How young can i neuter my dog

The benefits are much more pronounced in larger dogs, but there is not a lot of difference for lap dogs. Studies have shown that large dogs spayed before 6 months of age experience some higher risk of orthopedic problems and certain cancers and that risk is statistically reduced at 12 months.

What happens statistically at each age in between still needs more study. We do know that with each heat cycle there is an increased risk of mammary adenocarcinoma breast cancer and risk of pyometra a life-threatening uterine infection requiring emergency surgery and intensive care. If we are able to allow female dogs to get as old as possible, but manage to spay them just before their first heat, this would seem like the ideal situation, but it is tricky to predict when that first heat will be.

Knowing the family history can be helpful, but is still not an exact way to know when the first heat will occur. Facebook Instagram. For male dogs: The signs of sexual maturity in male dogs include lifting their leg to urine mark even in the house , humping, and overprotectiveness.

When should I neuter my male dog? Accessibility View Close toolbar. RSS Feed. Have a look at the terminology that is commonly used: The female surgery is usually called a spay , the medical name is ovariohysterectomy.

Let's take a look at the individual issues for which we have data: Cancer Cancer is a leading worry for anyone who has furry family members. Mammary gland tumours the pet equivalent of breast cancer are the most common cancer in female dogs and are often malignant spread aggressively.

In the US, where most pets are spayed, the rate of mammary cancer is 3. It has been well established that spaying has the greatest benefit for prevention of mammary cancer if done before the first heat risk of mammary cancer is 0.

So with mammary cancer spaying is protective and the earlier the better. Other female cancers : ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, vaginal and vulvar cancer are all rare or uncommon and are all prevented by spaying. The age of spaying likely doesn't matter a lot as long as the surgery is performed before the cancer has a chance to develop. Neutering prevents this cancer as long as the surgery is performed before the cancer develops.

Prostate cancer is rare in dogs. Neutering has been shown to slightly increase the risk of prostate cancer but the age of neutering likely does not impact whether or not it develops. In fact, in one study, neutered dogs tended to be older when the prostate cancer was diagnosed. Risk of prostate cancer also differs among breeds. Lymphoma is a type of cancer that has been studied in association with spaying and neutering with a wide variety of results.

One study showed more cases of lymphoma in intact males, neutered males and spayed females than in intact females. Studies in German Shepherds and Labrador Retrievers showed no increased risk of lymphoma in neutered males or spayed females. A study in Golden Retrievers showed no increased risk of lymphoma with spaying at any age, but found an increased risk in males neutered before 1 year of age.

Mast cell tumours have a varying prognosis depending on tumour grade and location. Breed of dog plays a role in risk, regardless of spay or neuter status. There have been studies that indicate that spayed females may have a higher risk than intact females, but the age of spaying was not taken into consideration.

Hemangiosarcoma is a serious cancer of dogs. Neutering of males of all breeds studied does not increase risk of this cancer, other than one study in Vizslas in which males that were neutered after 1 year of age were at increased risk.

Studies in female Vizslas and Golden Retrievers showed increased risk for hemangiosarcoma when spayed after 1 year of age. Golden Retrievers spayed when more than 1 year old were 4x more likely to develop this cancer than intact females and females spayed before 6 months of age.

Another, follow-up study in Golden Retrievers of both sexes showed no increased risk at all with spaying. Spaying and neutering does not cause increased risk for this type of cancer in Labrador Retrievers or German Shepherds. Osteosarcoma is the most common type of bone cancer in dogs.

Large and giant breed dogs have increased risk of this type of cancer. One study that did not look at age of spaying and neutering found increased risk in both males and females over their intact counterparts.

A study in Rottweilers showed increased risk for both sexes if they were spayed or neutered before 1 year of age. A study in German Shepherds showed no increased risk with neutering regardless of age.

Orthopedic Problems Orthopedic diseases such as Cranial Cruciate Ligament CCL or ACL injuries and hip dysplasia are not inherently life threatening but they can have significant impact on quality of life and can have financial implications if surgical repair is required. Hip dysplasia : Genetics is the biggest factor in whether or not a dog develops hip dysplasia. Studies in Golden Retrievers showed a slightly increased risk in males neutered before 1 year of age and a slight increased risk for Boxers with no relation to what age they were spayed or neutered.

