post-neuter complications

a question for those of you who have had dogs neutered as adults.

how many of your dogs have had complications? (significant swelling, bruising, etc) how many have required additional follow up veterinary care that a normal neuter would not have required?

the cat is out of the bag at the vet hospital where i work that i am not going to neuter steve until he is two. i said this and one of my coworkers looked horrified and asked if i'm worried he's going to chew his scrotum off post-op.

um, no. no, i'm really not worried he's going to chew his scrotum off.



now, we neuter adult male dogs with regularity (like, today!) and i can't remember the last time we saw one back for a complication. so i'm just asking you fine people, who largely don't believe i'm freakish for my belief that it's healthier that i let my dog grow up the whole way before taking away his hormones.

thoughts? experiences?

Sawyer was around a year and a half when he was neutered and I never saw any ill effects from it.

my gsd was neutered when he was almost 3, and one fast jaunt around the yard was all it took for his scrotum to swell up bigger than prior to neutering )) We had to aspirate and keep cold compresses (which he loved) on the area..took a little longer to heal but it coulda been worse I guess

Wilson was neutered the week he came home--no complications what so ever. And he was up and running around like a maniac within a day after the surgery.

The only male dog I've ever had neutered was Trey. He was 2 when we did it. He was weird going into it and weird coming out, lol. Can't remember any complications at all. He did have issues constantly walking his conehead into everything and then I'd have to save him.

luce got a big seroma at her spay incision because i let her do too much right after surgery. it was kind of scary at the time because i didn't know what it was, but it went down and she healed up just fine.

even if steve does have some minor complication like a swollen scrotum... oh well? i mean, i'd like for that not to happen, but it doesn't really change my decision about it. i still think it's to his benefit to stay intact until he's a bit older.

mushroom was neutered as an adult but i didn't get him until like a week later so i don't know if he had any complications immediately following surgery.

Our adult male fosters were neutered as adults. The only complication we had was with Seamus and coming out of the anesthesia, which probably would have been a lot worse if he went under as a young puppy.

Other than that, most adult dogs are pretty into grooming themselves so don't be surprised if you've got to keep a cone on him for a couple of weeks until the sutures heal. That was always the biggest worry. Seamus almost pulled his out once because his neck was fatter than his head and we couldn't keep the cone on him.

I don't think its bad to wait. We are going to wait to neuter our APBT until he is fully grown. My other males did not have complications at all

Peewee was between a year and a half and 2 when we got him neutered. He did end up with slight bruising BUT that was because of being tied out to do his buisness. The first 2 days he was fine, but after being outside on a tie out to poop he ended up with a bit of extra bruising.

Several of our dogs at work that were neutered at 1-2 years old did end up with swollen scrotums recently. But they healed within about 1 or 2 weeks, they seemed to only be really painful for a couple of days. A week or two of uncomfortableness is, IMO, a lot better than the side effects of being neutered early.

Gunner just got neutered I think at 13 14 months and it was an absolute nightmare. He swelled BAD and had to be put on a anti inflammatory and pain meds. This poor dog slept standing up for a week. I always got the dogs in to be fixed ASAP this was the longest I ever waited and I will never wait this long again. We waited because he has allergies and we worried how he would react to the anesthesia.

Buzz was neutered at 28 months... a LONG TIME ago, so I don't remember anything specific.

I do have to say that living in fear of Steve chewing off his scrotum makes me laugh. I haven't heard of it (not to say it couldn't happen) and I wonder where that thought even came from!

My vet is very, very, pro speutering ASAP (and his wife even calls testicles, tumors... hahaha). In most cases, I agree. Unless you're going to have a super sport dog, it likely doesn't matter, but the owner shouldn't be pressured one way or another, if they've made an informed decision and take on the responsibility of not allowing puppies to "happen."

Did his other testicle descend?

and this was from someone who has worked in a veterinary hospital for 12 years!!! i have no idea. there are just several of them who are beside themselves that i've waited this long, and now that i'm going to wait a whole extra year?! i really cannot comprehend why they are so concerned about it.

and no, his other nutty has not come down.

If the boys are very well endowed, you can ask for a scrotal ablation, where they remove the entire scrotum instead of just letting it, well, dry up like they usually do. Sometimes there is increased swelling, etc. for the "big boys", but with the ablation, there's no problem. There would be an additional charge, and I'm honestly not sure if all vets do this (too time consuming maybe?) but would be something to consider if you're worried.

For the record, for the males I've neutered, the youngest was 6 yrs old and I only say mild swelling/bruising for about a week, but nothing too bad for him (at least that I could tell). I did give Rimadyl for a few days just to be nice ...

the only time i've ever seen a scrotal ablation done was with an adult english mastiff. he needed it!

That I can imagine!

One of the vets I worked for offered it to anyone who neutered an adult male.

Snip was done at 3, no issues. The rescue has done dogs much later with no complications too.

I've seen several dogs come through rescue at Mom's. I only remember 2 or 3 having any issues after the neuter. Usually it comes from allowing too much activity too soon as many have mentioned.

I can totally understand techs and such at a vets office being shocked/confused about a "delay" of neuter. Working so closely with rescue, I tend to be a bit shocked about the attitude to delay here as well. I understand your reasons for waiting, but no way no how am I going to promote that to the general public. Too many idiots out there I'm sure the vet's office deals with LOADS of them on a daily basis.

the only dog I've ever heard of chewing off his own scrotum had the wrong size neuticles put in. oops.

Nope, wouldn't do it any other way either. My boy was a man when he was done. He has great muscle tone and his coat is perfect. Never ate his ball sack either.