Neutering

When is a good time to neuter? My brother adopted a dog from the Islip Animal Shelter and he wasn't allowed to take him home before the dog was neutered. (The dog was only 6-8 weeks old.) Is that OK for the dog or is later better? We had my male dog fixed at 5 months.

Re: Neutering

You'll hear a lot of opinions on both sides. The shelters do that to limit yet more unwanted dogs and cats winding up at the shelters, which I can get behind. But after doing our own investigation, we decided to wait.

There could be medical reasons to wait depending on the type of dog. In the case of Labs, there is a belief that neutering after the dog has had sufficient time to grow and for the plates to close will cause less problems with elbow or hip dysplasia later in it's life.

It really stunk having an un-neutered dog for that long. I was on constant patrol, so worried and concerned about him going for a female dog in heat. Constant watch to look out for dominance or aggression issues.

He turned out fine, and I honestly don't see much difference in his personality at all.

Re: Neutering

That seems so young to me..

My vet told me 5-6 months for my puppy.

Re: Neutering

shelters do it right away because they're trying to cut down the amount of stray and unwanted dogs. it's a requirement. yes it was young, but that's the way they do it. i adopted a dog once from NSAL and it was 8 weeks (looked younger) and was already neutered. (we had problems and ended up giving back the dog but that was because my 1st dog didn't end up liking him) i adopted my first dog when he was around 4 years old and he got neutered then, and i got a 6 month old dog and waited until he was around 9 months to get him neutered (i bought him from a breeder) because the vet recommended he had all of his shots first. neutering really at any time is fine. i just recommend getting all of their shots first then get it done. don't wait too long though!

Re: Neutering

Re: Neutering

My first cat was from a shelter and she already was fixed when we got her at 8 weeks.
My vet told me that is probably too young but he understood why shelters do it. My cat suffered from a lot of urinary tract problems that he felt could be related to the early fixing.

My current cat is from an animal resuce- and they wouldn't do it before 5 months.
They made me sign a document that I would get the cat fixed at 5 months old or they could come and take the cat back. They also gave me a certificate to get it done at a vet they work with- for free.

I did it right on time-because I would NEVER have a cat that wasn't fixed... but I can see why shelters worry and do it before they release the animal to you- because not everyone is as responsible, unfortuneatly

Re: Neutering

I understand what the shelter is trying to do but that seems so young. Katie wasn't fixed until she was 6 months which was the earliest she should be according to the vet.

Re: Neutering

i think it's a bit young, my dog did not drop until he was far in his 5 months. even then people used to think he was already done because you see his testicles too much.

Re: Neutering

Our vet had us wait until 4-5 months for our puppy, but I know most shelters do it much earlier per their requirements.