To provide a comfortable recovery, you should have your pet be in a quiet place away from other animals. You may need to prevent your dog from jumping and running for two weeks.

You may also need to prevent licking, which can cause infection. To learn more about neutering your dog in Tucson, AZ, call Twin Peaks Veterinary Center at or request an appointment online today. Tucson, AZ Benefits of Neutering Neutering your male dog can help prevent prostate problems and testicular cancer.

The age at neutering was sometimes not included in the hospital records, so telephone calls to the referring veterinarians were made to obtain the neutering dates or ages. Nonetheless, there were many neutered dogs where age at neutering was not available from the VMTH records or the referring veterinarian, so these dogs were excluded from the study. Of course, this was not an issue with the sample of intact dogs, so there were proportionately more intact cases in the final dataset for each breed than would be expected in the general population.

However, the proportion of dogs with a disease, whether intact or neutered, was not affected by the overrepresentation of intact dogs in the database. The criteria for disease diagnoses were the same as in previous studies on the retrievers and German Shepherd Dog 11 — A dog was considered as having a disease of interest if the diagnosis was made at the VMTH, or by a referring veterinarian and later confirmed at the VMTH.

In Dachshunds and Corgis, where intervertebral disc disorders IDD is a concern, the diagnosis included herniation, rupture, extrusion, protrusion, fracture, compression, stenosis, or spinal cord injury. Although body condition scores have been reported to be a factor in the occurrence of joint disorders 3 , 15 , our previous studies on the retrievers and German Shepherd Dog found no significant relationship when body condition scores were compared between dogs with and without a joint disorder.

Therefore, in the current paper the body condition score is not reported for each breed. Survival analysis was used to test for differences with respect to the hazard of a disease in the neutered and intact groups, while adjusting for the differences in time at risk for a disease.

The groups were initially compared using a Kaplan Meier life table analysis. Post-hoc comparisons among the subgroups were based on least squares means of the hazard within each subgroup. Because joint disorders are expected to be seen at a similar risk throughout a dog's lifespan, regardless of age, the log-rank test was used initially for the joint disorders. If the log-rank test did not show significance but the Wilcoxon test did for joint disorders, the Wilcoxon test result was reported with significance level and an asterisk.

The reverse rule of thumb was used with cancers where the first test examined was the Wilcoxon test, since the risk of cancer is expected to be higher in older dogs. If the Wilcoxon test did not show significance but the log-rank test did for cancers, the log-rank test result was reported with significance level and an asterisk. Each breed was analyzed separately, and there were no statistical comparisons between breeds.

However, the overall findings with each breed allow for some general comparisons. For each breed represented on a separate page in Appendix 1 , the numbers of intact and neutered males and females are given. In the tables, the percentage of dogs with each of the diseases and the percentage having at least one of the joint disorders and at least one of the cancers except MC was calculated for intact males and intact females as well as those neutered at various age ranges.

Statistical analyses compared the occurrences of joint disorders and cancers between each neuter period and intact dogs. The detailed datasets are available online Figshare, doi: Three breeds for which findings have been previously published Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever, German Shepherd Dog are included to present an overall picture in the same Appendix 1.

The data for these three breeds were expanded through 11 years of age, to provide continuity among breeds and diseases. Survival analyses were not done on IDD occurrence because the condition represented so many different disease diagnoses. Also included in the breed summary information is a suggested guideline for neutering age for males and females to avoid increasing the risks of a disease under consideration.

When there was no noticeable occurrence of an increase in joint disorders or cancers with neutering, the guideline statement was made that those wishing to neuter should decide on the appropriate age or briefly stated as choice in Table 1.

The breed-by-breed findings are presented in four different formats. One format, seen in this section below, is a short paragraph for each breed.

The occurrence of the joint disorders and the cancers followed is reported for the intact and neutered dogs, and the increase in the two disease types over that of the intact dogs, if significant, is reported. A second format, represented in Table 1 , is a very brief summary of spaying and neutering guidelines based on findings regarding joint disorders and cancers for each breed, allowing the reader to quickly scroll through the various breeds.

