Comments on Reason #4 to Fire Your Vet: Selling Fear

Being a vet myself, I completely agree with this view.

Dr Dipesh Bhalani Ghoda(vet) Doctor, Rajkot

Dr Falconer, what do you do when you signed a contract with your breeder to have the dog neutered, but now you decide it's healthier to keep the dog intact?

I recently had a progesterone blood pull done on a Bitch I own (Champion Labrador). Younger Vet that pulled the blood, said she should be vaccinated every year so that she can pass those antibodies to her puppies. Of course I know better. This Bitch is now five years old and she hasn't been vaccinated since she was a 3 month old puppy.

I wish I had seen this article a couple of years ago, when my pup was young. It broke my heart to have her spayed, and I didn't know why. I thought it was what I was suppose to do, in being responsible. But when it came time to do it, it just felt so so wrong. Of course, her recovery did not go well, from sensitivity to anesthesia which had us in the emergency room at 1am to get her vomiting under control; to constant stomach issues with her pain meds, to a hot spot that developed under her neck from the E-cone that irritated her skin.
But to not have her spayed in our lifestyle was difficult. We are in a condo, and don't have our own fenced in yard. She's a lab and needs lot of daily exercise, so she has to be out and about everyday, whether walking in the park or at a dog park or at daycare.

Regarding your blog about "thinking long and hard about neutering", I don't agree with you for personal and safety reasons. It has nothing to do with the medical research.
There are just too many idiot pet owners around the country and in particular my city. They frequent community Parks and ignore leash laws allowing their dogs to run loose to attack defenseless pets and/or people.
So I'm fine with Vets telling owners to spay and neuter whatever reason.

And again, I am on the natural path because of personal experience with vets. In my 40s with my first ever puppies, I lined up with everyone for "puppy shots" and then was encouraged to spay and neuter before they were 6 months old. As Samoyeds, they were considered large breeds and the vet explained it would be much easier to do the surgery while they were small. MUCH EASIER FOR HIM, I now realize. With what I now know about hormones and had trusted a vet might share with me, I would never make that decision again.
Both undersized at a third of the size of their siblings, once desexed, Summit grew to a huge size and at one point reached 85 lbs, but settled at 75 lbs and 26 inches at the withers. My present Samoyed is within breed standard at about 60 lbs and 23 inches. Both were from reputable breeders with a history of producing champion show dogs. So this was on the outside; I don't know what was happening on the inside. At 9.5 years he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma and I lost him a few months later due to chemo! (that's another story I learned painful lessons from.)
Within 2 weeks (almost exactly to the day) of being spayed, his littermate Hillary exhibited a curious change in the angle of one rear leg. The vet noted there had been no notice of this at the surgery. X-rays showed a growth plate at the hip had stopped growing, while another one continued throwing not one but TWO joints out of whack! He suggested it was from the puppies playing too rough and getting jarred. Really? Then, in line with your other common sense questions, why don't we see this in more playful puppies????
I now KNOW that because of this monumental change in their hormones at such young ages, Summit, fittingly named, reached a gargantuan size for his breed, and Hillary lived with an unnecessarily deformed leg for 12.5 of her 13 years -- because IT WAS EASIER FOR THE VET.

Some of us aren't given a choice. Our five dogs are all rescues from the Humane Society and county dog shelters. They all required the girls be spayed and vaccinated before they would let us have them.
While I understand their primary focus is to cut down on the population of unwanted, unloved dogs they also used the cancer scare tactic.
I've owned and fostered numerous dogs in my sixty three years and only one had mammary tumors. She was a senior who had outlived her usefulness to a puppy mill and was turned over to a rescue group. She had lived her entire life in a wire cage in a shed, forced to have litter after litter. Her living conditions were appalling and I'm sure she was fed the cheapest food on the market. All contributing factors to the development of all sorts of diseases, including cancer.
Eliminating abusive puppy mills would go a long way toward cutting down on the unwanted dog population. Much farther than spaying and neutering every dog that goes through a shelter.
Stepping down off the soapbox now.

