posted 01-25-2004 01:52 PM         

All vets have a different opinions on when is the best time to do this op and all owners have there ideas on when to do it.

Its like spaying an 8week old bitch her oviaries cannot be easily found and the operation is longer than usual thats why its best to wait till after a bitches first heat to have her spayed.

Male dogs at 8weeks old there testicles have not dropped from the scrotum properly so i would also wait till about 6months old for this.

But its upto you and your vet on when its best to do this neuter.

mike

posted 01-25-2004 08:35 PM         

These studies report that anesthetizing 6- to 7-week-old puppies and kittens was uneventful. Spays are reported to be easier and faster at 6 to 7 weeks than at 6 to 7 months because there is little subcutaneous fat to hinder entrance to the abdominal cavity and the lack of vasculature reduces hemorrhage. Finding organs was no harder than on the older animal. The speed of castrations at 6 to 7 weeks and at 6 to 7 months is the same, and the testicles are easier to remove and break down. Finally, the younger animals recovered faster and with less pain.

Several of these studies addressed the question of long-term effects on the health of the animal by comparing, at maturity, groups of animals neutered at 6 to 7 weeks and at 6 to 7 months. The resulting resting metabolic rate and predisposition to obesity of cats neutered in these two age categories have been compared after 24 months of age (5,7). The urethral diameters of male or female cats neutered in these categories was compared at 22 months of age (8).

Many aspects of skeletal dimensions, body weight and composition, physical maturation, secondary sex characteristics or behavioral development of cats (6) and dogs (11,13) neutered/spayed in the two groups were compared at one year of age. The only notable difference found was that the animals neutered at 6 to 7 weeks of age were more likely to have immature external genitalia at maturity; this has no known clinical significance (6,8,11). The benefits of neutering are the same at either age: reduced risk of reproductive disorders and of mammary neoplasia."