The downside to spaying (besides the probable weight gain):
Calm down, all. I'm for spaying too. Both my girls have been spayed.
Bit in reading some vet texts this weekend, I came across a reference to thyroid problems that I followed up on and found that spayed female dogs are more likely to have thyroid problems resulting in low thyroid blood levels (necessitating lifetime pills). The onset usually occurred at 6-7 years, which seemed to be the normal onset time of low thyroid.
Again, I will always spay my females, but I will watch them closer for signs of thyroid problems too.
Spaying (long)
by Colleen
Just coming onto the board after a long absence & find the spaying discussion interesting. Know all the risks of not spaying/neuturing, but have grave concerns about the effects of spaying prior to FULL physical development. Have had far too many orthopaedic problems -- and other odd problems -- with my "fixed" male & female Akitas, and I can't believe that the loss of hormones prior to full maturity has nothing to do with it. No evidence as best I can determine of similar problems in their unfixed kin. There have been a couple studies comparing dogs fixed at six months with those done much earlier, but NO studies along the lines of what would answer my questions. Have spoken to some biologists about this & they agree with me that loss of those hormones has to have some detrimental effects. Until studies demonstrate that there are no harmful effects of spaying prior to full growth (2 years or so) I'll never have another Akita done before that. If people lost their sex hormones prior to adulthood they'd be artificially replaced to ensure proper growth.
Posted on Jan 20 2000, 2:38 PM