It seems like the doctors that are fresh out of vet school are the biggest sales people. As so many good, less pushy ones are retiring, these new marketers are taking their place. Yes, I do know some "old timers" who use the scare tactics, try to make their sales, etc, but the new ones are the worst. It seems as though the schools are teaching more business than medicine. Big Pharm has really gotten out of control too. The worst of it all? Terrible food companies that line the school's pockets so they are the nutrition educators and they brainwash them from day one. When they leave vet school, they can't think out of the Science Diet, Royal Canin, Purina and Iams bags. I witnessed S/D sales reps having Cornell student tails during their store calls. The one time a rep came into my work (when we used to sell that junk don't anymore) the student followed like a puppy with her S/D notebook and tote bag. I literally laughed out loud and said "I see they rope you into that garbage early." The rep shot me the evil eye. Until the schools reshape their programs on nutrition, spay/ neuter, dentals (don't even get me started) vaccines and chemicals, the madness won't stop. I mean come on, if they didn't teach how to keep an animal sick, they would have no business. The industry has crossed over into human health care and there may be no turning back. :(

I no longer spay or neuter my pets even though I have no intention of breeding. When a vet gives me the spay/neuter speech I do not give the polite "Definitely not today, thanks Doctor. I’ll call again if I opt to do what you suggest". I ask "Mr/Ms Whitecoat, Do you really believe what you are telling me?" Hopefully this stimulates some brain activity and let's the vet know that we are no longer buying the spay/neuter hard sell. That's my 2 cents worth!

Thank you for writing about this issue! We just recently lost our 9 yr old female german shepard from mammary cancer. She was never spayed, vaccination was minimal, and rarely went to the vet, she was always a healthy farm dog! We felt so guilty after the vet had told us that if we would've spayed her that would've reduced the chances of her getting the mammary cancer. So what does cause the mammary cancer and how could we have prevented it?

Sorry I meant to say spayed.

My son has a small female dog and it has not been neutered. The people who had her previously let her have a litter--how many she has had we don't know. The problem is now she has a mammary gland that is so big it hangs almost to the ground and it looks like the one next to it is starting also. The one is so reddish blue looking and every time she comes into heat it looks like it's getting bigger. They have not much money as they are just getting back on their feet after a terrible setback. Do you have any suggestions as to what they can do to help the dog. Would appreciate your help.

I have a 3 year old (just turned) purebred English lab who is my full time service dog. I just took him into a local vet for a check up after he was attacked and she told me he needed to be neutered immediately. I was going to stud him out but she also informed me he had horrible hips so I could never breed him :(
Is there prostate issues I need to worry about, cancer and shortened life expectancy with not neutering? And is there any other holistic methods other than glucosamine chondroitin MSM supplements to help with his hips? Thank you!!!

Yeah for your awesomeness and no BS Dr. Will. Cut straight to the heart of it, that's what the world needs. I'm looking forward to what you have planned for educating the masses. I'll sure do my little part to help!
I have to tell you that it was before I knew enough that I decided I would not do the standard spay. I had to find a vet who would dare to deviate ( no easy feat in this Prarie city in the Center of Canada) This holistic vet said the best thing to do was remove the ovaries and leave her uterus. Silly me agreed. :(
Now I know more and am concerned for her long term health without the hormones. She was spayed after one year of age. She just turned 6 with no issues. (Knock on wood) Wondering what I might expect, wishing if only I could turn back the hands of time...

I'm curious to hear the answer to Rebecca's question about false pregnancies. I have chosen not to spay our two year old standard poodle. She didn't have her first heat until she presented it to us literally on her second birthday. I felt much better about my decision when I read recently that in Scandanavian countries it is illegal to neuter an animal unless medically necessary. Then, I recalled that when I was growing up in the forties and fifties dogs were not automatically spayed and there were no issues.
Thank you for your care and concern and for this great forum, Will.

I'd like to read the article you referenced from the JSAP, but the link is dead.