De-Sexing/Neutering your Pet

Why Neuter? 

The health benefits include reducing the risk of developing certain cancers (mammary, ovarian and testicular). In female dogs it prevents pyometra (a life-threatening uterus infection). In male animals it removes the risk of prostate infection and enlargement of the prostate (prostatic hyperplasia). In cats it lessens the risk of contracting Feline Aids by reducing the desire to roam and fight. Entire female rabbits have a 60% chance of developing uterine cancer and this increases up to 80% as they get older. Research shows that neutered pets tend to live longer, because of the reasons mentioned above. 

The behavioural benefits include (as mentioned above) reducing their desire to roam so are less likely to get lost, get injured, or hit by a car. Neutering can reduce aggression so animals are less likely to fight. Fighting can lead to cat bite abscesses and spreading infectious diseases. Being neutered reduces the desire to “mark their territory” so animals are less likely to leave urine marks which can be very strong smelling and hard to remove. 

Pros and Cons for Dogs

We understand that decisions around desexing your dog are complex. There are several pros and cons to desexing. Below is a summary of the recent literature surrounding the advantages and disadvantages of de-sexing.

Pros of Desexing

Males and Females

• Desexing has been associated with an overall increase in life span, due to decreased mortality associated with trauma and infectious disease, in some studies.
• Desexing reduces the risk of transmissible venereal tumors, a sexually transmitted disease.

Males

• Castration reduces the risk of testicular tumours.
• Castration reduces the risk of benign prostatic neoplasia, chronic prostatitis, perianal adenomas and perianal hernias.

Females

• Spay may reduce the risk of mammary cancer. Some breeds are more prone to mammary cancer than others.
• Spay reduces the risk of ovarian neoplasia, uterine neoplasia and vaginal tumours.
• Spay prevents pyometra, metritis and ovarian cysts as well as problems associated with pregnancy and parturition. Some breeds are more prone to pyometra.
• The cost of having a litter of puppies and the amount of work required is often underestimated so make sure you are well informed before breeding your dog.
• If things don’t go right it can become costly. A caesarian section or emergency pyometra surgery, for example, can leave you with little change from $2000.
• When you definitely want to breed your dog, please come and talk to us. We can give you advice and guide you through it.

Cons of Desexing

Males

• There is an increased risk of prostatic carcinoma (cancer).

Females

• There is an increased risk of urinary incontinence in some breeds.

Male and Female

• There is an increased risk of obesity. We therefore recommend reducing food/calorie intake by 10-15% after spay/castration
• There is an increased risk of joint disease if desexed prior to skeletal maturity (for example cruciate ligament disease, elbow dysplasia and hip dysplasia) in some breeds, especially larger breeds when desexing is performed prior to skeletal maturity (see below for breed specific information).
• There is an increased risk of cancers in some breeds. The risk is sometimes reduced when desexing is performed beyond a certain age. These factors (i.e. risk and age at desex) vary between breeds (see breed specific information).

Breed Specific Considerations

The pros and cons of desexing can vary by breed. There are some breeds that have been studied in more detail then others.

• An extensive study was done into the recommended age of desexing in 35 breeds. If your dogs breed is not listed, find one that is close in size and looks
• Mixed breeds >20kg adult body weight, have an increased risk of joint disorders when desexed prior to 12 months of age. There is no increased risk of cancers in the desexed mixed-breed population of any size category.

When to Neuter? 

For both male and female cats we recommend they are neutered around 5-6 months of age. Waiting until this age means the anaesthetic risk is lower and is still before puberty so prevents unwanted behaviours and unwanted pregnancies. One queen can have up to 3 litters a year with an average of 4 in each litter - over her lifetime, she could contribute 180 kittens to the cat population!

The age of neutering for both female and male dogs has changed in recent years and is often size and breed specific. We generally recommend small/medium dogs (under 20kg) are neutered at 6 months of age, large breed (20-50kg) at 12 months of age and giant breeds (50kg+) over 12 months old.