I would say that for the most part, owners these days are much more aware of the benefits of altering their pet’s reproductive abilities, but we still run into the not-so-rare emergencies that come from not having a spayed or neutered pet. There continues to be more research as to when is the best time to have the procedures done, but overwhelmingly, the consensus is that it is safer, healthier, and dare I say, less expensive to go ahead and have that surgery done.
For the bitches: An obvious reason that it is recommended to spay a female and remove those hormones and organs from her body is the prevention of accidental litters of puppies. Despite the fact that nowadays, you can slap a cute breed remix name on a mixed breed puppy and get some attention, overwhelmingly, there are too many homeless pets in the shelters being euthanized every day to take the risk of finding forever homes for new lives. You won’t know until it’s too late whether you’ll have to find homes for just one puppy (which can be hard on the mother as that one puppy tends to be much larger than individual puppies in multiple puppy litters) or 17 puppies. And let’s say you secure homes for all these puppies, don’t pat yourself on the back yet, now these families will need to keep these puppies forever without dropping them off at the shelter when they start chewing up the couch or drywall before you can count yourself responsible. Obviously, I’m not talking about responsible breeders. There are absolutely some wonderfully thoughtful and detail oriented breeders out there trying to improve whatever breed they have chosen through intensive genetic testing and screenings and I salute them.
Other reasons it is healthier to spay your female: You will prevent an emergency, very expensive, very dangerous condition called pyometra – this is a condition where weeks to a few months after her heat cycle, her uterus, having been open to the world when she was in heat with an open cervix and the amount of mucus dogs tend to produce during heat cycles create an optimum environment for bacteria to enter and take over. So, a month or so after they’re in heat, they become lethargic, can become septicemic (systemic infection spread through the blood), sometimes vomit, and can die. They basically have a giant sac of pus sitting in their abdomen that can spread to the blood supply or the uterus can rupture and then fill the entire abdomen with disgusting infectious pus. This happens with enough occurrence that if vets see a female dog coming in for lethargy, vomiting, ADR (ain’t doin’ right) and she’s not spayed, it’s considered a pyometra until proven otherwise. This is a condition that is best dealt with by doing immediate surgery to remove said sack of pus. This surgery, especially in the middle of the night or during the weekend (when bad things tend to happen) may cost anywhere from $600 at your most rural practice to $2500-5000 depending on the severity of her condition when she presents at an emergency clinic. So, not only are you going to easily spend 6-10x what you would have to have a spay done, but now her life is in danger on top of anesthesia risk. There are non-surgical ways to treat (I know some were asking) but those are not at all guaranteed and can prolong your dog’s suffering and possible eventual death.
Lastly, medical complications like mammary cancer is greatly increased with the more heat cycles your dog has been through. Generally speaking, you’re bitch is safest if spayed before her first heat (prevalence of mammary cancer: 0.5%), then safer after her first heat (prevalence: 8%), and least safe after her second heat (prevalence of cancer: 25%)
Other excuses for not spaying:
- “She’s in a fence, she never leaves my yard” – great! As long as that fence cannot be penetrated by a male dog’s organ – because they can and they will.
- “She’s a German Shepard and my male is a Chihuahua, there’s no way they even could” – Sweetie, where there’s a will, there’s a way. They can and they will.
- “I’ve heard it calms her down to have just one litter” – Nopity nope. Not true. It will have a very different and unpredictable effect on every individual – some bitches get more aggressive with puppies. Also, if you start with a crazy/semi-aggressive/insecure mother, you’re more likely to have the puppies inherit/learn that behavior as well.
- “She won’t hunt if we spay her” – Ummm, well, she won’t be hunting for males!! *knee slap*
- “They are brother and sister or mother and son – they wouldn’t do that” – Yes. Yes, they will. They don’t care about human social structure or taboo when their hormones hit.
