Every year, millions of dogs and cats find themselves in shelters, a harsh reality due in large part to an unrestrained pet population. World Spay Day, established in 1995, emerged as a simple solution: spaying or neutering your pet. It’s now an annual event, celebrated officially on the fourth Tuesday of February; although the entire month is observed as “Spay/Neuter Awareness Month”.
Responsible pet ownership includes many aspects of quality care and compassion, yet altering your pet fundamentally curbs the reproduction rates of unwanted litters and enhances pet health and vitality in the long run.
Awareness & Active Involvement is a Win-Win
World Spay Day/Spay-Neuter Awareness Month is an opportunity for professional pet sitters to align with veterinarians and local shelters to help raise awareness. Your support can include:
- Local Shelters: Your time and/or donations can greatly aid clinics and shelters that provide low-cost spay and neuter services.
- Raise Awareness: Share the message! Posts on social media can enlighten others about the benefits of spaying and neutering.
- Participate in Community Events: Join local World Spay Day events. Not only are you helping to raise awareness, but also establishing yourself as a compassionate and “fully present” pet pro.
- Educate yourself and others: Learning more about the importance of spay and neuter initiatives – the “why” behind it – will help you grow your business through advocacy. Be a voice of knowledge!
As a professional pet sitter, it’s important to understand how spay and neuter issues can be potential complications for your pet sitting business. If you are boarding dogs in your home or pet sitting a young dog still intact, details to consider are included below. Nature at its finest…are you prepared?
Of course, the decision to spay or neuter a pet is entirely up to the owner. Opinions are mixed as to the ideal age to spay or neuter a dog. Rescue groups and animal shelters spay and neuter as quickly as possible to avoid unwanted litters. Some veterinarians, many breeders and individual owners may lean toward delaying these procedures past the first 6 months of age to avoid potential health risks later. Risks include joint disorders (hip or elbow dysplasia) and various cancers, such as lymphoma, mast cell tumor and osteosarcoma.
Spaying or neutering within the first 6 months of age delays the closure of growth plates that control bone development. Subsequently, the longer the wait period the more likely optimal growth in height and conformation will occur. However, on the other side of this debate (for female dogs) may increase the risk of “pyometra”, a dreadful uterus infection and mammary cancer. For intact males, there is potentially added risk of testicular cancer.
X-rays will show when growth plates are fully closed, which is a helpful tool to determine when it’s best to schedule surgery.
Timing of surgery may also be influenced by breed.
According to researchers at the University of California, Davis some dog breeds have a higher risk of developing certain cancers and joint diseases if neutered or spayed within the first year. They analyzed 15 years of data from thousands of dogs examined yearly. The results are extremely mixed, based on their professional review of 35 different dog breeds.
In many cases these potential health concerns were not necessarily affected by the dog’s age at neutering, but more likely due to body size. Fundamentally, smaller dogs are less prone to joint disorders as they mature as early as six to nine months of age, whereas bigger breeds take longer. Interestingly enough, it was discovered that Great Danes and Irish Wolfhounds, despite their “largesse”, did not show an increased risk when neutered at various ages.
Benjamin Hart, distinguished professor emeritus at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine states: “There is a huge disparity among different breeds…there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to health risks and the age at which a dog is neutered. Some breeds developed problems, others didn’t. Some may have developed joint disorders but not cancer or the other way around.”
NOTE: Diet and nutrition were not factors of this study’s assessment yet certainly begs to be considered when studying the incidence of cancer in our companion animals.
Sexually Driven Behaviors of Intact Male Dogs
Male dogs tend to reach sexual maturity between the ages of five and twelve months old. During this timeframe, you can expect hormonally driven and undesirable behaviors to unveil:
- Increased frustration released by digging, scratching, and chewing.
- Restlessness and inability to settle down.
- Flight impulses including fence jumping and door dashing.
- Barking, lunging, growling, snapping, biting and fighting with other male dogs.
- Lack of cooperation and noncompliant behavior.
- Excessive pulling and dragging during walking; intense sniffing and licking female urine.
- Extra interest in the genital area and excessive grooming.
- Exhibiting sexual arousal when petted or given attention.
- Mounting people, animals and/or objects (or thin air).
- Excessive urine marking, both indoors and outdoors.
- Frustrated, excessive barking.
Due to these problematic behaviors, commercial “kennel” facilities will deny entrance to an intact male past the age of 6 months…and pet sitters should strongly consider the added complications as well! Boarding a female dog that isn’t spayed and likely to come into heat on your watch is a risk most pet sitters should avoid.
For pet owners who plan to travel without their pets during this “wait” period, it’s best they secure pet accommodations well in advance or delay travel until surgery is complete and a reasonable post-op recovery period has occurred (10-14 days). For professional pet sitters, it’s essential to consider waiting to provide service until these potential complications have passed.
Hugs from your Pet Pro Team @ AoPP!
photograph credit: Taylor Sondgeroth on Unsplash
Resources for this article and for your knowledge journey:
https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/when-should-you-neuter-your-dog-avoid-health-risks
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2020.00388/full
https://dogdiscoveries.com/behavior/behaviors-of-intact-male-dogs
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/vets-corner/neutering-spaying-right-