Quote:
Originally Posted by Peggy
I think that's a good idea. And personally, I think the risks of neutering him now are not as great as you are thinking. Lots of dogs have been neutered at the age of 6 mos and have been just fine.
I'm not sure you can link all the things in the study to neutering before a year old. I think that the increased preservatives in food, over vaccinating, ect. are some things to consider too.
In this case we know the teeth are causing a problem. Better to do it all now and get it done and have him recover.
I'll be thinking good thoughts for him! (and you!)
Peggy
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Thank you for the good thoughts. I am having some second thoughts though on neutering this early. While you are correct that other sources (preservatives, vaccinations, etc) can cause health problems, it is known that testosterone (and estrogen) hormones build bone density from teen years though adulthood. So it makes sense to me that early neutering could be linked to bone cancer and hip displasia.
This may be less of a problem in smaller dogs, but I waited until about one year with my last dog on his breeder's advice, to let him build the bone mass and reduce the chances of displasia. A lot of large dog and sporting dog breeders recommend waiting at least 12 months. It may be exteme, but I would compare puppy spay/neuter to the thought of someone desexing their undeveloped child at 12 years old and trying to say there are health benefits to cutting off their hormones before the child has developed.
Spaying and neutering is widely recommended in the US because of the hundreds of thousands of idiots who let there animals roam free and created a pet overpopulation problem (like my neighbor with the min poodle), not because it's good or healthy for the animal to be castrated. If everyone were responsible and kept their pets contained, their would be much less of a push for spay/neuter before the dog has fully developed.
Having said that, I do believe that spay/neuter is a socially responsible thing to do in general (due to the population problem). My feeling though is that it should happen in early adulthood, not in puppyhood as veterinarians currently recommend (as long as the dog is responsibly owned).