- “I want my children to witness the miracle of life” – Let me suggest a DVD: PBS Nova’s Life’s Greatest Miracle. You can buy it on Amazon.com for $16.59 – Pop it in the DVD player, I think you can even watch it online. It will save you the risk of an emergency c-section (go ahead and put aside $800-$5000 just in case), the possible loss of life of your dog and her puppies, or the possibility of having orphaned puppies that you have to feed, and stimulate to pee and poop every 2 hours. And then, don’t forget the vaccinations, de-worming, and health examinations ($45-$100 per puppy depending on your area) you will need to get all those puppies before giving them to their new home.
- “She’ll just get fat” – To be fair, obesity is a problem in all of our animals, surgically altered or not. We just like to feed them and forget how little they actually need. You are in complete control of their nutrition, they don’t have to worry about getting depressed and polishing off a bucket of cheese balls and a bottle of wine. You keep your dog at the right weight, not them. I’ve had surgically altered dogs my whole life and none of them have been overweight.
Now for the boy’s side. To be fair, I don’t have nearly as many medically scary side effects of having testicles, but in short, being neutered will prevent unwanted puppies (yes, owner’s of males are also responsible for shelter euthanasias. I’ve heard too many times “well, I don’t have to worry about that because I have a boy”- just because you don’t see the litter born doesn’t mean it wasn’t your fault). Other medical reasons would be benign prostate issues when they’re older, testicular cancer, and preventing other emergencies such as being hit by a car when your dog runs down the road because he smells a female in estrus, dog fight wounds, etc.
Cancer: if you have the organ, it’s open to get cancer. Intact male dogs are more likely to not only have testicular cancer, but also prostate cancer, benign prostate hyperplasia (testosterone causes large prostate that presses on and blocks colon) and perianal (right next to the anus) cancer.
Other “excuses”:
- “He’s my BOY! I wouldn’t do that to him, just like I wouldn’t do it to my best friend” (usually of the male persuasion) – A couple of things bother me about this one. For one, why are you emotionally attached to your dog’s testicles? Your dog isn’t. Your dog has no idea what those things are for and doesn’t care a wink when they’re removed. Second, would you keep your best friend, your “boy” isolated in the house while you go to work? Would you walk them on a leash? Would you let them poop in your backyard? Now, imagine your best friend was also your roommate and had typical male desires that comes with full testosterone load from having testicles. Now, imagine telling your “boy” that he won’t be allowed to be with females ever (because you’re responsible). Again, your dog doesn’t care about his testicles, but if he has them, he will want to do things with them. If he doesn’t have them, he’ll just live in an ignorantly blissful world where he never even knows he’s missing anything.
- “He’ll get fat” – see previous reasoning in the girl section
- “It’s not my responsibility if he gets out and gets a female pregnant” – This is just infuriating for obvious reasons
- “I might stud him out” – good luck with that. He’s no Kentucky Derby winner and the very rare chance someone is actually going to ask to pay you for his services, you’re not likely to get much for it when you weigh all the risks of keeping him intact.
- “I love it when they get those large, disgusting testosterone pumped butt holes” – Said no one ever.
I. Love. This. Post. I love this post so much.
Former vet tech and animal shelter volunteer who would love to print this out and staple it to people’s foreheads because SO MUCH THIS!!!!
Thank you!!!
We tried to neuter our 6 year old mastiff the vet told us it was too risky and would cause complications so we opted to listen to the vet then flashforward to the mastiff turning 11 and growing an inoperable mast cell tumor it was off to the side of his wiener and they told us to enjoy our time with him they said at the max 4 months he lived until 8 days before he 12th birthday 4/12/19 was the day we lost him he lived a year 1 month a 2 days after we found his tumor. Then after watching Dr Pol this year for the first time I wish I could go back and have the vet neuter him after hearing what You, Dr Pol and Dr Brenda always said to do it because they cause cancer when they age. I cant complain we had Turbo a mastiff for 8 days shy of 12 years very good odds for a mastiff. We even took him in April 05th 2019 for his rabies vaccine and our vet couldn’t believe he was almost 12 he had great teeth, and was so happy just 107lbs due to the cancer he was 125 at his max. On his last day when we put him down there was 10 family members there to be there with him and 3 people came to say bye before we took him in, our vet said she would never forget us and we would always have a special place in heart for us she had never seen anything like it and said now I understand because at his rabies apt all we wanted was the rabies shot we knew he didnt have much time but there was rabies in coons where we lived in Colorado so she at first thought we were just mean but when she saw us less than 10 days later she kept saying I understand now and I’ve never seen a dog who impacted so many lives without being a service animal.
