When to neuter?

SamiSalo

Member
Aug 15, 2013
120
4
Vancouver, BC
Country
Canada
Bulldog(s) Names
Salo
So... my dog has an undescended testicle. From what I've read online, the concern is Cancer. My breeder is advising me to wait at least a year because,

"his growth plates will not close properly in his legs and he will get leggy and his head will not develop."


Thoughts?
 

ddnene

EBN's SWEETHEART aka our little GOOB
Staff member
Jun 19, 2013
14,554
1,249
Nashville, Tennessee
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Willow (2015) Walter (2014-22) Winston (2012-13) Wellie (2012-13) Bella (2007-13)
This is Vegas, neutered at 4 months, adopted by us at almost 5 months :luv:


I just love Vegas... What a sweet baby!!!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 

luvmybully

Member
May 19, 2013
401
19
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Tucker
I am in the same position, Tucker is almost 6 months and no sign of any dropping of the balls....so I am going to wait till around a year before we go and do surgery, the vet says it's no big deal, but any surgery for a bully is. I'd like a less invasive surgery, so for now we are just waiting......
 

Vikinggirl

Norwegian Rose
Community Veteran
Oct 8, 2012
9,740
597
Burlington, ON Canada
Country
Canada
Bulldog(s) Names
Bulldozer and Blossom
Hi, we neutered our boy Bulldozer at 7 months, but mostly because we also have his sister Blossom so we spayed her at the same time. They had their surgeries a week apart. It is more important to spay a female before they go into their first heat, unless you are planning on breeding her, as it reduces their risk of cancer, and I couldn't keep my two separate, so didn't want her going into heat, and Dozer going after her. You can wait longer to neuter a male, but the longer you wait, the more risk of developing certain cancers, the dog roaming or wandering away, which increases their risk of getting hit by a car, and in my case Dozer had started to hump, and this stopped after he was neutered, but sometimes they will still hump after a
 
Last edited:

Vikinggirl

Norwegian Rose
Community Veteran
Oct 8, 2012
9,740
597
Burlington, ON Canada
Country
Canada
Bulldog(s) Names
Bulldozer and Blossom
Spaying and Neutering
When To Neuter A Puppy


By Amy Shojai, About.com Guide
Ads: Neuter Dog Cost When to Neuter a Puppy Puppy Cat Food Puppy Puppies Spay and Neuter Clinic


Spay and neuter surgeries are performed by veterinary surgeons under sterile conditions.




Spaying and neutering puppies is the responsible thing to do, and it's important to know when to neuter a puppy. When love is in the air, the dogs know it. Girl pups mature more quickly than you might think. They can become pregnant as early as five or six months of age, and most dogs can produce two litters a year. Donā€™t be surprised when they pick window locks with their rabies tag to meet furry Romeosā€”and present you with their litter-ary creations.


What Is Spaying and Neutering?


The words altering, sterilizing, and neutering all refer to surgery performed by a veterinarian that removes the reproductive organs of either a male or female animal. Castration removes a boy dogā€™s testicles. An ovariohysterectomyā€”or spayā€”removes the girl dogā€™s ovaries and uterus.


Why Spay and Neuter?


Surgery prevents unwanted litters. It also eliminates obnoxious romantic behavior such as roaming, fighting, excessive urine marking, and mounting visitorā€™s legs.


The surgeries help prevents fight wounds, messy canine vaginal discharges, and uterine infections. Castrating boy pets eliminates the chance of testicular cancer, and spaying your dog before her first breeding season reduces any risk of breast cancer by seven times.


Will It Change My Dogā€™s Personality?


Spayed and neutered pets are just as affectionate, protective, and trainable as unaltered cats and dogsā€”perhaps more so because they arenā€™t distracted when love is in the air. Reduced interest in roaming often means pets should eat less food, though, or they can get pudgy. Be sure to adjust the amount and frequency of meals. Removing the sexual organs can alter the petā€™s metabolism, which also can change as the pup matures.


