Research - age to desex

Caro

Caro

Moderator
I know this is a hot topic. This research has just come out from the University of California, Davis.

Hart et al 'Assisting Decision-making on age of neutering for 35 breeds of dogs' Front. Vet. Sci. 7:388

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2020.00388/full

133 Shelties were included in the study, usually caveats on data apply, and very interesting findings.

"There were no evident increases in cancers in neutered males or females. There was no occurrence of MC in intact or spayed females and a 14 percent occurrence of PYO in intact females. Spaying at 6-11 mo. resulted in a 6 percent occurrence of UI, but at 1 year a 33 percent occurrence. Lacking a noticeable occurrence of increased joint disorders or cancers in neutered males, those wishing to neuter should decide on the appropriate age. However, to avoid the high level of UI occurrence in females, one could consider spaying females at, or beyond, 2 years."

MC= mammary cancer, PYO=pyometra, UI= urinary incontinence
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I found it a little confusing because the rate of UI is lower for spay at 6-11months, increasing significantly for bitches spay at 1 year. But there's no figures given for Bitches spay at 2 years. So all I can take from that is either spay before 12 months or after two years.
 
Sandy in CT said:
Interesting info Caro! Thanks for posting it!Wonder what it is about that 1 - 2 year range with female shelties? i forwarded it off to my vet.
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I would love to know too. I sent an email to them to ask for more data. Also want to know what the figures were for 2+ years.

The 14% incidence of Pyo also scared me. It's the one thing I worry about with keeping Kismet intact for showing.
 
Sandy in CT said:
Yes, I will google it - but what is it and why the concern? Interested in info as hubby wants to add a female. I haven't owned a female dog since I was 7! Reading and reading and reading... boys seem so much simpler!
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It's a uterine infection - can be silent and deadly. I think Ann has dealt with it before so she could give you a better idea.
 
I have an update concerning the spay age. The figures were actually pretty low for spay 1-2 years, the majority of Shelties in the study were spayed 2+ years and there were no incidence of urinary incontinence. The next largest group were spay 6-11 months and only 1 incidence of incontinence occured.
 
For what it's worth, my retired vet said the study was not lifetime and he would never recommend waiting for age 2 to spay (obviously for non show dogs). He told me 10 - 12 months after first heat. So I think I will stay with what I thought and have it done at 11 or 12 months of age for Meadow.
 
Sharon7 said:
For what it's worth, my retired vet said the study was not lifetime and he would never recommend waiting for age 2 to spay (obviously for non show dogs). He told me 10 - 12 months after first heat. So I think I will stay with what I thought and have it done at 11 or 12 months of age for Meadow.
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I usually get mine done by 12 months (Tully was 9mths, Deska was 12mths). It was interesting because Kismet will be a show girl that may not make size, but vet said to wait until she as 15mths to see if she gets some extra height, if she's a slow developer. So I may as well wait until she's 2 years old.
 
The dogs I had no choice on, that came to me intact as adults got spayed at 1.5 years (Ally) 2 yrs (Faith) almost 8 yrs (Brooke). No issues with any of them after, no urinary incontinence thank God.
 
Sandy in CT said:
Yes, I will google it - but what is it and why the concern? Interested in info as hubby wants to add a female. I haven't owned a female dog since I was 7! Reading and reading and reading... boys seem so much simpler!
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Pio is essentially a puss filled uterus. They don't know why or what causes it but the more heats they go through the more the risk increases (although it can affect younger dogs as much as older). I knew nothing about this either until my last female got it at 7 (I didn't know any better then). It was a Friday (good thing it wasn't a weekend) and I thought she had a UTI, as soon as vet saw her he asked if she was spayed and knew right away it was Pio. Emergency surgery and $2000 later (at the time it probably would've cost $200 to spay).
Was fortunate it was open Pio, closed Pio is even more deadly as the puss can't get out. Pio can kill a dog within 24 hours so fast treatment is essential.
 
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