Neutering

Neutering pets has long been a contentious subject amongst the public, but in the UK, vets have remained united in their efforts to help people to understand their choices and to make informed decisions.

We all love our pets – that’s why we keep them! It is frequently tempting to breed from a cute, young animal, for many reasons. However, many people are just as determined to have their pet neutered to prevent breeding.

There are several aspects to deciding on whether to neuter, listed in no particular order below.

Undesirable behaviour

Male pets – whether rabbits, cats, or dogs – can display unwanted behaviours when they are entire, such as urine spraying, and chasing after females. This can cause unpleasant aromas that can be difficult to eliminate, and embarrassing conversations with owners of harassed female pets!

Some female animals can become very distressed or unwell when in season, and find the whole experience very distressing. In this case, we would recommend neutering between seasons, at the earliest opportunity.

Nervous behaviour

Some pets – particularly male dogs – can be extremely nervous, and testosterone is the only thing that stops them from having a complete melt-down. These dogs are not suited to neutering (castration), and we would recommend keeping them entire.

It should be noted that snappy or aggressive dogs are not always nervous, so it is always worth having a check-up with your vet to look for other causes before assigning everything to fear. Fear aggression is actually quite rare. In some cases, we may consider temporary hormonal neutering as a trial before neutering.

Unwanted litters

There is always the chance that an entire male will mate with an entire female – and pets will really travel a long way to make this happen, particularly cats. Male cats may travel up to 20 miles to find a female in heat! Dogs will also make all our attempts at barriers seem paltry, when given an option of jumping over or destroying it to get to another hormonally active dog.

Unwanted litters create a large amount of work and can be costly, particularly if the pregnancy or the birth has complications.

Wanted litters

Obviously if you wish to have puppies, kittens or cubs, we recommend keeping your pet entire! There can be a lot of work for both the mum and for you as an owner, and litters may be costly if any complications arrive before, during or after the birth. We strongly recommend seeking veterinary advice before going ahead with a mating, to ensure you and your pet are as prepared as possible before starting the journey.

Preventing cancer

There is a strong correlation between entire animals and cancer later in life. For example, bitches neutered after their second season have no meaningful reduction in the prevalence of mammary cancer (whereas neutering before the second season can reduce the risk of this by 98%), and similar numbers are true for dogs neutered after 2 years of age in relation to the development of prostatic cancer. Entire females of all species may develop cancer of the uterus (womb), and this is more likely if she has experienced difficult seasons or recurrent false pregnancies throughout her life. Entire males may also develop testicular cancer.

Mammary cancer is extremely aggressive in mice and cats, and rapidly spreads to the chest cavity. In dogs and rats, mammary cancer is still likely to spread in around 45-55% of cases.

Testicular cancer can manifest in any of three types, one of which has a propensity to spread throughout the body, while the other two are less prone to spreading. In the case of the latter two, castration and removal of the scrotum is curative.

Prostatic cancer can be very aggressive and can affect the urinary tract as well as the intestines. It is very uncomfortable, and the treatment for this is limited.

At what age should we get our pet neutered?

Dogs: we generally recommend neutering between 6-12 months in dogs, although neutering before 10 months of age is recommended to reduce unwanted behaviours. After this, the behaviour is set regardless of their testosterone levels. For large breeds such as Newfoundlands, we recommend later neutering at around 10-14 months, so that their development is completed. Neutering should be completed before 2 years of age to reduce the risk of prostatic disease. If neutered after 2 years of age, there is minimal reduction in prostatic disease later in life.

Cats: we recommend neutering between 6-9 months in cats, although we can consider early neutering at 5 months if there is also a female present. Neutering to prevent unwanted spraying should be done before 9 months of age, although neutering at any age may help to reduce the behaviour a little.

Rabbits: we recommend neutering rabbis at 4-6 months of age, and once they are over 1kg in weight, ideally. Male bunnies may sometimes live happily together, but are more likely to fight if they are entire, and to breed if they are with a female.

Guinea-pigs and degus: we recommend neutering males kept together, although some groups of males do not fight. This can be done from 4 months of age.

Rodents: hamsters and other small rodents may be neutered from 4 months of age. We recommend keeping males separately from females until this point, to prevent unexpected litters.