears and misinformation might cause pet parents to hesitate when thinking about neutering their dog. But there are many well-being and health reasons to spay and neuter your canine companion. Read on to separate fact from fiction when it comes to neutering dogs.
Should I Det My Dog Neutered?
The benefits of spay/neuter surgery are numerous. For your dog, early neutering will prevent them from breaking out to follow his or her own hormones down the block. The risk of loss, injury, and even death is high for dogs on the road to love.
By preventing unwanted pregnancies, you are saving yourself unplanned expenses and proactively helping your community by not adding to the population of dogs in rescue centres. What’s more, there’s just no way to guarantee every puppy finds her way to a loving forever home, even in planned-for pregnancies.
Getting your dog neutered can also lessen unwanted marking and humping behaviours in males, and prevent messy heat cycles for the ladies. Removing the sex organs can also help prevent testicular cancer, mammary cancer, ovarian cancer, and uterine cancer in dogs. In female dogs, it also prevents a potentially fatal infection of the womb called pyometra.
In male dogs, the operation is also known as castration, which involves removing the testicles and, in females, it’s referred to as spaying and usually involves removing both the uterus and ovaries.
Some studies suggest a slightly increased risk of certain cancers, dementia, and hip dysplasia in spayed and castrated dogs. But it’s widely thought that the health and behaviour benefits, particularly in female dogs, far outweigh any other risks.
We can minimise the potential risks of neutering our dogs by working with a knowledgeable vet to determine the correct time to have your dog neutered. Allowing puppies to grow to mature size before removing the sex organs can help with bone density and hip dysplasia issues. Another developing but rare approach is sterilisation versus neutering—meaning an ovary-sparing spay or vasectomy, which lets the dog keep their hormones intact while preventing pregnancy.
Meanwhile, chemical castrations are becoming more common for male dogs in the UK. And keyhole surgery for neutering is also increasingly popular as it reduces recovery time from the operation, but not all vets are trained to perform this.
Common Myths About Spay and Neuter Surgery for Dogs
Neutering your dog sounds potentially traumatic, but the benefits outweigh the risks. In fact, some concerns are just misinformation. Consider the following:
- Do they experience remorse and loss? No. We might project our emotional insecurities onto our companions, but for a dog, it simply removes one biological need, letting them be happier and fulfilled with the identity they have in your home.
- Does a male suffer feelings of emasculation? No. A canine might experience an adjustment period, realising something is different, but we’re reading into things if we link it to doggy depression. Some even go so far as to get their buddy prosthetic testicular implants for alleged self-esteem issues, but as PetMD points out, this cosmetic procedure isn’t necessary.
- Does a female suffer emotionally, never having puppies? No. The societal and personal pressure for a woman regarding children is very real. However, a female dog doesn’t need to have a litter of puppies to be emotionally fulfilled. The procedure is best performed before they even experience their first heat.
- Are there potentially negative side effects? As with any medical procedure, the answer is yes…but these are minor and rare, and some result from the procedure being done too early or late. Blue Cross details what to expect after your pet is neutered or spayed.
- Does neutering cause obesity? No. Males can tend to put on weight, but obesity isn’t caused by the procedure. The diet must be monitored and matched to the metabolism and appetite changes following neutering.
- Does spaying a dog calm them down? Yes, in most cases. Since they’re not competing for a mate and certain hormonal protective instincts are removed. Most studies show decreased fearful or aggressive tendencies and better behaviour, though pet parents shouldn’t view spaying or neutering as the cure-all for puppy problems. It’s not a replacement for quality obedience training.
The Right Time to Spay or Neuter Your Dog
Determining the best time to get your pet spayed or neutered is best decided between you, your shelter or breeder, and a knowledgeable vet.
Many vets recommend neutering from four to six months. Most spaying or castration surgeries are done after the six-month mark. The benefits of earlier neutering include a simpler surgery, and bypassing reproductive impulses entirely.
Some breeders and breed advocates, especially for large breeds, recommend delaying until growth plates are fused, although the risk of unwanted behaviours and accidental pregnancy expands greatly the longer neutering pets are left entire (un-neutered).
The bottom line is, we need more research into the consequences of spay and neutering, more training for vets in the ovary-sparing spay and vasectomy procedures to provide easy access to more choices, and a lot of patience and understanding as we all work together to make informed long-term health care decisions for our pets.
Neutering costs can range from £100 to £300 depending on the method and the sex of your dog. Spay surgery tends to be more expensive than castration as it is a more complex and invasive operation.
Low-cost Spay and Neuter Options
There are low-cost spaying and neutering options available across the UK. Dogs Trust has been working with vets to provide subsidised neutering for dog owners living on means-tested benefits—find out if they can help you cover the cost of surgery here. And the RSPCA, PDSA and Blue Cross offer low-cost veterinary care to those who are eligible.
We know you want the best for your pet, that’s why in addition to providing you with informative articles about caring for your dog Rover.com has a UK-wide network of loving dog walkers and dog sitters who will treat your dog like family when you can’t be around.