Why should I have my dog castrated?
There are several health benefits to neutering:
- Behavioural changes – the only behavioural changes seen after neutering are related to behaviour influence by male hormones
- Interest in roaming is reduced in 90% of neutered dogs
- Aggressive behaviour against other male dogs is eliminated in 60% of neutered dogs
- Urine marking is eliminated in 50% of neutered male dogs.
- Inappropriate mounting is eliminated in 70% of neutered dogs.
- Reduces problems with the prostate gland – the prostate can enlarge as dogs age, due to the influence of testosterone (male hormone), which can cause discomfort and can interfere with the dog passing motions. The enlarged prostate is also more likely to develop prostate infections. Neutering results in the prostate shrinking in size.
- Prevention of small growths around the anus called anal adenomas. These growths are not cancers but can cause major problems because they tend to bleed. The dog in the picture below has a very small adenoma (the small red blob just to the left of its bottom), but it has bled profusely as can be seen by the large area covered in blood!
- Prevention and treatment of testicular tumours (the large testicle on the left)
- Reduces discharge from the prepuce.
What does the surgery involve?
The testicles are removed through an incision made in front of the scrotum. The scrotum is generally not removed. The skin wound is stitched, with the stitches being removed 10 days after surgery.
What can I expect when he comes home from surgery?
The scrotum may swell in the days after surgery, and there may be some mild bruising. We routinely give an injection of a pain killer prior to the surgery, and usually send dogs home with a few days of an oral pain killing anti-inflammatory drug to keep them comfortable.
It is important not to let your dog lick the stitches – he may need to wear a buster collar (‘lamp shade’) to stop him doing this. We also advise to keep him to lead-only exercise until the stitches are removed, and to restrict boisterous activity.
How old should he be?
We generally wait until dogs are around 6 months old before they are neutered – although it can be done earlier (In the USA, dogs are castrated from 8 weeks old!).
There is no maximum age for castration, the dog will still get the behavioural and health benefits no matter how old he is when castrated – if your dog is elderly but you are worried that he has not yet been castrated, please bring him in for us to check him over and discuss castration with you.
Someone told me that castrated dogs become lethargic and overweight, is this true?
No, activity levels and appetite are not altered by castration, so he should not gain weight or be less active after castration. Some people are under the impression that their dog will ‘calm down’ if it is castrated – as already discussed, behavioural changes are only those which are the result of male hormone, so general liveliness will not alter.
I also own a female dog, will he still take an interest in her when she is in season?
Yes, he may still be interested, but not as much as prior to castration. Mounting behaviour can be an expression of dominance, so some neutered dogs may try to mount females for this reason.
My dog’s testicles aren’t in his scrotum, what now?
Dogs should have two testicles in the scrotum, but sometimes one or both are not present – these dogs are referred to be as being cryptorchid. The testicles will either be in the abdomen or in the groin. Either way they are more prone to problems such as developing tumours, or twisting around – therefore we strongly recommend these dogs are castrated. Also the condition is hereditary, so again the dog should be castrated. Cryptorchid dogs may still be fertile, especially if only one testicle is retained.
The procedure is more complicated than a routine castrate because we have to search for the missing testicle, and often have to explore the dog’s abdomen. Happily, we are very familiar with this procedure and almost always, the testicles are easily located and removed, and the dogs recover very well.
