So Casper has an appointment to get neutered on Friday (he'll be about 5 months old) and I was having some second thoughts on doing it so early. Main reason behind it was that we were moving to a new place where the landlord requires dogs to be neutered/spayed but that's no longer the case, so I was wondering if doing it this early would have any effects on his growth.

It shouldn't affect his growth, though I would wait another month. Most people generally neuter around 6 months.

I waited until mine was 8 months. I would have waited until he was 1.5 years old but we had thinges come up and it was just a better time for it.

Ami was neutered by the shelter at 12 mos - he seems to be doing fine. Archer was neutered by his rescue at 15 weeks. He seems to be doing fine. Things I've read but not experienced is that earlier neutering can inhibit size-limiting (ie, strange but apparantly can cause dog to be bigger than supposed to be? I don't understand it but doesn't mean it may not be true...)

Kesler was neutered at 6 months. He weighed about 50 lbs.

I used to think that 6 months was too early, but it is becoming the norm nowadays to get it done earlier, both with dogs and cats. The vet recommended 6 months for Kesler. Did your vet say anything about it being too early at 5 months?

Personally I don't really like getting it done so early. I think that it would be better to wait and let them mature naturally before fixing them, but maybe that's just me. Yukon's almost a year old and has his neuter appointment set for next month; although I might push it back a few more weeks due to cost issues (I didn't expect it to cost $500+ when I scheduled the appointment).

Aidan, I think that is part of the reason why so many neuter and spay earlier. Mishka's neuter at 8 months was about $300. I don't think anyone is expecting it be so much but of course the older the dog sometimes the harder the recover and the cost is usually more because of the weight of the dog as well.

I also don't like early spay/neuter but for some that is the best route. If they can wait longer, then I would recommend that. If/when I get a second, I am going to try to wait until my pup is 12-18 months old before neutering as long as there are no behavioral issues.

simplify wrote:

I also don't like early spay/neuter but for some that is the best route. If they can wait longer, then I would recommend that. If/when I get a second, I am going to try to wait until my pup is 12-18 months old before neutering as long as there are no behavioral issues.

Isn't it "best" to spay before their first heat?

simplify wrote:

Aidan, I think that is part of the reason why so many neuter and spay earlier. Mishka's neuter at 8 months was about $300. I don't think anyone is expecting it be so much but of course the older the dog sometimes the harder the recover and the cost is usually more because of the weight of the dog as well.

Nah I don't think that's the case for me, the lady on the phone said that it's their standard surgery rate. However it does come with any and all pain medication as well as an overnight stay which is sure to up the price point. I think I might try calling somewhere else though because my dad said that they tend to charge premium prices for Spay/Neuter appointments.

Cooper was 5.5 months when he was done and Abby was done at the shelter when she was almost a year and had already be bread too

Well I ended up pushing it back another month. Vet said anywhere between 6-8 months would be good for him. The only reason I had it scheduled for 5 was because of the whole landlord thing but now that that's out of the way I might as well push it back a little

Aidan,

That price tag is for overnight stay and meds. Neutering is one of the easiest procedures, an overnight stay is not needed.

Jeff,

Most people believe spay before first heat, we did and I wish we would have waited longer. I'm really into the belief male or female wait until they are around a year, unless there are problems that make it necessary to do sooner. Many huskies are slow to mature, unless you have a contract with your breeder to spay/neuter at 6 months I think it's better to hold off.

Forgot to add that places like the humane society will give you discount vouchers for the procedure, check and see if it's available to you. Spays are more expensive, but Miya's with the voucher was under $150.

Renee

Cost will also increase slightly depending on the weight. When I booked the appointment, we got the quote for Kesler's weight at that time. The day of the appointment, his weight was taken and it had crossed the threshold to the next cost level. Not much of a difference, but some!

Kiersten, that's correct, and the voucher we were given was also based on weight.

Vetsky wrote:

Isn't it "best" to spay before their first heat?

There is a lot of research that have the pros and cons of both spaying before and after. You honestly have to do your research and see what feels more comfortable for you. A lot of people are now waiting until their dogs are sexually mature (around 1-2 years) before spaying or neutering just so the dogs can get as much of their hormones as possible and until they are done growing.

AMB wrote:

Nah I don't think that's the case for me, the lady on the phone said that it's their standard surgery rate. However it does come with any and all pain medication as well as an overnight stay which is sure to up the price point. I think I might try calling somewhere else though because my dad said that they tend to charge premium prices for Spay/Neuter appointments.

