Never breeding = cancer?!
 

First I'll say that I never had any intentions of having a litter, and at this point still don't plan to. Personally I think breeding requires a lot of research and planning and should just be taken more seriously in general. My boy has been neutered and we plan to have the girl spayed.

Well on Memorial Day weekend we had a big get together and my uncle asked if we were going to have puppies. I simply said "no, we're getting her fixed" and he went on this big speech about dogs needing to reproduce at least once in their life or they will get cancer. I was a little upset by everything he said because it was a little condescending (along the lines of "you're going to kill your dog with cancer unless you let her have puppies") and the fact that I don't consider him a good source for this sort of information. If you ask me, I'd say he is a "backyard breeder" because he keeps letting his little chihuahua get pregnant so he can sell the itty bitty puppies for a nice price. I doubt he knows anything about the dam & sires lineage, pregnancy & birthing health, or even if they are good enough breeding stock to have so many puppies. He also has the old school idea that it's cruel to not let dogs "have sex" at least once in their life. (He had his pit bull trained to growl on cue if you told him "we're going to snip your -----" and thought it was the funniest trick ever...)

Sooo, let me get off my soapbox here and to the point. :rolleyes: Is this really true? If we spay Nahla without having pups, will her life be cut short because of it? And does that mean I've condemned Raja to die of cancer because he's already neutered?

I think that by having them spayed/neutered prevents cancer. There are no advantages to just having one litter before geting them fixed.

Actually, it's the opposite. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe that a female's chances of cancer increases something like 50% after their first heat. Most vets/breeders would recommend spaying BEFORE the female even has her first heat.

Your correct

This is a subject that has me wondering. Yesterday on Fox News there was a story that said dogs/bitches that are neutered before six months of age have a greater chance of getting cancer. They also went on the explain other problems early neutering causes. Unspayed females have a greater chance of getting mammary tumors if they are spayed after their first season. Also, if a female is not spayed you have serious concerns about them getting pyometra. Just based on all the different pros and cons I have been hearing, I would recommend getting dogs and bitches neutered after they are 6 months old and before 7 months of age. While it is possible for a female to come in heat before 7 months I have never had one of mine come in heat that early.JMHO

another one of those old wives tales that people like to quote to justify what they are doing

:thumbup: That's correct. If a female is spayed before her first heat, she virtually has NO chance of getting mammary cancer. If she goes through her first heat cycle, her chances double (but it is still a pretty small chance). After the second heat cycle, it becomes about a 1/4 chance of getting mammary cancer! Also, most mammary tumors grow faster under the influence of estrogen so if an intact female gets cancer, it is always recommended to spay her to slow down the growth of the cancer. By spaying before the first heat cycle you prevent pyometria, false pregnancies, and real accidental pregnancies.

Early spaying and neutering have no disadvantages. It was once thought that there might be some disadvantages to early spay/neutering, but those have all been disproven by the most recent studies I've read.

By letting a female have one litter, you are greatly increasing her risk of health problems than if you'd spayed her before her first heat cycle. By having a litter, she's at risk for infections, enclampsia, DEATH, whelping complications, cancer, etc. Spaying and never having a litter is the very best thing you can do for your pet.

I thought so, too... just wanted some facts from people who know what they're doing. :) Thank you all so much for the information!

:yorkietal

Another view...for youir consideration.
 

This was written by a vet.

Spay, Neuter, and Cancer: Revisiting and Old Trinity

I am not taking sides, but I think we need to know all the risks and benefits of any procedure.

Little Bit.....thank you for sharing that information. It is very interesting. I also just found another website that lists the pros and cons of neutering. I find it rather surprising. After reading this I would never have a dog or bitch neutered at a very young age.

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongT...uterInDogs.pdf

That was an excellent article you posted. I had a dachshund that I had spayed at six months and she had the recessed vulva with increased infections and irritation that goes with it and also some incontinence (as was mentioned as what can happen in the article you posted). My vet (a different one than the one I had when she was spayed) says she probably wouldn't have had those problems if she had had a heat first. He says it is not a good idea to neuter males early either but to wait until their urinary tract is fully developed or you can have problems.

I just think that we need to know all the facts and make our decisions from there. I certainly would have liked to know beforehand what could happen. We hear too much of only one side of the story. I think a balance of information is needed so we can make informed decisions.

Yea, I bet there are going to be a lot of unhappy pet owners when the truth about early neutering gets out.