I’d recommend early neutering

Comments

1. 

   Lesley Bloomfield

   December 29, 2014

   It is my understanding that, while anecdotally there might be sound clinical reason to consider recommending the neutering of dogs & bitches to prevent the occurrence of specific harmful clinical conditions, in this day and age to do so without scientifically verified clinically evidence based evidence might be considered to be somewhat unprofessional.
   Until that clinical evidence can be verified through scientifically approved peer reviewed epidemiological research, both to determine whether or not neutering may be beneficial to long term canine health and/or at which specific age range this procedure might best be undertaken for that purpose, it is surely better in the interim, for both the dogs and their owners, that proper meaningful consultation on a case by case basis is carried out within Veterinary Practice, rather than through (one opinion) articles such as this on the Internet where too many today disappointingly reach first for ( not always clinically based) opinion.
   There are many ways that this valuable data can, and is already being collected – in the UK eg VetCompass – where hopefully more Veterinary Practices will participate in the future – and through excellent breed specific Breed Health Surveys much of which anonymised data can and is already being shared with epidemiologists. There is already some data based indications that early neutering may be a suspect factor contributing to a rise in cases of canine conditions such as arthritis in young dogs, and some musculoskeletal conditions such as cruciate ligament and hip dysplasia.
   While clinical opinion is always to be respected, it would be beneficial (in the interests of long term canine health) for similar respect to be offered and shared by the Veterinary profession with breeders and owners too where general opinion is very much opposed to neutering being carried out on dogs or bitches before the age of maturity.
   While there is no specific veterinary directive in place on this issue, known neutering procedures carried out by veterinarians for example on puppies as young or younger than 8 weeks looks to be acceptable and surely it is far from that.
   We all seek the same result ( the long term health of dogs) so working together to that end seems the best approach.

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2. 

   Mary Starling

   December 29, 2014

   Evidence-based and peer-reviewed papers do indeed suggest otherwise. For example: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0102241 and http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0055937

   In these enlightened times surely it is possible to achieve some balance in blogs such as this. In a profession where freedom of practice and expression appears to be at least as important as regulatory frameworks and good practice guidelines, perhaps some colleagues who have a different view from the author would care to discuss?

   Granted, spaying of females does protect against uterine infection. However, Agria Insurance in Sweden (where this surgery is culturally unacceptable) have some very interesting data on pyometra rate by breed – given the range is the universal application of the title of this blog quite so applicable? The full article can be found here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/enhanced/doi/10.1111/rda.12103/

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