Should I neuter?

Pros of neutering your dog

• Reduce marking territory 
• Reduce aggression
• Reduce roaming 
• Reduce getting in fights with other dogs 
• Prostate problems (enlarged or cancers)
• Remove risk of testicular cancer
• Remove risk of testicular infection 
• Remove risk of causing pregnancy 

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Cons of neutering your dog

• Weight gain due to change in metabolism and hormonal structures due to inactivity
• Hip dysplasia or bone cancers if neutered before 6 months 
• Permanent sterilization

An 8yr old male intact dog presented to the clinic with not being able to urinate.  On exam it was diagnosed that he had an enlarged prostate.  The prostate is a small gland located near the neck of the urinary bladder of male dogs. The urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder to outside the body) passes through the prostate shortly after leaving the bladder.  Because the prostate was enlarged it was kinking off the urethra and that is the reason why this dog could not urinate.  This can happen in 80% of non neutered dogs.  

Having an enlarged prostate comes with many other problems such as extreme amounts of pain, unable to urinate, dehydration, vomiting, can stop eating, blood in the urine, inflamed urinary tract, infected testicles, and infection in the urinary tract.  

To treat this dog, we had to put a urinary catheter in to drain the bladder.  The urine had a large amount of blood in it.  There were also some urinary stones that looked like sand.  We put the ultrasound on the bladder to see the size and also found some of the stones.  To get a better idea of the size of stones we took a quick X-ray. 

A lot of these symptoms can be prevented, so the answer to the question "Should I Neuter" is, yes, you should! Contact your vet to discuss what age is the best for your individual pet to book them in for a neuter. 

The owner's permission was granted for the use of these photos.