Did you have your cat or dog 'done' and why?

Mrs_Z

yes, as long as there is a need for rescue places for unwanted pets, mine will be spayed/neutered.

Secondly, I don't think I could ever part with my cat's or dog's kittens or puppies and house would not be big enough for 5-6...

Fridaycat

Pollycat wrote: »

I had the male cats neutered because I didn't want them spraying in the house & fathering kittens throughout the neighbourhood willy-nilly .

PollyOnAMission wrote: »

I would think with cats, the responsible thing would be to have them neutered as they are often out wandering and could be breeding willy nilly.

Interesting choice of words, considering the subject matter :rotfl:

In answer to the question - I've always had my cats - male and female - neutered as soon as they were old enough to have the op, for all the very good reasons already discussed in this thread.

You do have to watch the weight with male cats in particular, but it is just a matter of adjusting their food accordingly.

lostinrates

Bettyspag wrote: »

Another common myth is they put on weight after being neutered. This is because people don't realise that there metabolism slows down. People feed the same amount of feed but they need less food after Neutering

The problem with this is that if your animal is already a good doer and on lowest feeding recommenadtions for their weight reducibg furthe can leave them deficient or needing supplementation. Its not common, but it happens. My poor fatty is on well under minimum recommended vittals as is . Ironically, the other is hard to keep weight on.....

KxMx

Female cats also spray when in heat- not as common as in males but it does happen. I speak from experience! Getting our girl neutered was on the list, it then went to the top of the list after I had to follow her round with a mop & bucket for two days, prevent her spraying on furniture etc, apart from the odd half an hour when she fell into an exhausted nap.

Lostinrates, have you consulted your Vet about feeding, rather than relying on the general and very vague guides on food packets? And you've probably tried increasing activity (sorry not sure if dog or cat), activity toys, tunnel etc? Also is it you who are unhappy with the weight or the Vet? All animlas are different, my cat is 5kg, but she's very long and has the height for it. My aunties cats however are of such small build they wouldn't be able to move at that weight!

mum2one

I had a cat when i was younger, and he was chopped, as they say to say the spray,he was a home cat.

Yet from childhood, I have grown up with Spaniels, this is our 6th dog, but he is the only one we have have chopped, he wasn't chopped till he was 13 months old, he was highly into humping, and also had a temper on him, yet since the chop he became a different dog.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

pineapple wrote: »

My border collie was spayed when she was younger. The vet was saying it was better for her health in the long term. She cried all night long after the op and I don't think I would do it again whatever the experts say..:(
I didn't notice any difference in her afterwards but I've seen many a male dog put on weight. A friend who recently took on another dog had him done 'to settle him down'. She is mindful of the weight issue so that's not a problem but I could weep when I see him. He has lost his spark. In fact he is another dog alltogether - like something out of 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.
Experiences anyone?

Well, I can't speak for everyone, but I'm certainly not so overly sentimental as to prefer the animals take their chances of death, disease, injury and consign a thousand unwanted descendants to short, miserable little lives, on the basis of my irrational anthropomorphic nonsense.

lostinrates

KxMx wrote: »

Female cats also spray when in heat- not as common as in males but it does happen. I speak from experience! Getting our girl neutered was on the list, it then went to the top of the list after I had to follow her round with a mop & bucket for two days, prevent her spraying on furniture etc, apart from the odd half an hour when she fell into an exhausted nap.

Lostinrates, have you consulted your Vet about feeding, rather than relying on the general and very vague guides on food packets? And you've probably tried increasing activity (sorry not sure if dog or cat), activity toys, tunnel etc? Also is it you who are unhappy with the weight or the Vet? All animlas are different, my cat is 5kg, but she's very long and has the height for it. My aunties cats however are of such small build they wouldn't be able to move at that weight!

Well.....yes, infact better than vet, my fatty is a dog and I am good friends with several researching scientists in dog nutrition. i am concerned with her weight, she rarely sees a vet, she is healthy. The last vet she saw was one who i had worked with and who refered clients of his to me (not dogs!) so he tends to trust me a bit and after the 'raw' conversation which he tackled me about many years ago with the cats, started feeding raw to his cats some time later.:D

She, the dog, is just a good doer, they exist, and while their calorific requirement is lesser, their need for the nutrients that go in with the calories is not necessarily reduced. As you say, they are individuals and not machines, and have different 'metabolisms' and ideal weights.

She is porky, we do what we can with exercise (she has suffered from osteochodritis, which is part of the reason she ended up with me so weight is a bit of an issue, but so is providing exercise). She is actually on a 'fatties' commercial mix, which is not my ideal way to feed by a long shot, but which in Our circumstances here and with her is working well for us (a good reason not to be dogmatic in approach in diet as in many other things!)

If we lived in a different place, in a different way then my priorities with her would be different, we would definitely neuter and tackle the diet thing differently again. As it is, she is lucky she lives in a situation where i can exercise her little and often, and she is doing very well at her agemwith no sign what so ever of slowing down. I would prefer her nuetered, i think it would be an easier option for me, but atm i do not think it is automatically the right choice for this set of circumstances, though it is my default 'best' option as i said before.

Thank you for your suggestions and interest, it is appreciated.:)

PollyOnAMission

PuppyLove wrote: »

Someone mentioned that neutering at 6 months has a detrimental effect on dogs. What kind of effects?

Removal of hormones can affect physical development (bones, muscle) and mental development (not properly "growing up" mentally) if it occurs before the dog is fully matured as an adult. As I said this does vary depending on the breed and individual dog.

Think of a human teenager and all the physical and emotional changes they go through when their hormones start zipping around. Hormones play a huge role in development and it's the same with dogs; removing them while all the developing is still ongoing can disrupt this a lot.

Obviously if there is a medical reason for early neutering it's a different story and in those cases priorities change.

CFC

PollyOnAMission wrote: »

Removal of hormones can affect physical development (bones, muscle) and mental development (not properly "growing up" mentally) if it occurs before the dog is fully matured as an adult. As I said this does vary depending on the breed and individual dog.

Think of a human teenager and all the physical and emotional changes they go through when their hormones start zipping around. Hormones play a huge role in development and it's the same with dogs; removing them while all the developing is still ongoing can disrupt this a lot.

Obviously if there is a medical reason for early neutering it's a different story and in those cases priorities change.

It always astonishes me when people seem to think that having an animal neutered is a 'natural' thing to do. It's highly unnatural and an invasive procedure. Whether we decide as individual owners to neuter or not, we need to bear that in mind. It's incredible to think that some folk want them done before they are even adult.

rustyboy21

Rusty was castrated 6 days after we got him from the RSPCA, e was a little lethergic for a few days and bald where they had shaved, but apart from that no ill effects.

This is a alsation/retriever cross, who Lived up to his 16th birthday. He tried to c0ck his leg a few times, but frightened him, so for rest of his life, stooped light a b1tch would.

Yes he gained weight ( our fault) and was so good with kids, they climbed all over him and gave doggie rides around the garden.

Funny seeing him humping a football though and not knwing why lol