In the third format, the data-based findings, with statistical notations for each breed, are reported in Appendix 1. In the fourth format, the raw data allowing the reader to perform their own calculations, if desirable, is available in Figshare.

The mean age of last entry was calculated for intact and neutered males and females for each breed and presented in Appendix 2. Across all breeds the mean age of last entry in the record for neutered males was 5.

Upon perusal of the data, it is evident that the mean age of data entry for intact dogs was younger than that of neutered dogs, especially for females, where there is disparity of almost 1 year. To address the issue of whether the lower age of last entry for intact dogs could have resulted in a lower rate of disease occurrence in intact dogs in either joint disorders or cancers, we examined data of dogs where the last entry was at 8 years or beyond.

We looked at three breeds with the largest databases Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, and German Shepherd Dogs and where there were significant differences in disease diagnoses between early neutered and intact dogs.

For male Labrador Retrievers, the figures were 22 vs. For male German Shepherd Dogs, the figures were 33 vs. For cancers in female Goldens, the figures were 26 vs. The incidence figures, although not sufficient for meaningful statistical analyses, are consistent with the larger database where all ages are included.

Thus, while the age of the last visit is a limitation for analyses on late-occurring cancers and joint disorders, the examples chosen for dogs seen at the age of 8 years or beyond are consistent with the overall results presented here; these results appear to represent what would be seen in the general situation. Looking at the occurrences of these joint disorders and cancers, it is clear that most breeds are unaffected for these diseases by age of neutering.

Vulnerability to joint disorders associated with neutering is generally related to body size. However, in the breeds of larger body size there were differences among the breeds with the two giant breeds — Great Danes and Irish Wolfhounds — showing no indication of increase in one or more joint disorders with neutering at any age.

Although the occurrence of MC was tracked, the female mean age at the last hospital visit for all breeds ended short of the reported, late-onset mean age of MC occurrence in intact female dogs. Thus, the low occurrence of MC in intact females typically under 6 percent cannot be expected to represent the actual incidence over a female's lifetime. When the percentage of MC was calculated for only those dogs seen through 8 years of age or older including cases diagnosed past the 12th birthday , the results did not appear appreciably different than the percentages seen using the study age range.

However, the number of dogs seen through age 8 or beyond was fairly small, so the analysis results might change with an increased sample size of these older dogs. The following are brief summaries for each of the breeds along with suggested guidelines for age of neutering. See Appendix 1 for the complete data set, including statistical analyses for each breed. The study population was 61 intact males, 58 neutered males, 48 intact females, and 70 spayed females for a total of cases.

In this sample, 5 percent of intact males and 2 percent of intact females were diagnosed with one or more joint disorders. The occurrence of cancers was low for males and females left intact 0 and 3 percent, respectively. There were no evident occurrences of the cancers in dogs neutered at various ages. The occurrence of MC in intact females was 6 percent and in those spayed at 2—8 years, 6 percent.

For females left intact, 4 percent were reported with PYO. UI was not reported in any of the spayed or intact females.

Lacking a noticeable occurrence of increased joint disorders or cancers in neutered males, those wishing to neuter should decide on the appropriate age. The study population was 93 intact males, neutered males, 76 intact females, and spayed females for a total of cases. In this sample, 3 percent of intact males and 4 percent of intact females were diagnosed with one or more joint disorders.

Neutering males and females was not associated with any evident increased risk in joint disorders. The occurrence of cancers was 9 percent for intact males and, in contrast, only about 1 percent for intact females. Neutering males did not appear to be associated with an overall increased risk of cancers above the rather high level of intact males. However, spaying females at 6—11 mo.

The occurrence of MC in intact females was zero, but was 8 percent in females spayed at 2—8 years. For females left intact, 5 percent were reported with PYO. UI was reported in just 1 percent of early-spayed females. The guideline for females is the same while also maintaining vigilance for the cancers which may be associated with spaying beyond 6 months, or else leaving the female intact and being vigilant for MC. The study population was 42 intact males, 82 neutered males, 45 intact females and 87 spayed females for a total of cases.

