I am posting on behalf of my friend who had her 6 month old Border Collie castrated last Wednesday.  Since then he has been on a mission of destruction.  He is destroying everything in his site, his toilet training has gone out the window and he has started to bare his teeth to her when he is told to do something.  Although very much still a young puppy he was the ideal dog, but she is finding it hard work with him and is looking for any help or suggestions as to why he is being like this.  He has 2 good walks everyday, has plenty of toys, so she is at a loss as to why he is behaving like this.  The vet told her he would calm down once down!!

Has she been back to the vet to check that he is okay - no stitches pulling or infection (or anything left inside) that is causing him pain?

Did everything go well during the operation itself?

She has contacted the vet(PDSA) and they told her he should calm down in 6 weeks time!!!  I did ask myself how they could tell this without even seeing the dog.  Operation went well from what she was told.  She doesn't think that he is in pain because of all the running around he is doing. 

At 6 months old, it *could* just be his age...what age do they go through adolescence? It may be a coincedence that the castration has occured at about the same time?

That's what I said to her, but she is convinced it is the operation that has changed him as he was a pretty normal puppy.

Good grief the poor little lad is in pain, what did you friend expect, what a sad world we live in that a puppy is put through this. To think people complain about docking.

Why would your friend consider a general aneasthetic, operation and subsequent recovery necessary on a "pretty normal puppy?"
Dawn.

Not everybody has the benefit of experience and will have taken the decision to castrate as, for them, doing their best for their pup. Please don't criticise this. Until vets (and rescue centres etc) stop offering this as advice, it is unfair :( I myself took this decision several years ago under advice from Battersea and still feel deeply offended by criticisms such as this.

Daisy

The operation has happened...let's not go into the whys and why nots of an early castration ;) Rather like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

I would be more inclined to go back to the vet and ask him/her to go over the pup to make SURE that the pup is not in pain :)

Dawn B,

Have you taken a puppy to the vets for vaccinations in the last few years??  If you had you would know the answer to your question - just about every vet in the country seems to be on a misssion to castrate/spay any animal big enough - dog, cat, ferret, rabbit etc  as soon as they can.  Personally I think its an appalling state of affairs, they never tell the owners the possible consequences of eary neutering, just convince them to do it asap :rolleyes:  Then they get the owners coming back with the consequences, but do they ever admit the reason???  not likely, not when its so lucrative :(

In answer as to why she had the operation done, she is a one parent family who receives benefits.  She took the dog to the PDSA for his vaccinations and it is their policy that any pup they vaccinate MUST be castrated/spayed at 6 months.  She would never have had the operation done in the first place, but she had to obide by their rules.

Vets tend to say a pup will calm down once done but that is not really the case. If there had been a problem related to his gender, hormones etc may be but not normally.
I agree he may be in pain, and would suggest a check up. If not, it may be as Mel suggested, that adolescence has coincided with the op and he is just being teenagerish. If so, it just requires calmly working through and digging in for the long haul a bit ;)

Lindsay
X

What a sad state of affairs it would seem the PDSA equate the being on benefit with being irresponsible, why else would they want to neuter baby animals except to stop the irresponsible from breeding, certainly not for the benefit of the animal. Still I suppose that as they are picking up the bill they can call the tune, sad thing is they will probable reap what they sow and have to care for the animal for the rest of its life.

It amounts to blackmail, do as we say or we will not treat your animal, what is the world of animal charity coming to.

This is a little off topic, but I have noticed that many posters mention all the long-term problems caused by castration or spay of dogs. Could someone please give me a list of these problems?
Thanks
Pauline

Links to any documented studies proving that castration and spaying are linked to problems, would also benefit the statements that are frequently made or implied on this forum. Please start a new thread on this subject to post relevant links for debate.

Hi Krys,

The puppy is probably uncomfortable or has had a reaction to the anethestic (forgive the spelling!).  Somone posted a while ago about the latter, same thing happened to their dog - he calmed down a lot faster than 6 weeks. 

Stacey

On a lighter note our bc was spayed last week,since then she has been bouncier,more loving (kisses me at every opportunity especially when I am bending down picking something up or putting on shoes and least expecting a full facewash ) and is eating like a horse! something we are having to monitor very closely,we don't want a horse sized bc!
We have tried unsuccessfully to limit her bounces and jumping,but fortunately the stitches have held well,the wound is clean and she has had no pain whatsoever.
When she goes for the stitches to be removed on Monday we may ask the vet to remove the extra 'springs' she installed during the op :D because we can't keep up with her.

I hope everything turns out o.k. for your friend and her dog!!

Jacqueline :)

Poor little lad, fancy being castrated at 6 months. Still, as someone has said whats done is done. So, to the probable cause. Check the protein in the food, also any stitches that are pulling and the hair growth round the wound. He shouldn't really be running around madly after this type of surgery as he could pull his stitches out. Let us know how you get on. If as the vet says, all is ok, then he will take awhile to calm down. You did what you were advised, and thought, was right, so don't get put off from letting us all know how things are.