Like Renee said, the overnight stay is what will make the cost exceptionally more expensive. Unless there is some sort of complication or abnormality with the surgery there is no need for an overnight stay. At least IMO.

I had done all of the research on neutering and narrowed it down to holding off until Paw Paw was 2 years old so he was fully grown and his growth plates had sealed. I had Nara spayed at 11 months, right before her first heat, as my research revealed that her chances for cancer go up by 4% if you wait until after the first heat to spay. That was 4% too much. So with Nara out of the way, I didn't have to worry about oops litters. I made the appointment to fix Paw Paw at his 2 year mark, and when I went in for the pre-appointment, our holistic vet asked me why I was neutering him. He ran through a checklist of questions, and my answers were NO to all of them. So again he asked me "why do you want to neuter him?" I was dumbfounded. I was there to pay $300-400 for this surgery, and he was telling me he didn't want my money. He wanted what was best for my dog. He then explained to me why it was holistically/medically/scientifically better to leave Paw Paw in tact, and I agreed. Now I have 4 dogs, and all 3 boys are in tact. I have no plans to neuter them after doing my research and trusting my holistic vet. Paw Paw has no aggression issues with his pack, no overall behavioral issues, doesn't chase dogs in heat, isn't an escape artist, and doesn't do anything else that people try to link to an tact dog problem. If you read a lot of comments about this, you will see where dogs that had "problems" before their neuter sometimes had them after as well, so it is not always a full proof plan, and the cons of neutering Paw Paw outweighed the pros. I consider myself an ultra-responsible dog owner, but I guess I just assumed it was the right thing to do because "everyone is doing it!" Where have I heard that before?!? Ha.

I will say that, what is right for me and my dog isn't necessarily right for you and your dog, and that should go for everyone on here who comments. You have to do your own research and keep your mind open to hear from all sides, not just "both" sides (as there are more than 2 sides), and figure out what would work best in your individual situation for you and your dog. I almost got swept up in the "just because" mindset without realizing that there were other options out there that would benefit us more.

Loki was fixed at approximately 11-12 weeks. He is about 27" tall. I think his growth may be related to when he was fixed just based on what I have read. However, without knowing his parents, can not be certain that was the reason for his height.

Ichigo still only had perm incisors when he got fixed. He was put at around 4-5 months. I will have to see if he is normal size or not. However, he is already around 22".

Orion was fixed at 10 months. It was not ideal, I wanted to wait until the 18 month to 2 year mark if it ended up necessary although was hoping to leave him entire. The reason I ended up neutering was actually other dogs. I am very involved in the local training club here and there are no entire dogs at all who participate (neutering is heavily encouraged here and all of the local vets hold 4 days a year where spay and neuter are entirely free - they are actively trying to discourage byb) so as a result none of the dogs we are around have been socialized with entire dogs. Since none of the neutered dogs had been socialized with an entire dog many of them became aggressive towards Orion. Luckily Orion never showed any aggression in return however it still got to the point that other owners were no longer coming to club because their dogs were so stressed and some very volatile. Even though it was not our fault and it was not my dog with the issues I still felt terrible these people were missing out and I was not willing to remove Orion and have him never see or interact with other dogs, that in my opinion is just no life for any dog. I spoke with his breeder at length and my vet as well about the effects on Orion and the behavior of others and while I could have forced the issue and persevered in attempting to socialize other dogs with him being entire I ran the risk of Orion developing aggressive behavior since that was all he was receiving from others and like any other behavior aggression can be learned. In the end I went through with it and had him neutered, he has not changed one whit but all the other dogs he is around took one sniff of him, wagged their tails and they were all friends again running round like mad things - that for me made it worth it.
Females for me are a slightly different story - my last dog was a golden retriever bitch and an absolutely lovely girl, we decided not to spay her after much consultation even though we never intended to breed. At 4 & 1/2 Indy developed pymetra as a direct result of being unspayed. They caught it every early and they spayed her immediately. Unfortunately they did not get all of the infected tissue and she developed a second infection. They operated a 2nd time in 24 hours and thought that was the end of it but it wasn't. Her blood turned septic and she bloated badly, we put her to sleep. I have never gotten past the fact that if we had just spayed her she would still be with us. I will never make that mistake with a female dog again.

Kohdi was neutured at 8 months. I've always been a 2 dog household so that was always my main reason for neuturing but also the licensing/registration fee is MUCH less expensive when the dog is fixed