Will “Fixing” Your Dog Lead to a Longer, Healthier Life?

During much of the last century, sadly the United States topped all other countries in the developed world for shelter dog euthanasia rates. But in the early 1970s when the American public learned that at least 13.5 million shelter dogs were being euthanized each year, they rallied to solve the problem. Spaying/neutering won widespread acceptance and by 2018, the shelter dog death rate had dropped by more than 95%.

Today, 85% of owned dogs in the US are neutered, chiefly to prevent unwanted litters. This remains true even though many regions of the country are experiencing dog shortages so severe shelters must import dogs to remain in operation.

Another long-cited benefit of neutering dogs, however, is being reexamined: the claim that neutered dogs, live longer, healthier lives. This claim may be proving to be too good to be true …

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It’s Complicated.

Living creatures, alas… are complicated, and there is a growing body of research indicating that there are health problems associated with neutering your pet! What are they? First is weight gain after neutering (which is still sometimes written off as a myth). This is a minor, manageable issue that crops up in some breeds more than others, though the word manageable really needs emphasis. Pet owners sometimes forget that they are the ones who decide what the dog eats for dinner.

A more serious issue, especially for people with athletic dogs, is that neutering dogs before they are done growing makes them more likely to suffer debilitating ACL injuries. This is most likely due to increased length of legs (sex hormones help tell the bones when to stop growing)

Further, dogs that are neutered are more prone to immune disorders, and twice as likely to suffer from osteosarcoma (bone cancer), while specific breeds such as Golden Retrievers, have been shown to be more prone to lymphoma and hip dysplasia. Of course, a higher chance doesn’t mean highly likely, and as with weight, these issues are more closely tied to some breeds than others.

*Neutering dogs before they are done growing can leave them more prone to debilitating injuries and illnesses. Golden Retrievers have received a lot of attention regarding this phenomena.*

We’ve known of these risks for some time, but more recent studies are provocative: Female Rottweilers live longer when kept intact for at least their first six years of life. In some cases, they also display a remarkable resistance to cancer (Rottweilers are notoriously prone to cancer). Neutered dogs, perhaps counter-intuitively, have been shown to display more aggression, fear, anxiety, and excitability than intact dogs, while intact dogs demonstrate less aggression and fear-based behavior. Intact male dogs are less likely to display senility.

All of these findings challenge the notion that “fixing” your dog will necessarily improve your dog’s health, attitude and extend their life.

At the same time, these findings do not challenge many of the other benefits associated with neutering your dog: no unwanted litters, no need to segregate or confine your dogs during heat cycles, reduction of some problem behaviors, reduced licensing costs, and the reduced chance of certain infections and some cancers.

This is NOT a call to stop neutering your dogs. It is a presentation of additional information to help dog owners make more informed decisions.

Who is still balking at the idea that there might be health problems associated with neutering your dog, and why?

PS. you may have noticed this article is limited in scope to dogs. This is because most of the emerging data linking neutering to health problems relates to dogs. Given the lack of solid, recent data and the different health and management issues that go with cats, it would be a disservice to our feline friends to include them!

Questions to Consider

Have you read the latest studies to see if your breed of dog is prone to certain post-neutering cancers and/or hip-dysplasia?

Would the benefits be worth the extra effort to manage an intact dog?

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