When my cat was done (tom cats have to be done because they are unbearable to live with if entire) he sulked and wouldnt go near me for a week :(  he was fine with everyone else but he wouldnt even look at me because I was the one who took him to the vets, maybe the pup is just p*##ed off :(

Well she phoned the PDSA this morning and asked to see a vet today.  She told them what has been happening and that she thinks he could be in pain and they told her to ring back at 3pm and speak to a behaviourist!!!  Words fail me :>(

This thread has been very enlightening - I never knew the PDSA insisted on the early neutering of all animals they vaccinated. It's certainly changed my opinion of them.
I wonder what would happen if people didn't take their pets back for the op ? would they try to reclaim the cost of the vaccinations ? 

And how uncaring not to want to check on a puppy that could be in pain.......

Think you might be right Blondebird - if someone did that to me I'd be destroying everything in sight too :-D

I've never known the PDSA have a vaccination/neutering policy at all.
They, to my knowledge, have never offered neutering unless for a medical reason.
They have never vaccinated pups either unless they have changed their policy in the last few months.
Unless the availability of vaccination is regional which I would doubt.

I am not in a region where the there is a PDSA clinic any more but they have helped me with a private bill as I  and my partner are disabled recently.

Which PDSA clinic neutered your friends pup??

By the way I neutered my boys at 6 months old and it was my decision. I've not had any problems with them.
My bitch on the other hand I had speyed at 18 months, as advised by the vet to 'wait a while' as she is a big breed, and she now has spey incontinence.
My vet warned me of the possibility of this before speying her. She's now nearly 4 yrs old.

I regularly take vet bed etc to our local PDSA hospital & even ran the London marathon for them a few years ago & I have a good relationship with them

I have just spoken to one of the Vet Nurses there I know socially. They do not vaccinate or neuter any animal except for medical reasons. They could not afford to do elective surgery.& would not have done as this hospital did.

We do have a Dog's Trust Roadshow nearby from time to time whooffer vouchers for neutering with private vets

http://www.pdsa.org.uk/pages/page04_6.cfm
http://www.pdsa.org.uk/pages/page01_12.cfm

It would appear from this site that the PDSA practices are not as described by the poster.

My friend never received free treatment she had to pay £20 for vacs and £50 for castration, the link you give is for free treatment.  Let me double check with her, as what she has paid seems to me that she has gone to the RSPCA clinic and not the PDSA as she keeps telling me.

Apologies, it is in fact the RSPCA clinic.  They are quite close together in Bristol and she got confused.  She is now waiting for the behaviourist to call her back.

Well I do hope there has been a mistake as I have always had the greatest respect for the PDSA and this story shook my faith in them.

[link]http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=RSPCA/AnimalCare/GeneralPetAdvice&articleid=996827946638[/link]

I thought it couldn't be the PDSA as the are none political & exist simply for the welfare medically of pet animals

They do suggest neutering but only perform such operations on medical grounds.

Timed out: - Edit after the last post, must say that is a relief as I respect the PDSA and would do what I can to help their funds - long since lost respect for the RSPCA and this is just another example of their lack of care for animals, all they want is to rule the world of animal ownership. Why on earth not give the poor puppy some pain killers and reduce the swelling if there is any - what good is a behaviourist to a sick puppy and why are they not looking at him.

I think it is because she has an appointment there on Monday and they have just told her she has to wait until then.  I will let you know what the behaviourist has to say!

So basically, if the puppy is in pain he will have to wait until monday before he gets any pain relief words fail me :(

Yes Dill I have!  However my Vet does NOT insist on operating on everything he can get his hands on!!
Dawn.

Would advise the owner of this puppy to find a vet tomorrow and st*ff the behaviourists it is medical care the pup need not someone to tell him to forget his discomfort and behave

Why does it not suprise me that its turned out to be the RSPCA!!
Archer

Dawn B,

Then you are most fortunate :)

My Vets wont even consider neuturing until the dog is over 1 year old. I personally see no need to get him castated unless a medical reason presents itself in that area, then its a different story. :)

My apologies to the PDSA for thinking bad of them :)
I should have realised it was a lot more likely to be the RSPCA....

Have you heard how the pup is now, Krys ?

I don't know what you're talking about. Six months is typical for neutering here... very common. I've had all my male dogs neutered at about that age. They were never in much pain. The only thing they showed was a little sleepiness that day of the surgery. It was very simple and within about 2 or 3 days they didn't show one bit of soreness. They walked. They trotted. They played. They appeared to feel just fine. They climbed up onto the couch. It was hard to keep the dogs from playing and running too hard. I was suppose to keep them calm so as not to rip out the sutures. That was a difficult thing to do....to keep them calm and not let them run and play too roughly. The incision was probably a bit irritating as they tended to lick the area and soon I had the impression that it was more itchy than painful. They healed up beautifully within a week to 10 days.

I seriously doubt that the neutering has anything what so ever to do with the behavior change. How do you know he wouldn't have changed at that time anyhow? Puppies go through changes in their behavior as they grow...through stages. I can't believe what a big deal is made out of this. Good heavens!