WHY SHOULD I DESEX MY PET?
At a certain time in a young pet’s life, their thoughts turn to the topic of romance. Although the idea of the pitter-patter of little feet may seem like a good idea at the time, the ongoing care for baby cats and dogs can be quite harrowing and expensive! It is for this reason and many others that we recommend de-sexing of all domestic pets Sexual maturity in dogs occurs at 5 to 6 months of age and can be shown in a number of ways. Dogs can be subtle in their advertisements. Boy dogs tend to wander the neighbourhood and scale fences looking for a willing consort while girl dogs will also go “looking for love”. Girl dogs also have the physical signs of dripping blood or mucous from their often swollen vagina (messy.) The prevention of unwanted pregnancies and the unnecessary euthanasia of unwanted puppies is the first reason for desexing your pets. Once they have been desexed they can’t fall pregnant or impregnate. The social implications of under sexed pets are huge. These wandering romantics are at great risk of getting hit by cars, becoming badly injured or killed while crossing roads. They are also at risk of injury from fighting with competitors for the object of their affection. All of these injuries also cost mum and dad money when the pet needs to be seen by the vet. There are also health reasons for de sexing pets. Female dogs can develop mammary (breast) tumours if they are not de sexed at a young age. These require extensive surgery to remove. They an also develop a life-threatening situation called “pyometra” where their uterus fills with pus because their seasons are not as regular as when they were young. This requires urgent expensive medial attention and in some instances pets have died from the problem. Male dogs have their own set of preventable reproductive system diseases. Testicular cancer in older male pets is as common as it is in human and is preventable. As pets age, the rapid cellular changes that occur in the testicles can become abnormal and cancers can form from these abnormal cells. This is especially likely if the testicles haven’t both descended into the scrotum. If you pet doesn’t have testicles, they can’t become cancerous! Prostate disease in unde sexed dogs is similar to prostate disease in humans as well. There are four types of prostatic disease: Prostatic hypertrophy prostatic cancer Prostatic cysts Prostatic abscesses Prostatic hypertrophy is a benign enlargement of the prostate that can narrow the urethra (tube fro the bladder to outside) and create urinary system problems. A large prostate also creates constipation by blocking the flow of poo down the rectum. Prostatic cancer has a poor survival rate and prostatic abscesses require extensive surgery an open abdominal drainage over many weeks to fix (picture lots of bloody pus dripping on the floor!). Prostatic cysts are uncommon and require specialist treatment. If desexed young, there is a much reduced likelihood of developing these diseases What is involved in Desexing? Male dogs have their testicles removed under general anaesthetic in a sterile manner (a castration). They do not have a vasectomy.We now have sterile castration using injections and these can last for 6months or 12 months. Castration removes testicular cancer and reduces the chance of prostrate cancer in male dogs.
Female dogs have a more complicated procedure where the uterus and both ovaries are removed under general anaesthesia in a sterile manner (an ovariohysterectomy). This prevents pregnancy and also the hormonal signs of coming into season and ovarian cancer. Dr Gail Lovell B.V.Sc, M.A.C.V.Sc |
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