Live longer if snipped? True?

Emoi

I have 3 dogs, 2 are neutered but one of them isn't.

He is now 8 years old, I read somewhere that dogs live longer if neutered and are less likely to get cancer.

Is that true?

The vet says it's never too old to neuter but there could be anaesthetic risk, so thats the main thing stopping me.

Steve30x

It will reduce the risk of cancer , but I am not sure about it making them live longer.

Chris_Heilong

In Male dogs its not that they are less likely per say but that their testicles are removed so if they were going to get testicular cancer and they have been neutered then...they wont. Simple.

Do it if you want or dont do it, it is always a personal choice. I personally would get a female spayed as they do have a high chance of getting Cancer and other problems like heat cycles, I would not get a male dog neutered because they have a very low chance of developing cancer and only a few benefits to neutering. This is my opinion and nothing more.

EGAR

Actually Chris, out of the 148 males I had neutered in the last 24 months, 41 had growths on one or both testicles. So the incidences seem to be on the rise in male dogs.

Meteoric

From my point of view the only cancer that neutering an 8 year old dog would prevent is testicular cancer, if neutering a young dog does prevent other cancers (I've not seen any data so can't comment) having all the hormones for 8 years will probably have caused the damage by now. That said obviously it is up to you.

Discodog

http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CD8QFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.naiaonline.org%2Fpdfs%2Flongtermhealtheffectsofspayneuterindogs.pdf&ei=HofhTZq8Nc-t8QOY1pX1Bg&usg=AFQjCNFFT8alh6ivSEFo2R1pc9ISPfpsQA

"On balance, it appears that no compelling case can be made for neutering most male dogs, especially immature male dogs, in order to prevent future health problems. The number of health problems associated
with neutering may exceed the associated health benefits in most cases.

On the positive side, neutering male dogs
• eliminates the small risk (probably <1%) of dying from testicular cancer
• reduces the risk of non-cancerous prostate disorders
• reduces the risk of perianal fistulas
• may possibly reduce the risk of diabetes (data inconclusive)

On the negative side, neutering male dogs
• if done before 1 year of age, significantly increases the risk of osteosarcoma (bone cancer); this is a
common cancer in medium/large and larger breeds with a poor prognosis.
• increases the risk of cardiac hemangiosarcoma by a factor of 1.6
• triples the risk of hypothyroidism
• increases the risk of progressive geriatric cognitive impairment
• triples the risk of obesity, a common health problem in dogs with many associated health problems
• quadruples the small risk (<0.6%) of prostate cancer
• doubles the small risk (<1%) of urinary tract cancers
• increases the risk of orthopedic disorders
increases the risk of adverse reactions to vaccinations "

http://www.dogcancerblog.com/bladder-and-prostate-cancer-neutering-male-dogs-increases-risk-2/

"1. Castration of dogs increases total malignant prostate cancer by EIGHT times for some prostate cancers (prostate adenocarcinoma). So the answer is yes, castration does increase prostate cancer in dogs (which goes against what I was taught).
2. Castration of dogs increases the most common type of bladder cancer (transitional cell carcinoma) by about FOUR TIMES. This is huge!! Major, major, industry shaking information as far as I can tell."

Personally I would always neuter a female but not a male. However the health risks associated with un-neutered males roaming are huge. The only reason that have not neutered my male is I am 100% certain that he will never father puppies.

Emoi

Discodog wrote: »

Personally I would always neuter a female but not a male. However the health risks associated with un-neutered males roaming are huge. The only reason that have not neutered my male is I am 100% certain that he will never father puppies.

Yes our bitch is neutered and so is the other male dog but for some reason we never got this dog in question neutered.
He as never wandered or even stepped foot outside our property in his 8 years so far, so I can't imagine him ever doing so.

I suspose the answer really is to not bother neutering him and just look after his health and diet.

(Which leads me to my next thread...........!!)

Discodog

I heard today that even my Vet is telling clients that neutering a male adds one year to their life. All the evidence that I can find disputes this. I wonder if it is something that is taught at Vet School & never questioned.

kylith

Discodog wrote: »

I heard today that even my Vet is telling clients that neutering a male adds one year to their life. All the evidence that I can find disputes this. I wonder if it is something that is taught at Vet School & never questioned.

It could just be something he says to encourage neutering.

Discodog

I totally agree with promoting & encouraging neutering but not by being economical with the truth. If a client does their research, which these days is pretty easy to do, then it does nothing for the Vet's reputation. It could beg the question that if they do this with neutering what else are they being untruthful about ?.

Sigma Force

Not sure if I agree with the obesity thing, from what I've seen is a dog is generally fat coz the owner isn't excercising it enough or is feeding is too much.
One eg. relations dog male, unneutered lived to a good age but died of liver cancer..cancers one of those things people and humans just can't cheat sometimes sadly.
The relations latest dog male, unneutered about 7 years old is very over weight..despite being told over and over again..some people just don't listen.
The poor dog is so fat it can't be comfortable of healthy for him.

We've a 2 year old small dog neutered around 8 months of age, didn't change his personality one bit and no health issues.
Our females 12 years and 7 years both in excellent health, collie is trim and active other pooch is bouncy and healthy neither have any major health issues and both are spayed. Collie was spayed when we got her at 3 years of age approx. (rescue dog) and our middle rescue mix breed girl was spayed at 6 month of age.

Health is a lottery at the end of the day, one of the highest risks with males is the wandering some will do absolutley anything to get to a dog in heat even if the dog in heat lives a good bit away and it's the wandering and risk of being run over etc. that would most concern me..not everyone uses their block and fences their dogs in properly.

It's up to you at the end of the day but if you intend not to neuter then you would have to be responsible and keep your dog under control when out and about and not be the one to have him father an unwanted litter.

EGAR

On another level I have also noticed a steep increase in Cryptorchism in the past few years, especially in Boxers and Boxer x.

I am not a fan of paediatric spaying and neutering, never have been. I think a lot of later problems developed by neutered males are caused by not allowing them to mature first.

Discodog

Sigma Force wrote: »

Not sure if I agree with the obesity thing, from what I've seen is a dog is generally fat coz the owner isn't excercising it enough or is feeding is too much.

I have always assumed that the weight gain argument applied mainly to females in that their metabolic rate lowered after spaying so they don't need as many calories - but my spayed girl tells me that she needs every morsel .

EGAR wrote: »

On another level I have also noticed a steep increase in Cryptorchism

Trust you to get me googling at 12.40am - turns out that it means that the goolies have not descended :eek:. It also appears to be genetic so hardly a surprise if it is increasing. Boxers have become very popular.

dillane11

heya, i have a dog who is 11 this year and about 5 years ago the vet told us the dog wouldnt live that long (maybe 1/2 years more), we got her neutered and shes still alive and kicking