Dogs continue to be just as playful, protective, loyal, and smart whether they can reproduce or not. Unless a puppy is an ideal example of his breed and in a professional breeding program, is a conformation show and/or performance prospect, or there are medical reasons to delay the surgery, spaying and neutering is highly recommended.


Whatā€™s The Best Age?


Adult dogs can be neutered at any age, but the best time is before sexual maturity. For many years, the recommended spay/neuter age was six to nine months. When a puppyā€™s future involves performance competition, ask your veterinarian and breeder about timing. Delaying for a couple of months may allow the pup to attain better physical development important to these demands.


However, since dogs can become pregnant prior to six months old, for most pets an earlier timeframe makes better sense. The American Veterinary Medical Association recommends that shelter pets be sterilized by four months. Many shelters neuter puppies when they reach eight weeks of ageā€”or two pounds in weightā€”before they are placed for adoption. These babies recover more quickly from the surgery than adult animals. They will grow just as much, and sometimes a bit taller, than if fixed later in life.


The Surgery


Puppies are completely anesthetized during the surgery, and won't feel any discomfort. Anesthetic may be injected or inhaled. Sometimes heart and breathing monitors or EKG machines are used. Doctors may prefer absorbable stitches, surgical staples, or even skin glue to close the incision. The specific routine depends on the size and age of the pet, and what your veterinarian prefers.


The surgical incision for male puppies usually is made in the scrotal sac, while an older dogā€™s incision is often at the base of the penis in front of the scrotum. If one or both testicles have not yet dropped into the scrotum, a tummy incision may be necessary. Girl pups also have an abdominal incision for the spay surgery.


Home Care


Pets act a bit woozy until anesthesia wears off. Some will be ready to go home the same day, while others must spend the night at the clinic. Most animals are up and running within hours.


Limit your petā€™s activity for at least a couple of days. Keep the puppy inside to allow healing to begin. The surgery site should be watched for swelling, redness, or pulled stitches, but such problems are rare. If stitches are used, your pup will need to return to the clinic to have them removed in about a week.
 

Pati Robins

I'm Polish what did you expect! A lady like person
Community Veteran
Jun 12, 2013
2,888
238
Cardiff UK
Country
UK-Cardiff
Bulldog(s) Names
Lily (British Bulldog) & Shy (American Bulldog X)
It all depends on the vet -we spayed Shy when she was 6 months old that was recommended to us by dogs home (animal shelter) vet ,my vet on the other hand recommend spaying at 1 year old -i cant see a difference with the dogs that i spayed or neither at different age
 
B

Baxter Tiberius

Guest
That is crazy - one person says 4 months, another says 2 years.

I should start reading the actual medical literature on development of the body, risk of cancers, etc. Im sure the answer is out there.

Strange - above it says if you neuter early, they may be "taller". I wonder why? Someone else mentioned the dog may become "leggy" if neutered early.

Very weird! Any ideas why?

Baxter is still so little for his age, I may wait a litter longer. I was going to do 5-6 months but maybe not.
 

nycbullymama

Well-known member
Dec 22, 2012
5,182
476
Country
usa
Bulldog(s) Names
b and w
This is my own take on it.

For females, I would spay before the first heat cycle if you're not breeding. Reason for this is strictly health wise as it reduces (significantly from what I've read and been told) the chances for mammary cancer.

For males, I have a very hard time believing that neutering at 6-7 months doesn't change how they grow.Testosterone is important for healthy bones, joints and just growth in general, so health wise, there is no benefit to neutering this young.
However, by the time the male reaches adulthood, that all changes and prostate issues as well as testicular cancer are more common in unneutered dogs. So we made the decision to neuter between 18-24 months. When Blue's fully grown.

After speaking with our vets (poor Blue has a few of them at this point), they all agreed that the benefits to neutering young have nothing do with health, but everything to do with socializing young dogs (neutered males don't typically like intact males), aggression issues may arise, and marking can become a problem. But again, there are no health benefits to neutering a male so young. At least nothing that I could find anywhere.

