Hello there,

OK, for those of you that would like to know the facts about what we actually know about the behavioural effects of castration, then I have managed to dig the electronic copies of the scientific papers. I had them in paper form previously, so had to go into the electronic archive to retrieve them.

There are loads of papers, but 2 of them review the current research quite nicely. Please PM me with your email address if you'd like me to email you a copy. The more people that get educated, the better and hopefully they will be able to make an educated decision. Whatever decision one makes it's purely his/her choice, one just needs the right information.

One of the papers is very informative on reproductive behaviour, which I think the breeders will find particularly interesting.

I hope the papers help you in making your mind up properly about the advantages and disadvantages. It also tackles a lot of the statements recently mentioned in posts and clarifies these.

With regards to the medical effects, then you are better off phoning your vet (and a couple of other vets to get a balanced view) and ask them the medical pros and cons of neutering. Don't forget it is harder to get into vet school than medical school, and these people work very hard indeed for 7 years, never mind the fact that they do their job every day, so let's not pretend we know better than them (because we don't, and if you think you do, then best to find another way to make yourself feel important). There is a reason why they recommend castration. Ask them what are the risks and what is the possibility of each risk, so that you can weight up your options properly. Go to a professional if you want facts. Forums are great for opinions, personal experiences and tips.

I have 3 papers that have the medical disadvantages of castration:
One is to do with prostrate cancer. Adenocarcinoma was most common in entire dogs and prostate carcinoma (PCA) was found more often in castrated dogs. However, it is important to note that castration does not initiate the development of the cancer, but it does favour PCA progression.
The second is to do with cognitive impairment (brain deterioration). The study shows that entire males were less likely to progress from mild to severe impairment than castrated dogs were. However, the dogs already had to have a mild form of impairment.
Third is to do with osteosarcoma (bone cancer) however, you will need to read the article, as they don't know if the dogs were neutered before or after castration and also they state that it could be likely to be caused by the weight gain, as weight has a huge impact on osteosarcoma. This is because there have been no investigations on whether bone growth is influenced by hormonal patterns.

There are other papers that show the advantages of castration with regards to testicular cancer, anal tumours, retained testicles and enlargement of the prostate gland - again your vet will be able to advise on these.

I am afraid that I am none the wiser with regards to coat change. Research into human hair follicle growth shows that testosterone and oestrogen actually suppress hair growth (article can be emailed if wanted). I'd imagine that hair growth and condition would be improved with keratin-based supplements. I think what would be useful is that if you are worried about your dog's coat, then contact the breed club and see if you can take a survey with 15 (or more ideally) people with neutered dogs and 15 (or more) people with entire dogs of your chosen breed and ask them the following (could be via the clubs website or newsletter):

Is your dog neutered? Y/N       
What age was s/he neutered?

Did you notice any noticeable coat changes after neutering? Y/N   
If so, what were they?

If not neutered, then have you noticed any noticeable coat changes? Y/N
If so, at what age?

If you are trying to decide on whether to castrate or not, then get yourself informed, write down on one column the pros, on the other the cons and weight it all up.

Please let's keep this thread relatively objective and educated without flippant remarks, so as to not disturb the healthy exchange of information. Take your personal comments to the other thread.

Cheers,
Patty