Hi Kristin, Your post made me cry
I feel so bad that you had those very sad occurrences.
Twenty years ago we raised very gentle, beautiful boxers.. We had the mother and her daughter. We had several nice litters especially from the daughter.
I took her to the vet for her rabies shot. She was seven. The vet asked me why I had waited so long to spay her. She explained about the possibility of mammary tumors and other cancers. I had no idea and no vet had ever talked to me about having her spayed or the possibility of cancers. So I had her spayed at 7 years. It turned out to be a good decision.
Think about how many vets I saw in seven years!
I hope things get better for you. 😊
Loved this! Here’s a perspective coming from a very responsible ex border collie breeder. I was so anal about where my pups went, I would actually screen the new owners(making them learn all about the breed ect, going to their home to make sure it was a good fit for a BC ect) and even turned down a few, to the point where, I decided instead of taking any that I did not sell to shelters that they would stay with me. This way, my pups and my responsibilities would not be in any homes that I would not know about, or God forbid be put down if not adopted. Hence having 9 Border collies. No, they did not all come from 1 Bitch, I never bred more then twice per bitch and once they were done breeding, they were immediately spayed after done weening the pups. And no I did not just give the Momma dog away either, like she was worthless to me now, they all live with me and all are now spayed and healthy 😊❤️ No more breeding for me, I’m to damn old lol but I had some wonderful pups and they are all in wonderful homes and doing great. But I do agree with everything you said. Every cat I have ever owned however has been spayed and nutured as soon as they were old enough and any future dog I own will be. Also I have geldings lol if it was safe to spay mares I would but as you already know the answer to that, unfortunately I will just deal with my 2 mares being a little pissy once a month lol but do not plan on having them around any stallions EVER!! 🤦♀️🤣
I’m glad you liked the post, and it sounds like you were a very responsible breeder
Excellent. Like your sense of humour and fair play for both sexes.
Great humorous look at why to desex your pets.
I promote the “adopt don’t shop” mantra all the time! Me and my 6 rescues enjoyed your post today. Stay well.
Yes!!! I was just at the vet yesterday and a lady brought a little dog in with pyometra. Poor thing could barely walk, had pus coming out, and smelled terrible. I couldn’t resist saying, “Are you going to get her spayed now?”
Thanks for your posts, I enjoy reading them. I hope you and your family are well!
Thank you! We’ve always had our cats and dogs spayed or neutered, and they’ve been happy and well-adjusted pets. Except for Otto, our current cat. He’s always been a jerk. 😊
I just had my 13mo GSD spayed on Wednesday. I was so conflicted about the right thing to do for her. The vets were no help (I’d asked several). Puppies were never an option, I always knew I would have her spayed. But when? When is optimal? I’d read so much about how the sex hormones are needed for proper bone and ligament development. After having rescue dogs that were spayed at 4mo and then had mobility issues later in life, I believed it!!!! So I opted to try and do it just before her second heat cycle. So I guess her risk of cancer is elevated, but I’m hoping she won’t have the severe mobility issues my previous dogs had. Love your blog. Wish I could have talked with you directly, but her surgery was two days ago…
Good advice
I have a AKC Champion with many titles after her name but I did have her spayed because we don’t need puppies & there are more than enough breeders out there. I believe if you don’t have a dog that you are showing & plan on improving the breed & have families waiting for a puppy then spay or neuter..
I had a vet that was against spay/neuter, said it cut their lives short. In my county over the last 16 years I have responded to multiple animal hoarders and dozens of dogs that were sick were euthanized. It was incredibility sad. Some of those scenes were so traumatic I still carry them close. So found another vet amd all my rescues and strays are all altered. Thanks for these blogs.
