I always believed there were certain things you had to do in order to keep your dog—and other dogs—safe and healthy. These include:
- An annual checkup with the vet
- Veterinary consultations for any unusual symptoms, behaviors, suspected illness or injury
- A consistent, healthy diet
- Plenty of supervised exercise
- Careful supervision to avoid accidents and/or unwanted puppies
I was careful to stick to my own dog-owning principles, thus keeping my dogs healthy and puppy-less. When the vet suggested spaying or neutering, I declined believing that as a responsible dog owner it’s safer to avoid surgery. After all, putting a dog under general anesthesia and removing its puppy-making parts is not natural and without inherent dangers.
I was fortunate to have owned several dogs that supported my beliefs. They didn’t sire or deliver unwanted puppies, they didn’t exhibit unwanted behaviors towards other dogs, and they didn’t hump the legs of my friends and family. That’s all I needed to support the “natural approach” to owning a dog.
My belief was challenged when my beautiful Giant Schnauzer, Halle, developed pyometra. We bought Halle from a breeder with the hopes of showing and breeding her. Her sire was an AKC and CKC Champion. Her dam was also a CKC Champion.
We had her evaluated by a top professional handler of Giant Schnauzers who confirmed that she too had potential to become a champion in just a few shows. If we wanted to show her, however, we would need to send her to that handler to stay with him for training and showing. She would stay there as long as it took to get her championship.
We realized that she was a member of the family. We didn’t want to send her to the trainer, so we decided we neither wanted to show her or breed her. Although the plans to breed her were discarded, I saw no reason to have her spayed. I was used to managing her through her seasons. I thought if that were too much trouble to endure every 6 months then I’d put her through the surgery to remove her ovaries and uterus.
The decision seemed like a good one until she turned 11. After a heat cycle she had a nasty discharge. This never happened before and it was not something to ignore. A visit to the vet revealed she had pyometra. I never heard of that before. The vet explained that basically she had too many heat cycles and not enough litters. In other words, nature planned for her to get pregnant if not every heat, at least most of them. I interfered with nature by keeping her out of situations where she might have an encounter with a male dog.
Her body prepared to have puppies with each heat. Changes in the uterine walls took place, but since she didn’t have puppies these hormonal changes created an environment that allowed bacteria to flourish and infection to occur.
The treatment for pyometra is emergency surgery. She needed complete removal of her ovaries and uterus to promptly remove the infection and prevent uterine rupture and peritonitis. It’s a much riskier operation for an 11-year-old dog than a younger dog.
Had she been spayed when she was younger and not suffering from pyometra her recovery would have been much quicker and far less painful for her. I regret that she suffered by the lesson I learned.
I learned another lesson and my male dog suffered the consequences. This dog was diagnosed with a slow heartbeat as a puppy. His heart put him at risk for general anesthesia so it was deemed safer not to neuter him.
He was always on a leash and there were no worries that he’d sire a litter of puppies. He did indulge in some unwanted male behavior. He would hump other dogs and other things when he got the chance. It was annoying but tolerable.
As he got older his heart rate became normal but he acquired a heart murmur. There were no symptoms and his vet suggested if he did become symptomatic I might want to have him seen by a cardiologist for dogs.
He had no problems with his heart, but one day when he was 8-years-old he was straining to urinate. After what seemed like a long time of straining all he produced was a few drops of blood.
A visit to the vet, an ultrasound, x-rays, and a full blood workup (not cheap!) revealed a bladder infection. Antibiotics were prescribed and his peeing problems went away quickly. I did need to bring him back for a check by ultrasound, which again wasn’t cheap.
Several months later there was blood in his urine again. He also randomly would yelp when getting onto his feet after lying down. His vet suspected another bladder infection or the yelping might indicate a prostate infection. Either would explain the blood in the urine and both would respond to the same antibiotic.
The vet explained that we didn’t need to know for sure if his infection was in his bladder or prostatitis because it would involve feeling for an enlarged prostate, which is very painful if it were indeed enlarged and infected. Prostate infections are harder to clear up so he would take the antibiotic longer.
He took them for 2 weeks. Five days after he stopped getting them, there was blood in his urine again. A positive diagnosis of a prostate infection was made and he didn’t like that at all because it did hurt. This time he needed to take a different antibiotic for 30 days. It was also recommended that he be neutered to remove the hormones that stimulated his prostate.
Neutering required a general anesthesia. As an older dog with known heart issues the risk of neutering was substantial. He could die. It seemed safer to me to see if he would be free of prostate infections after 30 days of treatment. He was not. About 30 days after the treatment ended he did it again – peed blood.
To make sure his neutering surgery was as safe as possible he had a full abdominal ultrasound and an echocardiogram. It was discovered that he had mild mitral valve disease causing the heart murmur. I was also told that he should successfully get through the surgery and be free from further prostate infections.
We approached his surgery as a high-risk operation rather than a standard procedure. He underwent his operation at the hands of a veterinary surgeon with an anesthesiologist. It was considerably more expensive but worth it to me.
He has no more problems with urinary tract infections and we continue to monitor his heart. At this time no special treatment is needed for his mitral valve disease, but it’s possible it could become a problem in the future.
My experiences with both a female and male dog taught me a lesson at their expense. If I have no reason to breed my dog, and breeding is nothing an amateur should undertake, there is no reason not to spay or neuter.
Spare your pet the frustration of living with hormonal drives upon which they cannot act. Spare your pet from the influences hormones have on their body that can cause infection and pain. Do the loving thing for your sweet puppy. Have it spayed or neutered.