DO Fixed Dogs Live Longer?

Errrrrrr, Personally, my intact males lived longer years ago (15 & 16) that roamed the neighborhood, ate Purina dog chow, and picked the occassional trash can Yeah, I know but years ago leash laws, neutering, and things didn't exist as they do now. I don't think it matters if your dog is neutered or spayed because IMO it doesn't determine life longevity. My past two neutered males at 6 months died by their 12th birthdays one had bone cancer and the other possible bladder cancer. My boy that we just put down in March had alot of bladder problems as he got older and eventually started loosing control of himself more and more. Also 3 days after he was PTS the dog food recall came out and he was eating some of the food, but his bladder issues started a year and a half before. A friend of mine had an intact Shihtzu for 18 years with no issues. Her other Shihtzu who was neutered at 6 months got prostrate cancer and died at age 9. Really, you just never know what is going to happen. I have another friend who had an intact golden get cancer and die young but it wasn't prostrate or testicle related. His next male he had fixed around 18 months and as of right now is in great health other than being a little chunky. We have had many debates on here about whether spaying and neutering to young is the cause of later health issues BUT can also be a "benefit" for other reasons. I have decided this time around that my male is staying intact for the first few years of his life and may indefinately. I am kind of on the fence about it. It all comes down to being responsible and keeping your dog "under" control.

There's a fairly limited number of illnesses that neutering/spaying will prevent. Obviously any diseases of the removed organs are prevented because those organs aren't there anymore. For females this is actually a pretty big deal as pyometra (infection of the uterus) is quite common in older unspayed bitches. It can be deadly if not treated, and the treatment is an emergency spay. Further, having puppies is not always the soft-focus beautiful experience that most people assume it is. A lot can go wrong and the bitch and/or all the puppies can die. If you don't breed your bitch of course this isn't going to happen, but if you have a dog who lives 14 years and you don't spay her and she comes in to heat twice a year from 6 months of age onwards, that's 27 opportunities (of a couple weeks each) for someone to make a mistake and not watch her in a situation where a male could get to her and *boom* pregnant.

In males, the only major illness that is prevented through neutering is testicular cancer. No testicals, no testicular cancer. However, un-neutered males can also get very very reckless if they are not supervised and contained at all times because if they smell a bitch in season nearby, they will do whatever it takes to get to her. Including crossing busy highways, jumping through plate glass, and jumping out of moving vehicles. These are all clearly fairly dangerous activities.

The biggest reason I see to spay and neuter is behavioral (dogs want to have sex, we do not want them to have sex, it's very frustrating for all involved) and to prevent unwanted puppies. We've got way too many as it is, we don't need to be making any more.

If I had a paw instead of a hand I would be begging you to neuter me. :hail:

Well, I would say that all other aspects being equal (like the quality of the dog's breeding, the food they're being fed, etc), neutered dogs would live longer because they wouldn't be at risk for testicular cancer. Yes, some individual unneutered dogs would live longer than some neutered dogs . . . But as an ENTIRE GROUP, the neutered dogs would average a longer lifespan and be likely to live longer.

Hope that made sense.

I'd say no. I think in a bitch it could make a lot of difference, but in a dog, probably not. Neutering lowers the risk of testicular cancer yes, but that cancer is relatively uncommon. It also raises the risk of bone cancer, though, so I'd think they'd somewhat cancel out. Raise some risks, lower others so it should be about even.

Though with bitches having pyometra is pretty common and serious, so reducing that risk would most likely cause the entire group overall to have a longer life span.

Though none of this is fact, just thinking outloud about what I've read. That'd be my guess in general that it'd factor in to females, but not really for males.

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

I agree with Laurelin, well put !

Erm, maybe by a bit but there's a bunch of other factors so it's hard to tell.

Strictly speaking estrogen is good for the heart and testosterone not so much so that could be a factor (it is in humans, not sure whether the short life of a dog has enough time for it to be a factor though) but I doubt it's true. Just prevents more puppies and organ-related diseases.

http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html

http://www.littleriverlabs.com/neuter.htm

http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/full/11/11/1434

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

http://www.saveourdogs.net/health.html

http://www.cfodconline.org/AB1634.html

I have a bunch more but wont post all of them.

Statistically yes, But that is because statistically people who don't fix their dogs are less responsible in general.. So the dogs get less vet care, less training and less supervision. So its not that the fixed dog is statistically healthier, just better taken care of.

I have 2 intact males, and 3 intact females at the moment. I don't find behavioural issues are a huge deal. Yes the males can get really focused on sex during the week the girls are in a standing heat. But if I tell them to quit whining (cause they can't get to her) they stop. They are not obsessed with it. A male dog (and vice versa) can, and will if trained, listen around a girl in heat.

And when people bring up cancer as a reason to fix, I want to know what the dogs who get cancer, have been eating, what shots they have had etc. I don't know if we know enough to say much either way.