Just 2 percent of intact males were diagnosed with one or more joint disorders, but with neutering at 6—11 mo.

None of the females left intact or spayed had a joint disorder. None of the intact males or females was diagnosed with any of the cancers followed. There was no evident increased occurrence of cancers in neutered males and females. There was no occurrence of MC in intact or late-spayed females. There was 1 case of PYO in intact females 2 percent. UI was reported in only 2 percent of early-spayed females. For males, in light of a possible increase in joint disorders for those neutered at 6—11 mo.

Lacking a noticeable occurrence of increased joint disorders or cancers in neutered females, those wishing to neuter should decide on the appropriate age.

The study population was 59 intact males, 74 neutered males, 37 intact females, and 65 spayed females for a total of cases. The percentage of intact males with at least one joint disorder was 4 percent and for intact females, 11 percent. Spaying females before 6 mo. The occurrence of one or more of the cancers followed was 9 percent for both intact males and intact females. There was no occurrence of MC in females, whether left intact or neutered at any age, and a 5 percent occurrence of PYO in intact females.

There was no occurrence of UI in intact or spayed females. Reflecting the increased risk of joint disorders for males, the suggested guideline for neutering males is delaying neutering until well-beyond 2 years. Lacking a significant occurrence of increased joint disorders or cancers in neutered females, those wishing to neuter should decide on the appropriate age. The study population was intact males, 85 neutered males, 88 intact females, and spayed females for a total of cases.

The occurrence of one or more of the cancers followed in intact males was 2 percent and none for females left intact. For males, there was a significant increased risk in one or more of the cancers to 13 percent with neutering at 6—11 mo.

UI was reported in just one spayed female. The suggested guideline for neutering, given the significant risk of cancers, is holding off neutering of both sexes until beyond a year of age.

The study population was 75 intact males, 67 neutered males, 54 intact females, and 96 spayed females for a total of cases. None of the intact or neutered males or females was diagnosed with one or more joint disorders. For females, 2 percent of intact females had one or more of the cancers and with spaying, there was no evident increase of cancers. UI was 2 percent in early-spayed females. In light of the significant increase in cancers in males with neutering through 11 months of age, the suggested guideline for males is delaying neutering to beyond a year of age.

The study population was intact males, neutered males, intact females, and spayed females, for a sample size of cases. Males and females left intact had just a 2 percent occurrence of joint disorders, with neutered males and females showing no apparent increase in this measure. The occurrence of one or more of the cancers followed in intact males was 17 percent, and for intact females, 11 percent. The same pattern of increase in cancers was seen in spaying females with up to 20 percent of females having one or more of the cancers with spaying done before 2 years, an increase that was not significant, but with an expanded database may have been.

There was no occurrence of MC in intact females. PYO was diagnosed in 2 percent of intact females. Just 1 percent of spayed females were diagnosed with UI. Given the risk of increased cancers, the suggested guideline for both sexes is to delay neutering until beyond 2 years of age.

The study population was intact males, neutered males, 90 intact females, and spayed females for a sample of cases. The occurrence of joint disorders in intact males was 7 percent and 5 percent in intact females. The cancers followed occurred at the 6 to 7 percent level in intact males and females.

There were no significant increases above this with neutering males or females. The occurrence of MC in females left intact was 1 percent and 2 percent with spaying at 2—8 years. Lacking a significant occurrence of increased joint disorders or cancers in neutered males or females, those wishing to neuter should decide on the appropriate age, but some people may wish to be cautious in view of the possible apparent risk in joint disorders.

The study population was 51 intact males, 72 neutered males, 87 intact females, and 76 spayed females, for a sample size of cases. For males and females left intact, the occurrences of one or more joint disorders were just 4 and 1 percent, respectively, and for both sexes neutering was not associated with any increase in this measure. The occurrences of cancers in intact males were 2 percent and zero for intact females. For both sexes neutering was not associated with any increase in this measure.

The occurrence of MC in females left intact was zero. The occurrence of PYO was 2 percent in intact females. There was no occurrence of UI in spayed females.