Hi,

Funny how this came up as I have a 7 month old puppy and normally I would have had his balls off as soon as they had dropped as I am a strong advocate of spay and neuter and not adding to our dog over population problem. But then I read up on the controversy about early spay/neuter. Having had a dog die at 6 yrs old of OSA I am open to reasons why our dogs are getting cancer at a very high rate. So I have been reading up on Kerasote's research and others and have a feeling there may be some connection. I, like Bonnie would rather deal with testicular cancer than OSA. In the meantime Hank is humping the pillow and we are keeping a close watch on him. Do they have dog ladies of the night and doggie ho houses?

Penny and Frustrated Hank

Sometimes the humping can be a dominance thing, too. My daughter has a Rottie who was neutered when he was younger, but every time he's around our dogs his back end starts. He is the youngest of the three, and I am sure that it is just his way of trying to re-establish the pecking order to his own way of liking.

Kathi and Murphy (and Gus...who won't put up with that you-know-what)

First off, I'd like say after the tragedy we went through with Leland I have continued researching trying to understand what happened to my boy.  To neuter/spay or not is a choice that only you can make...if you're allowed (meaning with adopting from shelters typically there is no choice).  I can only relate my experiences  with my dog's health and how current research is pointing to early neuter/spay as a possible cause.

Our first dog Lucky was a Dobie/Rotti mix that we adopted from a shelter (so no choice but to neuter).  His first cruciate ligament went out around age 4 and we went through the TPLO procedure to fix.  This procedure was roughly $2500 but when he came out of the anesthesia he was having seizures so we had to transport him to a 24/7 animal clinic a little over an hour away (so added cost there) where he stayed for 2 days.  Then around the age of 8 or 9 the other cruciate ligament went out.  Since Lucky was older we chose to do the less expensive procedure, which I refer to as the "fishing line" procedure.  It still ran around $1800 I believe.  Luckily, we didn't have the problem with the seizures so he was able to come the next day.  Lucky was diagnosed with Lymphoma in Sept 2009 and we had to put him to sleep 12/23/09.  Another thing was Lucky weighed mid 60's to low 70's.  The vet was always on us about his weight and his food was cut way back.  He'd lose some weight but not as much as the vet wanted...he wanted him in the 50's which for a Dobie or Rottie is ridiculous.  I've read so many articles but I'm pretty sure I've seen mentioned that early neuters can affect dog's weights as well.

So onto Leland.  He had a testicle that wasn't dropping and we were told by the vets we had to get it out or it would cause cancer.  Anytime we hear that word we do whatever we can so our fur baby doesn't have to suffer through the horrible disease.  So we waited to around 7 months and had Leland neutered.  Leland had an issue going on in his left knee (extreme swelling, knee cap pushed out of place).  The first orthopedic surgeon "needed" an MRI to determine what was going on...he thought it was cancer.  So since we heard that terrible word we said do whatever you need.  He did the MRI and a needle biopsy.  He wouldn't tell us for sure until the results of the biopsy came back.  The biopsy was sent to 2 different labs (one being the University of Michigan which is supposed to be a leading researcher in canine cancers) and both came back inconclusive.  The surgeon wanted us to bring Leland back to put him under AGAIN to cut open his leg and take a sample that way.  We told them no so we were left wondering still what was wrong with our boy's knee.  So our local vet got the report from the person who read the MRI and it listed "suspected synovial cell sarcoma".  So we decided to make Leland as comfortable as possible for as long as he had because our local vet did not think Leland would have much of a quality of life if his leg was amputated because the CCL in the other leg was not good either.  So we waited and we treated him with pain medication as well doing a holistic approach to boost his immune system.  Three months later he's still not showing the typical signs of a cancer that is progressing so our local vet did not believe he had cancer.  So we went to another orthopedic surgeon who also agreed he did not believe Leland to have cancer...so we scheduled him for a TPLO to fix the knee.  The recovery from that procedure did not go well...the screws would not hold in the meniscus and Leland got an infection that the clinic couldn't get under control.  So we were left with either put him to sleep now or amputate the leg.  We chose to amputate and Leland hadn't even made to his 4 week post amputation before the other CCL in the right knee went out.  On what should have been Leland's 4 week Ampuversary we were having to put our boy to sleep.  Not only did this poor boy go through multiple surgeries and procedures (costing well over $13,000 and we have no pet insurance) but after this all started we were told he had a thyroid issue and an autoimmune disorder that was wasting away his muscles (visibly in the head, neck, and shoulders).

Since all this I have continued trying to understand why all this happened.  I've come across articles regarding studies on neutering/spaying at young ages and how this is being linked to orthopedic issues (CCL) in dogs, increased risk of bone cancers, mast cell cancers, lymphoma, and behavior issues (noise phobias, fearful behaviors, aggression).

You should review articles by a Christine Zink, DVM, PhD.  She was a part of a recent study on Vizslas titled "Evaluation of the risk and age of onset of cancer and behavioral disorders in gonadectomized Vizslas".  There's also an article titled "Early Spay-Neuter Considerations for the Canine Athlete: One Veterinarian's Opinion".  There was also a study titled "Neutering health effects more severe for golden retrievers than Labradors" that came out of the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine.  

For Leland I believe a combination of his early neutering as well as receiving core vaccines every year (you should research over-vaccination of pets and how this is damaging their immune system and thyroid) led to all these health issues manifesting and ultimately his death.  Right now my husband is angry because we weren't told by our vets (and we've been to several) the risks of early neutering and the damage annual vaccinations can cause.  I feel guilty because I let my boy down and did not know I had to question the vets.  I have an MA in counseling not veterinary medicine but I sure as hell know now I have to be educated in my animal's health care.

So for me and our new family member Lucian (12 wk old Dobie boy) he will not be getting neutered at 6 months.  He will probably not be neutered at all but if he is it won't be till after he's 2 1/2 yrs old.  Also, he received his puppy shots but he will not be getting vaccinated every year as we did with Leland.  From what I've read it's like with children who receive their childhood vaccines and then they're set for life pretty much.

I know I probably rambled and gave you more information than you wanted/needed but after all we suffered through with Leland if I can share my experience and point you in a direction to research that may assist you then Leland's death and suffering isn't for nothing.

Sahana and her Angel Leland