Can early spay/neuter hurt?

This is good info. I bet Beverly's spay is the cause of her incontinence. I had it done at 6 months. There's a part of this document that mentions sutures being chewed out. It reminded me of my chow. When I had him neutered, I woke up the next morning to an open, gaping wound. He chewed his stitches out overnight! I had to take him in and have him restitched. Talk about a freaked-out mom!! I was in tears! He was just looking at me like, "What?"

Dang I freaked out when Izzy popped a stitch rough housing with Jordan. I'd have lost it had I woken up to a gaping wound.

I just got wiggins neutered she's 5 months. That was my worst fear my first day back at work. I was so afraid that i would come home to an open wound.

I go by the larger the dog, the longer you wait, rule. Many of the problems are related to growth, and the lack of hormones that fixing causes. Stacy, I think Gunner's problems might go back to an early neuter (6 months) as well. Of course, it's just a hunch, but there's not much I can do about it now.

The unfortunate part about the whole issue is irresponsible people. I totally understand why animal rescues and shelters alter animals early. According to Best Friends, aggressive spay/neuter campaigns have truly made a difference. But, on the other hand, will these earlier and earlier s/n cause long term health problems for the dogs?

If only we could convince people that you can have an unaltered dog as long as you are truly a responsible owner. Sadly, I just don't think a lot of people will be that responsible.

With shelter animals, there is really no other choice. We've found that spay/neuter certificates don't work . . . the majority of the time, the new owners simply won't get the surgeries done. And if groups require a sizable deposit that's refundable after the neutering, it deters people from adopting. Too, most rescue groups and shelters get a break on the cost of these surgeries and can pass the savings along to an adopter. "Free" puppies and kittens end up costing an adopter a couple hundred bucks or more for shots, neutering, and microchipping. A kitten from Cats Haven will run less than a hundred, and will already have had this vetting done. So if we want to ensure that the animals we're adopting out are spayed and neutered and will never have another unwanted litter, I don't see where there's much of a choice. My guess is that problems are the exception, not the norm.

I totally agree susan. Its all about irresponsible people. I even heard a man picking up his lost, intact, adult male pit bull from IACC say "what happens if I don't show proof of neutering?" For Pete's sake, he signed the agreement stating he would neuter his dog. You just KNEW that that dog was NOT going to get neutured. I did spay Sheila early (5 months old). Our vet explained that females go into heat early if regularly exposed to unaltered males. We had seven unaltered male dogs against our fence. I felt like I had few options. At least Charlie was 10 months old when he was neutered. We've had no ill effects from either to date.

(Personal Opinion Here) I also have to state that I have some serious concerns regarding this paper. Some of the "evidence" is based on documentation observed outside of a controlled environment. In addition, other assertions are based on a single study with only 66 cases cited (never a good idea). I see limited evidence that effort was taken to exclude environmental factors in all of the animals. Where did the dogs reside that were cited? City, Country, Urban? Where they inside or outside dogs? What kind of food were they fed? What breeds? Some breeds already have tendencies for some of these diseases. Did they exclude those breeds when looking at data. There are too many unexplained variables, a lack of full scale studies, and not enough consistent (i.e. multi-study) documentation for this to be accepted as a decision making tool.

There are risks at any age. A good friend of mine just lost her 3 year old Great Dane due to spay complications....she had an artery suture rupture and she bled to death internally before her poor momma could get her to the e-vet. Of course that couldn't have been predicted. Our oldest 3 were spayed/neutered at a REALLY young age, I think Raven was only 10 weeks old. We got our oldest 3 from the Humane Society and although I totally understand why the spay/neuter the animal before they can leave the shelter I would have preferred to wait a little longer. Both Colton and Maize were "altered" at around 9 months old.

Don't forget this is only a review article. I have some of the articles she's pulled this information from. Unfortunately, we do not live in a world where we can eliminate early spay neuter and as Rachael mentioned, the issues are more strongly correlated with large breed dogs. What is true, is that young dogs heal much more quickly than an older dog from such a surgery. What I don't like is that in the bone cancer section, they used dogs that are greatly affected by the disease. Early spay neuter may exaccerbate the condition, but overbreeding and poor genetics certainly have something to do with the number of Rotts and Goldens with bone cancer. People have been altering dogs at 6 months for the longest time, but only recently these dogs are dying of bone cancer? Sorry, but I don't buy it as "cause/effect relationship." Don't read too much into it--she is only suggestion that this may be a cause, but it's not conclusive.