If someone has any information of the benefits of neutering young, I'd love to hear it.
 

Scueva

New member
Sep 27, 2012
738
22
Chicago, IL
Bulldog(s) Names
Duchess
That is crazy - one person says 4 months, another says 2 years.

I should start reading the actual medical literature on development of the body, risk of cancers, etc. Im sure the answer is out there.

Strange - above it says if you neuter early, they may be "taller". I wonder why? Someone else mentioned the dog may become "leggy" if neutered early.

Very weird! Any ideas why?

Baxter is still so little for his age, I may wait a litter longer. I was going to do 5-6 months but maybe not.


Neuterimg early delays the grown plates from closing. Something about testosterone is what triggers the plates to close.
 

Scueva

New member
Sep 27, 2012
738
22
Chicago, IL
Bulldog(s) Names
Duchess
[MENTION=9655]SamiSalo[/MENTION] [MENTION=8892]luvmybully[/MENTION] do they have one down? Or none down? Can you feel them on his inner thigh? Or up in his abdomen if you feel around? Duke has both his down when I got him at 12 weeks- very important to me as I imported him from Hungary as a show prospect. Well he had a few vet visits over the next couple months at my regular vet who is a distance and the back up vet who Is close. I notice when he got real excited or played hard he would pull one up into his groin area(inner thigh) well around 6 months duke had a cough so I took him to the back up vet and she said he had no cough(he did) she also said only one testicle was down and I should neuter him immediately. I explained that he had both down and that he pulled one up when he was excited or nervous. She said it was impossible at his age and that it wasn't coming back down. The following day I immediately called my regular vet and 2 very good bulldog breeders. They all told me not to worry and to feel around and if I felt it massage it back into the sac and kinda tug on them to stretch the cord out. At about six months the cartilage forms to keep the testicles from going back into the abdomen. If the tube close while the testicles are up they are stuck and won't be able to fall. But if it closes and they are simply hiding in his groin area massage them back and tug on them gently and all should be good. Duke is about 8 months now and I can happily say both are down. I still check them daily and give them a little tug. He hasn't pulled one up in awhile. You have to understand duke was imported from Hungary at a premium $$$ as a show prospect so both testicles were very important. I wanted to cry when that dumb vet told me his ball would never drop. And it was a Sunday so I had to wait a whole day to call my regular vet. Although I immediately posted here and a few me where assured me they had males whose didnt stay down until 8-10 months . Hope this helps.
 

Scueva

New member
Sep 27, 2012
738
22
Chicago, IL
Bulldog(s) Names
Duchess
Neuterimg early delays the grown plates from closing. Something about testosterone is what triggers the plates to close.

Males I would wait 18-24months, females minimum of 2 cycles. Just my opinion based off research and talking to my bully vet. And some knowledgable breeders who have been breeding longer than I been alive. -28yrs lol
 

nycbullymama

Well-known member
Dec 22, 2012
5,182
476
Country
usa
Bulldog(s) Names
b and w
Males I would wait 18-24months, females minimum of 2 cycles. Just my opinion based off research and talking to my bully vet. And some knowledgable breeders who have been breeding longer than I been alive. -28yrs lol

What's the health benefit to waiting at least two heat cycles for a female? From what I understand, this significantly increases her chances of getting mammary cancer.
 

EmmittPylate

New member
Feb 17, 2012
164
2
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Dozer
With Emmitt I was going to wait 2 yrs but he wouldn't stop marking his territory so we did it I think around a yr and he is still a stocky short fat bulldog!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
 

Scueva

New member
Sep 27, 2012
738
22
Chicago, IL
Bulldog(s) Names
Duchess
There's so much debate on this subject. You really just have to do research and do what you think is best. Going trough a couple heat cycles lets the female develop hormonally.
 

Most Reactions

šŸ“° Latest posts

Members online

Top