The info delivered and in the quality of your writing ✍🏿, I am certain that you should be published. I am convinced that I would never be able to find any literature on this subject better written anywhere. It’s textbook perfect. Well done, Emily. Very well done. 🐎🤠
Wel said!
I’m sad that Norman ran away. :'(
Spot on! I have a question though….drum roll please…….the last comment about the male testosterone pumped butthole? Um, this has been a burning question for me, since I am a pet groomer and always wondered why the buttholes of unaltered males get so huge and weird looking. Maybe you can shed some light on that one, please?
Side note: there is NO reason not to spay and neuter your pets! Breeders are only in it for the money, they don’t give two craps about the puppies, if the almighty dollar wasn’t involved they wouldn’t do it! Let’s not forget to mention the poor miserable “mommy” having litter after litter, dragging around those milk filled boobs hanging on the floor! Statistics show, 60% of shelter animals are pure bred! Adopt don’t shop!
I love animals, but could never be a vet and have to deal with all the assholes that bring their pets to you.
I agree.Things are done a bit differently here.I had my cats spayed but allowed them 1 litter.Now with so many people working and being away all day,I would not do so.Indeed there are enough strays.I hosted over 40 straycats over the years.Found them good homes and never gave them away.The new owners had to pay for vaccination and for spaying/neutering if the cats were older.
Now I have 2 cats Sifra came 15 years ago, she was small,I thought she was a kitten.But my vet said she might have been spayed at 9 weeks!! and then they never grow to full size.He was angry,about that. The other one I got 2 1/2 years ago.# years old.She found near a small lake.She was spayed and spent 3 years in the petasylum. She has become nicer ,but you can get a cat out of the petasylum,but the petasulylum also needs to go out of the cat.This is very slowly happening now.The first 6 months she spent on our attick,but she is becoming more social..to us.She doesn’t like other cats.
In case you think the Dutch petasylums are sad places.Glory had a big double cage,meant to house at least 4 cats,she had toys,could use a climbing device and she could see grass and trees,as for food.The cats and dogs were all fed extremely good food.
And all will be spayed or neutered and still in June the petasylums receive many dumped kittens.
Sounds like you are a great pet owner
We had many cats.Now I have 2 and they will be our last ones.I am 73 now and still healthy,but when something happens ..who will take care of the cats then. I cannot bear the thought the 2 I have now would be taken to a petasylum again.
I live in a rural area where I hear every single one of those excuses every time someone I know gets a new puppy. Males me want to scream! Thank you for all you do to keep pets safe and healthy! Stay safe…
Thank you for this post. I don’t think you can address this issue too many times. Love your pics too.
YES YES YES, a thousand times YES!!!! to all of this! I thought long and hard about being a vet and this is biggest reasons I didn’t. I wouldn’t be able to deal with people who have all these reasons for not altering.
SO many times while watching Dr Pol (ask my husband) I would say I hope they spay.neuter it while it’s in surgery for…. hit by car., broken bone, dog fight wounds…. etc etc and just tell owner the scalpel slipped (I know, can’t do that). But it would drive me nuts to have all those unaltered animals coming in and not being able to do anything other than encourage. Sorry that the world apparently has an unlimited supply of dumb people! 🙁 Thanks so much for what you do.
Understand you.It is so hard to see the dogs in petasylums.They have a good life,yes and there is even a team that will walk all dogs every day,but dogs need a home.Then people come and choose a pup(here already spayed) and the old dogs stay.No they are not put to sleep.There are people who are willing to give an old dog some good years.
Another good show about Vets is Dr Jeff Rocky Mountain Vet if you bring your animal to his clinic having your animal fixed is mandatory! His clinic is a reduced fee clinic, he also does a lot of free clinics around his area and in Mexico to cut down on the stray populations of animals. I agree with his philosophy of fixing them regardless. Unless you can show proof of being a responsible breeder.
Absolutely best cover of subsect!
Thank you !!
Dear Dr. Thomas
I leave very far from you, in a small city in Israel.
