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I began looking into the common policy of  spaying and neutering and its health risks when performed early. There  is definitely an impetus to getting animals into the vet to have this surgical procedure done stemming  from different issues not related to the health of the animal. One  reasonable assumption is  that  sterilization  is a good practice  of animal population control, however, it seems to defeat the purpose since often times  dogs have not yet reached puberty when they are brought to the vet for this procedure.  This is why it is important as a dog owner to ask questions  and do your homework  when evaluating your vet’s policy on spaying and neutering, and to weigh opinions against conclusive evidence and research.

The following  is some of the research I have found:

Sex hormones have a strong correlation to the development of bone density. This would explain studies which  show incidences of orthepedic diseases including hip dysplasia  found  in dogs neutered before 5  1/2 months of age.

A  1999 study by Ware et al found  spayed female dogs had a 5 times greater risk of developing cardiac hemangiosarcoma.  Hemangiosarcoma is a fatal cancer common in large breed dogs. This cancer can develop in the heart or spleen.

According to an 2002 epidemiological study  3,218 dogs  neutered before  1 year of age had a significantly higher risk  of developing osteosarcoma.

Neutering has long been encouraged  by vets as a way to remove any risk of your dog developing prostate cancer.  Not only does research contradict this assumption,  the exact opposite holds true. In two studies which utilized controlled populations of dogs from America and Europe,  neutered dogs  were found to be a at a four times  greater risk of developing prostate cancer than their intact counterparts.

Studies have found increased risks of  mammary cancers in intact female dogs. It must be considered that these findings have more  to do with permanently leaving a dog intact than waiting for them to mature properly before having them  spayed.  The findings have shown the risk for developing mammary cancers is in direct proportion to how many heat cycles the female has before she is spayed.  So the risk is low if a dog is allowed  to have just one heat cycle.

The risks associated with testicular cancers have been found to be so low, that neutering as a prevention would be difficult to justify. The one exception to this would be  undescended testicles which pose a greater risk to developing testicular cancer and must be dealt with through neutering. It is also not necessarily imperative that even these dogs be neutered early.

I hope these are some findings which may inform as well as  aid you in looking further into this important procedure so you and your vet will be able to make the best decisions for  the health and longevity of your dog.

With the closing of the summer season and the beginning of the changes that signal the beginning of autumn, you may receive reminders from your vet’s office to have your dog vaccinated for rabies.

While the fall does represent a time when rabies out brakes occur more frequently,
I thought I would share some interesting facts about the canine rabies vaccine.
As we have lived in a few different states, we discovered two different rabies vaccines based on the projected immunity they are supposed to afford your dog. We also learned that states have different laws regulating the administration of the rabies vaccine. In one state, your dog may be given an annual rabies vaccine which requires annual re-vaccination, while in another state he may be given a 3 year rabies vaccination which would entail a need for re-vaccination after 3 years. We also learned these vaccines have little difference.

There is currently research into how long rabies vaccines actually last. It has been found through scientific studies that blood serum tests in dogs vaccinated with a rabies shot revealed the presence of anti-bodies seven years after the first vaccination. The desired end of this research is to challenge the use of unnecessary vaccination. Besides this information, studies have also found considerable evidence of dogs exhibiting sever reactions to the vaccine including seizures, obsessive behavior, muscle atrophy, and autoimmune diseases.

It is also interesting to look back at the reasons behind why the this vaccine became an annual necessity. According to Dr. Ronald D Shultz, professor of Patho-biological sciences of veterinary medicine in Wisconsin, It turns out that the decision to re-vaccinate annually had nothing to do with actual evidence which suggested its effectiveness, but because of assumptions that immunity would not extend beyond a year. This information may be found at http://www.rabieschallengefund.org/education/why-challenge-current-rabies-vaccine-policy. For those of you concerned about over-vaccination or just unnecessary vaccination, it may be possible to have your dog blood tested in order to check for the presence of continued immunity from his last rabies vaccine.

As with anything which concerns your dog’s health, discussing your concerns with your vet is imperative.