Clinical Director, AURA Veterinary, Guildford, UK. Professor, Surgical Oncology, University of Surrey School of Veterinary Medicine, Guildford, UK
This is a long post, so sorry, but not sorry.... Should I neuter my pet? When? How? Why? Is it ethical? Is it even legal? Questions we face for our own pets plus as veterinary professionals. Congratulations to the WSAVA (World Small Animal Veterinary Association) for their recently published Reproduction Control guidelines (below), and authors Stefano Romagnoli, Natali Krekeler, kurt De Cramer, Michelle Kutzler, R McCarthy and sabine schäfer-somi for taking on such a difficult task. Tackling so many emotions, stakeholders and strong opinions. It's a really good piece of work and addresses early spaying, technique choice, non-surgery, cancer, orthopaedics, life span, shelter medicine, ethics, even hysterectomy and vasectomy (unimaginable even a few years ago!) and a lot more. I have lifted a few sentences that really grabbed me; - The remarkable extent of current knowledge on this topic makes it increasingly challenging for veterinarians to advise clients and stakeholders on the best approach to reproduction control for small animals - The best options for reproduction control in dogs and cats are the ones that have the least long term health concerns which may be more pronounced particularly in large and giant breed dogs - For owned pets, such a decision should be made on a case-by-case basis in consultation with the owner with due consideration of species, sex, breed, purpose and lifestyle of the pet as well as financial constraints….reproduction control in the shelter environment may differ to that of owned animals - Recently, the veterinary profession started to question the long held belief that all dogs and cats not intended for breeding should be spayed and neutered as early as possible. Through emerging research, it is now becoming apparent that various factors need to be considered to reach the decision if spaying and neutering is in the best interest of the animal, its owner and the society at large I would urge all veterinary students to read the below and ask yourself the hard questions, before a pet owner does. As a bonus it also includes excellent surgical diagrams for each procedure including knot-tying, better than many textbooks. And finally to paraphrase the authors’ own insight and reflect it back on them ‘Their action may in time lead to acceptance of reproduction control options that better align with the health concerns of individual pets’. Bravo. Can be downloaded here;
Gillian Holloway
6mo
Thanks for sharing this really useful and thought- provoking link Nick. Having experienced recent loss at 5 years of age a wonderful dog I had castrated at 16 months as per the received wisdom, I’ve put on my retrospectospecs and seen how his immune-mediated problems began shortly after the procedure. This has led to me really questioning whether I ought to do the same with my new male puppy.
Lauren Davis
6mo
I hadn't seen this - fantastic document. Individualised care is the future!
Vet | Writer | Founder of The Veterinary Content Company & Petlearnia | Digital Marketing Bod | Passionate about Education
6moVery cool! One thing that really interests me is the informed consent angle when you have this much to cover. Can you say owners give informed consent when you haven’t discussed this all with them? I’d argue no. But having this conversation at all can be very time consuming! Petlearnia produced an e-learning course for pet owners on this that vets can ‘prescribe’ to pet owners, helping them save significant time when having these neutering conversations and allowing them to evidence what information was given when it comes to informed consent. It’s updated quarterly, so we’ll have a team check this document and make sure it’s aligned.