Are you "pro" spay/neuter or not?

[Aescleah]

i believe in pet owners making informed decisions and vets and educators not only willing to provide that information but respect the owner enough to make that decision for themselves
i do not support desexing puppies

Ashley

[Laurelin]

I must be in the minority because pediatric spay/neuter doesn't bother me. I understand why rescues and some breeders do it and it is the ONLY way to know 100% that those dogs won't be bred. Would I do it? No, but I don't necessarily think it's wrong either.

[Lizmo]

Originally Posted by elegy

as for the original question, yes and no. i am 100% in favor of across-the-board spay/neuter by shelters and rescues of the dogs and cats and puppies and kittens that they're adopting out. i am not generally in favor of pediatric spay/neuter, but i support it in a shelter/rescue situation, because they need to look at the big picture first and foremost.

for cats, yes. except for a few exceptions, i am absolutely pro spay/neuter.

for dogs, it's much more complicated. i think you need to do what is right for you, your dog, and your situation/lifestyle. i do wish that more vets would be better about knowing the information and presenting it to owners. it is still widely stated that spay/neuter at six months is the healthy thing to do for your pet, but it's really not so black and white.

i support people who want to keep their dogs intact, provided they do it responsibly and aren't producing puppies either intentionally or not. i don't think that a dog who is not being used for breeding should automatically have its bits cut off or you're a bad owner. i do think it's more beneficial to spay a female than it is to neuter a male. i'd keep a boy intact just because. i doubt i'd keep a female intact unless i was seriously considering breeding her. the risk of pyometra and mammary cancer outweighs the benefits of keeping her intact beyond the age of two at least in the breeds i'm interested in- not sure if that's the case in, say, rotties.

it's a complicated issue, and it *should* be. removing organs from an animal should be a big decision, not one taken lightly.

^ this.

[xpaeanx]

Originally Posted by Laurelin

I must be in the minority because pediatric spay/neuter doesn't bother me. I understand why rescues and some breeders do it and it is the ONLY way to know 100% that those dogs won't be bred. Would I do it? No, but I don't necessarily think it's wrong either.

Laur, for things like shelters and such, it doesn't bother me. because it IS the only way to know for sure that that animal will never be bred.

For me personally, I wouldn't not take a dog because it was speutered young.... but if given the option, I would wait.

As far as where I stand on the whole subject? I think most people probably should speuter their animals, but it is def a personal decision. If you are responsible enough to handle an intact animal than it's up to you if you want to or not...

[Pam111]

Originally Posted by Laurelin

I must be in the minority because pediatric spay/neuter doesn't bother me. I understand why rescues and some breeders do it and it is the ONLY way to know 100% that those dogs won't be bred. Would I do it? No, but I don't necessarily think it's wrong either.

I prefer to get it done young because I am afraid a male dog will start marking and I won't be able to stop it. Maybe it's silly. I don't know. Ash was neutered at 4 months. I think Anna was around 8 months but she never had a heat first. My cats were done as soon I could

[crazy_paws]

I am pro-responsible ownership as well.

I think, for the majority of pet owners, spay and neuter is the best decision.

I would hate for it to become mandatory though, because for the really informed pet owners to have to spay/neuter their dogs would be completely unfair.

For myself, my crew is all spayed and neutered. They are not breeding quality. I do wait for maturity for my personal dogs though.

[ACooper]

I am in the "neither" camp........the camp of letting the pet owner decide what works for them. I will say that I'm not a big fan of pediatric neuters, but I will not presume to tell someone else what is best for their pet unless it's clear cut abusive behavior. Period.

Both of mine are neutered, Phoebe was from the Humane Society and was spayed at approx 9 months old. Orson was neutered at 2 years old because we considered the hormonal affect on his maturing body, no risk of an 'oops' with him being the only intact dog in the home, so it was no problem to wait. I am glad they are both neutered.......it is a total convenience to ME, I am not under the delusion that it was for their sakes, LOL

[mrose_s]

I don't mind either way so long as the owner is responsible, we didn't desex Sophie till age 12 and we only did her because she had a few minor infections and we didn't want to risk pyometra. We were really worried about it because of her age but she handled it better than the boys did and they were done at 6 months and a year.

Mac is still entire, she won't be bred and we will probably spay her in the next couple of years (she's 4 now) because when she goes into heat its not fair on her, she is kicked off the bed/couch and gets very confused.

With Quinn I'm probably gonna wait till she's 12 - 18 months before I spay her but she will be done because I h ate dealing with heats and I don't want to risk it.

[elegy]

I have to say that it was nice to hear from Steve's sports medicine vet that I did right by him in waiting to neuter him. That's the first positive reinforcement I've gotten about it outside of the internet.

[ihartgonzo]

For the average person: YES... spaying and neutering is ideal! If you are not 100% sure that your dog is not going to get loose, and ensure that intact females and males are ALWAYS seperate when not supervised, and if you are not going to breed responsibly and/or do what must be done if you do make the mistake of allowing an accidental breeding, you should alter your pets before they are sexually mature.

However, it is not impossible to keep an intact dog and prevent them from ever breeding accidentally. It's not even that difficult. If my boys were intact, I would know 100% that they have never in their lives bred with a female. But if you're the kind of owner who doesn't think it's a biggie for your dog to spend the day in the yard unsupervised, or whose bitch just happened to go into a "silent heat" and didn't realize anything was amiss, it's not responsible or ethical to leave so much to chance and ignorance.

Personally, I would like to buy a puppy from a reputable breeder someday, and keep them intact in hopes that maybe if they were an excellent example of their breed they might be bred... if they weren't an excellent example, I'd probably still keep them intact, unless there are some behavioral or health issues that altering would help. I don't judge anyone who has a "whole" dog. I do if they have oops litters, though.