Worried About My Little Boy

[Seraphina]

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As Tony Taylor and others say; the benefits of castration are not as one sided as the "neuter everything lobby" would have us believe. Especially when it comes to prostate cancer, some research shows that castrated dogs actually have more problems. There are also some aggressive bone cancers that affect neutered dogs significantly more than entire ones.

In many parts of Australia dogs have to be de-sexed by the time they are 3 months; with the exception of dogs owned by members of KC. Pups have to be registered with local councils by 3 months and to be registered they have to be microchipped and neutered. Many people though just take the risk of fines and wait until the dogs are bit older. But still, they cannot put it off for ever.

 

[~Annie~]

I've posted here before about the effects of castration on bone density which in my view is a particular concern in long boned dogs like whippets. And I'd also be concerned about neutering any dog before he or she is fully mature ... the very process of maturation requires hormones to be present. But at the end of the day you will find a lot of research supporting castration and plenty more suggesting that it can be detrimental to a dog's long term well being. I'm inclined to agree with those who suggest that it's only really necessary as a means of population control (and if you keep your dog under your close control that shouldn't be an issue) and to deal with some beahvioural issues. We reluctantly castrated one of our three males, but it did have the desired effect of restoring balance in the pack as a previously very wired dog is now fairly chilled. At the end of the day only you can know what's right for you and your dogs. All that said ... to answer your question ... Tyg was castrated at 10.00 am and by 4.00 pm beyond a bit of bruising you wouldn't have known he'd had an op.

 

[Lal]

I sought the advice of my vet, a vet I knew and trusted as we had a long history on the equine side of things, about having Rifle castrated. Her advice was to leave him entire unless there was any problem with him (trying to escape, humping things, aggression etc). Obviously he is under fairly close control and we have never had any problem (he is 4 now), the only problem we have had is when a neighbour's dog got into our garden and attacked Rifle, that has made him quite wary of strange dogs (he was attacked when we were out on a walk one day as well). I read somewhere that the different scent entire males give off can cause aggression from other dogs but I'm not sure how true that is. I remember when I was younger my father having Labs, varying ages, male and entire and never having a problem.

All that said, now, I'm looking to possibly take a rescue dog, and the fact Rifle still has his 'bits' is going to cause a problem. I sometimes find myself wishing, because I never intended to show my dog or use him for breeding (ex-husband had other ideas!) that I'd just had him 'done' when he was younger.

Go with what you think is right for you.

 

[pixypup]

My lurcher was not castrated and the vet told me unless he was causing problems to leave them be, but he was 7 when I got him and he considered the anaesthetic to be too much of a risk at that age (he already had a heart murmur - the dog not the vet!).

Eight years later he had an anaesthetic for a tooth extraction and was absolutely fine, vet told me anaesthetics much better now so the risk was lower than him dying from blood poisoning due to infection. The only thing my dog ever tried to mate with was a neutered male collie, he ignored my friend's in-season bitch altogether! The vet did tell me to check my dog's testicles from time to time to ensure there weren't any lumps (I recommend you don't do this at the park...) but he did not seem worried about the risk of testicular cancer - as wild whippies says, the failing heart and strokes were our first priority at the time!

Whatever you decide, hope it goes well!