Thoughts on early spay and neuter

Gcorondo4 · Feb 25, 2015

Good morning,

I Am curious to find out everyone's experience with early spay and neuter. I have a breeder in mind who performs this on her puppies around 6 weeks of age. I am skeptical of this practice since most vets recommend against this practice and to wait until the puppy is at least 5 months of age ... My common sense along tells me that to spay or neuter at such a young age goes against the development of the puppy. I get that breeders are untrusting of their buyers to uphold to the responsibility of getting their dog altered, but I do feel like it's a bit extreme to have ES&N done at such a young age ! I would love it if others can voice their opinion on this topic, or provide some input on how their dog matured into an adult after having ES&N performed. I'm definitely feeling neevous about this but am aware that this is a common practice among certain breeders. Thanks!

MaplesMommy · Feb 25, 2015

Getting a spay /neuter done this young is animal cruelty to me!!!
Even the common 6 months spay/neuter is in my opinion still too early.
When you spay/neuter your dog you remove the whole sex organ ,which not only makes your pet neither male nor female it also takes away all hormones produced by those organs. Not only sex hormones are produced but also other hormones that are important for other parts of the body. It is scientifically proven that dogs that were spayed/early before their (at least) 1st heat have more joint /arthritis problems later on in life. This is because the growth plates between their joints cannot fully develop/close without certain hormones. And take a guess where those hormones are being produced? You got it- The sex organs.

Early spay/neuter is a common (very unhealthy!) ,convenient phenomenon in America.
In most european countries spaying/neutering is ILLEGAL unless absolutely necessary due to an illness/defect etc.

And no,we do not have an overpopulation problem there.

2bullymama · Feb 25, 2015

never heard of doing it at such a very young age.... I always heard nothing less than 6 months old.

Squishy Walnuts · Feb 25, 2015

6 weeks???? I never heard of that to be honest. Frenchies are muscular dogs and like Lisa mentioned above they need hormones to grow properly. I got Wally neutered at 1 year old.

I just read that some believe that early neuter/spay prevents some cancers from forming later on in life but I can't find any research to prove it. I would be wary of any breeder that fixes their puppies at such a young age.

MaplesMommy · Feb 25, 2015

It is a common practice at Shelters/rescues.
The surgery costs less money and is faster because their bodys are still tiny and the organs havent even fully developed yet

.Its sad because once again its all about the mighty dollar.

Why a breeder would do such thing is beyond my understanding...
Unless she really is super paranoid about somebody breeding with one of her puppies.
But there are many other ways to prevent such,no need to have the animal pay for it!

Jakeyjake · Feb 25, 2015

Wow 6 weeks! I have never heard of this from a breeder. They need to grow and develop before they are spayed/neutered. I personally would not purchase a puppy from a breeder that is following this practice.

eeturk · Feb 25, 2015

I would be happy to sign a spay/neuter contract and even have papers withheld until that is done. I would NEVER agree to the dog being fixed at that age. My Frenchie will never be bred but he is almost a year and a half and is unneutered. I go to UC Davis and they just released a big study about this very topic and how much better it is to wait if you can. My Frenchie specialist vet has said since the beginning "wait as long as you can, behavior allowing." I think it's a good rule.

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shortstuff · Feb 25, 2015

I 100% agree with Erika. It's understandable to sign a contract stating you will have the dog spayed/neutered by XX date (we did this with my family dog and had to show proof), but to force the decision and neuter so young... I wouldn't purchase from that breeder. They clearly care more to satisfy their breeding paranoia than they care about the well-being of the puppy.

Tgirl · Feb 25, 2015

I would spay before the first heat. It is scientifically proven that spaying before the first heat greatly reduces the risk of the dog getting breast cancer later in life. I think about 6 months is good.

davidh · Feb 25, 2015

That breeder is nuts, if you ask me. Totally not good for the growing pup. They need the growth hormones that are produced by the sexual organs. At least wait until 6 or 7 months of age. We like waiting until at least 18 months of age for a male and at least 12 months for a female.

seastrike · Feb 26, 2015

i would not buy a dog from this breeder.

Fosta Mama · Feb 26, 2015

I know lots of shelters do it. It is the only way you can GUARANTEE that an animal will not breed. To me it sounds like the breeder is being as consciensous (sorry, spelled that wrong) as possible. Years ago I raised a litter of orphaned, one-day old kittens and had them all neutered at 9 weeks of age before placing them. I just couldn't adopt them out (as an individual, not under a rescue group) without ensuring that I was not allowing the cycle to continue. One adopter has kept in contact with me, and her cat is tall, thin, and lanky. I don't know if it's just genetics or because he lacked the male hormones to develop muscle mass and bulk.
If it were me, I'd wait until at least 6 months old to spay or neuter my Frenchie. See if the breeder will allow a spay/neuter contract, and if not, just move on.

winginit66 · Feb 26, 2015

Tgirl said:
I would spay before the first heat. It is scientifically proven that spaying before the first heat greatly reduces the risk of the dog getting breast cancer later in life. I think about 6 months is good.

This is exactly what our vet recommended for Olivia... and which we did.

However, I think this breeder is NUTS. I would find another.

MaplesMommy · Feb 26, 2015

Tgirl said:
I would spay before the first heat. It is scientifically proven that spaying before the first heat greatly reduces the risk of the dog getting breast cancer later in life. I think about 6 months is good.

Its also scientifically proven, that spaying before at least the first heat poses health risks as well.
Each to their own, but I believe taking the sexual organs out of an immature body is not a healthy idea. Like I said,in most countries spaying/neutering is only allowed to be done if absolutely necessary due to illness.

Cancer is such a huge topic and in my opinion NEVER caused by just one factor, but rather numerous factors such as diet,environmental toxins,life stage etc combined.

But I believe we can all agree that spaying at 6 weeks is more than silly!

Cbrugs · Feb 26, 2015

Jax got neutered at 6 months and he has developed just fine. Doing it at 6 weeks is just ridiculous.

Tgirl · Feb 26, 2015

I do agree that 6 weeks is more than silly. I would find another breeder. I understand why animal shelters do it, but otherwise it makes NO sense to me at all.

blushy · Mar 6, 2015

I got isabelle spayed at a little over 6 months as per my vet and my contract. I think that's Reasonable for a female, seeing as most have their first heat around that time.

Males are a bit different, and unless titan turns into a crazy humping marking machine, im holding off til he's at the very least 1. But isabelle is spayed, so really it's posing no risks anyway.

6 weeks is absurd, and that breeder sounds like a lunatic. , I would run as fast as I could from that breeder.

Poor tiny babies...