• DVM360_Conference_Charlotte,NC_banner
  • ACVCACVC
  • DVM 360
  • Fetch DVM 360Fetch DVM 360
DVM 360
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
By Role
AssociatesOwnersPractice ManagerStudentsTechnicians
Subscriptions
dvm360 Newsletterdvm360 Magazine
News
All News
Association
Breaking News
Conference Coverage
Education
Equine
FDA
Law & Ethics
Market Trends
Medical
Politics
Products
Recalls
Regulatory
Digital Media
dvm360 LIVE!™
Expert Interviews
The Vet Blast Podcast
Medical World News
Pet Connections
The Dilemma Live
Vet Perspectives™
Weekly Newscast
dvm360 Insights™
Publications
All Publications
dvm360
Firstline
Supplements
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vetted
Clinical
All Clinical
Anesthesia
Animal Welfare
Behavior
Cardiology
CBD in Pets
Dentistry
Dermatology
Diabetes
Emergency & Critical Care
Endocrinology
Equine Medicine
Exotic Animal Medicine
Feline Medicine
Gastroenterology
Imaging
Infectious Diseases
Integrative Medicine
Nutrition
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Orthopedics
Pain Management
Parasitology
Pharmacy
Surgery
Toxicology
Urology & Nephrology
Virtual Care
Business
All Business
Business & Personal Finance
Hospital Design
Personnel Management
Practice Finances
Practice Operations
Wellbeing & Lifestyle
Continuing Education
Conferences
Conference Listing
Conference Proceedings
Resources
CBD in Pets
CE Requirements by State
Contests
Veterinary Heroes
Partners
Spotlight Series
Team Meeting in a Box
Toolkit
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vet to Vet
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Advertisement
By Role
  • Associates
  • Owners
  • Practice Manager
  • Students
  • Technicians
Subscriptions
  • dvm360 Newsletter
  • dvm360 Magazine
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us
  • MJHLS Brand Logo

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences™ and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Promote and perform early spaying and neutering

October 1, 2007
John Lofflin

Shelters can adopt out only so many animals, says Kate Hurley, DVM, MPVM, director of the Koret Shelter Medicine Program at the University of California, Davis. So the biggest impact on euthanasia numbers will be on the intake side of the equation, not the adoption side.

Shelters can adopt out only so many animals, says Kate Hurley, DVM, MPVM, director of the Koret Shelter Medicine Program at the University of California, Davis. So the biggest impact on euthanasia numbers will be on the intake side of the equation, not the adoption side. And one of the most effective strategies to reduce the number of animals brought to shelters, Dr. Hurley says, is early spaying and neutering.

What Works for Dr. Tracy Land

Janet M. Scarlett, DVM, who heads the Maddie's Shelter Medicine program at Cornell University, agrees that early spaying and neutering is one place veterinarians can make a large impact on the problem. She notes that veterinarians have traditionally been taught to do the surgeries at about 6 months of age, but a decade ago researchers began challenging the idea.

"When you look at the literature, you find nothing that is scientifically based about 6 months being the optimal age," Dr. Scarlett says. "Nobody really knows why we settled on 6 months. Maybe it had to do with the comfort levels of handling tissues of small animals and perhaps it had to do with anesthesia.

Advice from the Veterinary Medicine Practitioner Advisory Board

"We found out that with a few precautions like using a hot water bottle to keep the animal warm and paying attention to tissue handling—you can't just tug on a tiny uterus—you can spay an animal as young as 6 to 8 weeks. Most shelters are using the two-pound rule, and the data support that this is safe. There are very small risks with both puppies and kittens."

Advertisement

Advice from the Veterinary Medicine Practitioner Advisory Board

One randomized study published in 1997 reported that gonadectomy in both kittens and puppies in three periods —1 to 12 weeks, 12 to 23 weeks, and more than 24 weeks—resulted in no differences among the three groups in the incidence of major complications.1 The traditional age group did have more minor complications. The study was initiated in response to an American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) House of Delegates resolution in 1993, asking the organization to support the concept of early spaying and neutering. In fact, both the AVMA and the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) support spaying or neutering starting at 8 weeks of age (see "AVMA and AAHA statements on early spaying and neutering").

Dr. Scarlett says some evidence exists that dogs spayed or neutered at a very early age have a slightly higher risk of incontinence than do adults, but the risk is also seen in dogs neutered at traditional ages.

AVMA and AAHA statements on early spaying and neutering

Early neutering solves a compliance problem for practitioners, Dr. Scarlett says. Traditionally, a veterinarian completes the vaccination series when the pet is 4 months old. At that time, the veterinarian tells the pet owner to come back in two months for neutering. "By then," Dr. Scarlett says, "the kids are going back to school and they're really busy, and they put it off. It is a very common occurrence that people tell us, 'I didn't think she could come into heat that early,' or 'I meant to get him neutered but I forgot.'

"If veterinarians told their clients when they were lining them up that roughly two or three weeks after the final vaccination we'll schedule you to come right in and have that animal neutered," Dr. Scarlett says, "they would probably still bring the animal in, and we would get most of them before puberty."

The research shows that roughly 15% of puppies and kittens will have litters before they can be neutered, Dr. Scarlett says. "That's a hole I'm trying to plug."

However, if despite your best efforts, a puppy or kitten has a litter, spay the animal soon after birthing. "Ovariohysterectomy often is performed at the same time as a Cesarean section," says Margaret V. Root Kustritz, DVM, PhD, DACT. "The only downside is the incisions end up buried beneath the engorged mammary glands and the puppies may end up irritating them."

Dr. Scarlett says she has talked to many veterinarians who, once they learned how to perform pediatric neutering, were much more comfortable with neutering at a younger age than at the traditional age. "It is much easier, much faster, and the animals recover faster," she says. "Ask yourself how many litters 15% would prevent."

REFERENCE

1. Howe LM. Short-term results and complications of prepubertal gonadectomy in cats and dogs. J Am Vet Med Assoc 1997;211:57-62.

Related Content:

SurgeryAnimal Welfare
UC Davis oral surgeons repair kitten’s severe cleft palate
UC Davis oral surgeons repair kitten’s severe cleft palate
San Francisco SPCA receives $100k grant from San Francisco Foundation
San Francisco SPCA receives $100k grant from San Francisco Foundation
Performing surgery on dogs with GDV
Performing surgery on dogs with GDV

Advertisement

Latest News

Morris Animal Foundation appoints new chief program officer

CDC issues warning over cat-transmitted sporotrichosis

An AI solution is speeding up insurance claims processing

3 categories of inappetence in dogs

View More Latest News
Advertisement