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Early spaying and neutering of pets has caused some questions regarding the outcome. Some people have heard that it will "stunt their growth" or that "he won't be a 'man' anymore" or that "we want our children to experience live birth", etc. I have heard every excuse not to spay and neuter pets than you can imagine. Medically, in most cases, it is more sound to spay or neuter your pet than to not (citing all of the possibilities for disease in intact pets such as tumors, infections, inflammation, aggression problems, urine marking, etc.). This is not in debate. The question of "when" is what the debate is all about. Many vets recommend spaying after 6 months and shelters are performing these operations at 8 weeks of age--both with much success. One veterinary hospital in Colorado will not see your pet after 1 year or age if it is not spayed or neutered. Assuming overall good health, an animal can be spayed or neutered at any age and still reap benefits. There are very safe anesthetics available and combined with the recommended pre-operative bloodwork and physical examination-the risks of anesthesia are greatly reduced. Now, back to the debate:
Studies are currently being conducted on the results of early spaying and neutering of pets. Some earlier studies reported that early spaying and neutering might result in longer bone formation (animals being "taller" than they might have), neonatal anesthesia risk, possible behavioral problems, and other medical problems. In the Journal of the American Veterinary Association, Vol. 208, No. 4, February 15, 1996 issue, pages 517-519 an article sighted studies that showed that animals spayed/neutered at an early age: (group 1 spayed/neutered at 7 weeks, group 2 at 7 months, and group 3 left sexually intact) did not have significant differences in bone length, or behavioral problems as adult cats that were left sexually intact. One of the differences that was noted was the tendency towards obesity and smaller secondary sexual characteristics (length of penile spines on male cats, smaller vulvas in spayed females) than intact animals. The article also pointed out that early-age spaying and neutering also has many technical benefits such as: decreased operating time, improved visibility of organs due to less abdominal fat, and rapid recovery from anesthesia.
Other benefits of early spaying and neutering are decreased: intraspecies aggression, prostatic disease, formation of mammary tumors/uterine infections, urine marking, mounting behavior, gonadal disease, and more importantly, a decrease in pet overpopulation. Also, the article states that animals that were spayed or neutered early appeared more affectionate to human observers than sexually intact animals. A fairly obvious conclusion is that animals cannot have problems associated with their sexual organs if they no longer have them (such as infections, inflammations, malignant and benign tumor formation, etc.).
Obesity was shown to be a factor in animals that were spayed/neutered at an early age, but awareness of this propensity allows the owner to manage the diet of the animal so that obesity does not occur. Pet owners control (most of the time) what goes in the dishes and mouths of our animals and the exercise and health of our pets-obesity can be easily prevented.