When I found out that you left “The Incredible Dr. Pol ” series I looked in the internet to find out what do you do now.
That’s how I learnt about your “vlog”
Thank you for this post.
It’s so important.
In my city there is a small “movement” of stray cats feeders.
they feed them, put water for them, It’s very hot here, and gather money in between them to get the pats “fixed”…
As for myself I have an in door cat and what you call a barn cat (I don’t have a barn just the cat….) that we rescued (people just threw them out of their cars on their way to summer holiday.
We are a smaii country, and many animals are put to death because no one adopts them. I can only imagine the problem in the United States
So thanks again for this post
Anat
I hate when people do this and say oh it was an accident! No it wasn’t you weren’t being responsible. Pets are expensive! If you cant clip it or zip it, don’t get one!
I love the dry humored quips Dr. Emily makes. Her comments are cogent and instructive without being too preachy. They also arm me with the ammunition I need when having the neutering discussion with others. We have three neutered cats, and I haven’t word a word of complaint from them about being neutered.
I’M 63 ALMOST 64 AND REMEMBER THAT MOST PEOPLE DID NOT NEUTER OR SPAY. WHEN i WAS A CHILD MY DAD HAD A CHAMPION LAB IN A TEN FOOT HIGH ENCLOSURE. WE’D TAKE HER OUT FOR TRAINING,PLAYING ETC… HE THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO KEEP HER IN THAT. ONE MORNING HE WENT OUT TO CHECK HER AND ATTACHED WAS A CHIHUAHUA/HOUND MIX!
AS WAS COMMON IN THAT DAY HE SHOT IT.
Excellent article! I have never understood why Spay and Neuter was almost never talked about on Dr Pol. I have seen every episode and wonder why they don’t use their platform to cheerlead for spay and neuter. Millions of pets are unnecessarily euthanized. So sad.
Thanks Dr Emily for getting the word out!
Thank you, and yes info about spaying and neutering should be openly discussed more often
Great story. I wish more ppl would listen.
Dr. Emily, You have a wonderful sense of humor along with the true facts about spaying and neutering. I really enjoyed reading and still learning from an educated, witty young woman. Thank you for your time.
This is so right on the money! I had a Scottie that was our baby! Then I got a West Highland White because I learned that Cairn Terriers are the result of the Scottie and Westie . I just never realized (stupidly didn’t research) the number of times it took to get to the Cairn breed.
So my Scottie and Westie did what I put them together to do. When it came time for the pups my Scottie .hid in my daughter’s bedroom closet and by the time we found her she had one pup and green pus and blood pouring out of her hind end. We found an emergency vet to help her. An X-ray showed she had two more pups but the second pups head was too big and he got stuck and died along with the third pup because neither could get out. So we paid for an emergency spay to save my Scottie’s life.
Three days later I checked on her and the pup and again she had bright red blood coming from her hind end, heavily, and it scared me to death! I called our friendly emergency vet, whom we really came to trust taking care of our dogs, who told me to get her in there as fast as I could. It turned out that my Scottie had a rare allergic reaction to the catgut used for sutures 3 days prior and he didn’t know if she would make it or not! I was heart broken but I also still had a three day old puppy that needed taking care of. Dr Buckley stayed at that clinic all night long taking care of my dog and 24 hours after I took her in he called me and told me that she had made it thru those first 24 hours and he wanted to keep her another night to keep an eye on her but he was pretty certain she was going to be ok.
When we brought her home my Westie went to see Dr Buckley to be neutered! Ever since then all my dogs ,and even my cats, have been fixed!
Very interesting read
This is very educational. I wonder if you could do other vet topics. For example, hip dysplasia is a bad thing, but doesn’t femoral head osteotomy have the same effect? I don’t understand the idea of a false hip joint.
Great words!
Wow! Couldn’t have been better said. Would be nice required reading for the whole world.
Love you all and wish you well. We just watched the Dr. Pol episode where you moved out. Mixed feelings for us to miss you and for you to be well and happy.
Love it!
Thank you !