can you give guys me ideas of how much a castration is? if i'm taking on the big boy i think it might have to be done... and as i have never had a dog in the totally my responsibility with the vets and everything way i have no clue. of course i asked my parents but they have not had one for a dog for about a decade or so...they could ask their vet (who i won't be with) but i figured i'd get an answer from you lot quicker :)

Don't know but around here we have a surgery that does castration and spaying cheap.  My friend had her Spanish done for about £95.00.  Don't know whether there are any specialised surgeries in your area, but it's best to ask around.

Hi there.
I don't know how much it'll cost to do, but I'm sure there will be someone here soon that'll know as there are a few vet nurses on the forum. I always ask this question though of posters and I hope you don't mind me asking, but why are you considering castration in the first place?

Why not try googling the name of some of your local practises.  If they have a website they generally have the prices for castration on there

It depends on the weight of the dog: anything between about £100 (small dog) and £200 (over 40kg)

he's an absolutely beautiful boy and frankly i would love to mate from him but i think i'm doing the responsible thing by it...

first off he is highly strung and has become dog aggressive recently and it might help a bit but these are definately secondary concerns. he has a cruciate ligament problem that as it turns out is something that exists throughout his line. cruciates can be a problem in large breeds like ours but in a lifetime of having/knowingbullmastiffs its never been something we;ve seen before. In my boys line there are i think 4 or 5 closely related dogs with this problem (from differnet households so probably not lifestyle), which makes me concerned about a genetic element. as such i wouldn't breed from him and don't feel willing to take the risk of him impregnating a bitch (cause he;s a randy thing as totally would).

on the cruciate thing this is a subject of rage because he was intended at purchase for a potential start of a line. we also bred our older bitch to his uncle (owned by my boys breeder). turns out he had the same prob (told us after the mating and after tios probs started)... now our bitch that we kept from the litter is starting going a bit lame in the same leg. absolutely raging.

so basically i don't want/can't breed from him and i feel it would be the responsible thing to do. 

very very large bullmastiff...

thats an idea. i do have a local vets in mind to register with. they come reccomended by friend, best advert by my recconing. thing is said friends don't actually seem to know much about dogs despite having them (had never heard of bloat! i had to tell them to stop walking straight after meals!)

just looked on their site, says starts at £86 so i guess below £200 for my lad, does that sound right?

I can see your resoning of course and it does look like you are being a responsible owner by getting him castrated. You must be furious though about his medical problems as I see you had some pretty big plans made out for him? I guess the best thing you can do is give your vet a ring, because if they know the dog from previous visits, they'll know the size and weight of him and will be able to estimate the cost without you actually having to visit the surgery and incure the cost.

raging! however the plans probably couldn;t have come about anyway. my bf and i are taking him from my parents as my dads health has gone really down hill since they got himand its not the right place for him anymore. still, smarts a little not even really getting the option!

> I guess the best thing you can do is give your vet a ring, because if they know the dog from previous visits, they'll know the size and weight of him and will be able to estimate the cost without you actually having to visit the surgery and incure the cost.

it'll be with a different vet, i live a fair distance from my parents so couldn't use their vet anyway, nor would i want to though! they cut my bitch open during labour because a scan they had taken earlier that day had shown (they said) two puppies. she only delivered 1, they didn;t rescan and chopped into her- no pup! their awful but the only vet in mum and dads area, teh next vet is way to far for an emergency so no option!

when i register him i take it he'll need a check up anyway? i could chat to the new vet then about it i guess?

their website looks really good actually, introduces all the staff (and their own pets lol), discusses each vets speciallity and so on. first consult is £18.50, going down to £12...does that sounds reasonable? lol, sorry but i;ve no experience of this- months till we take him but i want to study up!

>first consult is £18.50, going down to £12...does that sounds reasonable?

Yes, very reasonable! £25-ish isn't uncommon for a consult.

oh thats good then :) we're in scotland though so its usually cheaper up here for things. i do like the look of the practise, it's right round the corner from my current flat (though we are moving, but its not a big city, we could travel if we don't stay in this part).

do you guys think my reasons for having a castration done (above) are worth the anethetic risks?

Is it Parkside?

no blackness. are you with parkside? if so how do you find them?

Hiya
You ask if people agree with your reasons for getting your new boy castrated, so let me just play devil's advocate for a sec!  :-)  Two things spring to mind, both of which you've probably already thought of, but here goes:

1.  When neutered dogs often tend to put on weight - this can be managed of course but may be something to bear in mind if he has a cruciate probem and you want to keep him on the 'leaner' side rather than the 'porky' side.

2.  You say he is highly strung.....without seeing him it's hard to know, but to me a highly strung dog can often be nervous.  By removing the testosterone from his body you COULD therefore be increasing the problem which MAY be one of the causes of his aggression.  Not enough info for that to be the definitive answer, but maybe just a contributor and worthy of thought.  :-)

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

those are very good points worth considering. he is quite nervy... hmm, thats a worry. the weight thing is also a good point, though we'd obviously be careful with feeding and excersize to control that

Astarte,
The weight problem isn't really a problem, all you need to do is be aware that the motabolism alters after castration and adjust his diet accordingly.

As far as the nervy issue - I haven't a clue!!! but i have heard people on hear mention an injection, a sort of tempory chemical castration apparently usefull to seeing what the effects of actual castration would be.

Before I got my pup, I was looking at another, he had a retained testical, my Vets gave me a price of £130 for a 6 month old Mastiff (@ approx 100lb in weight) to have a castration while removing the retained testicle.

I've not been on for a few days so see the thread has now moved on a bit from your original question but in answer to it my dog was castrated about a month ago and it cost £110 including him being microchipped. He is on the large side of being a medium dog (if that makes sense). Seen as the thread has moved onto behaviour/weight etc I haven't noticed any real difference in his behaviour or temperament but he already was a big soft lump and he has not yet put on weight but as I said it was only about a month ago so it may still be too early to notice such changes.

Melissa Spence at Parkside is great, very no nonsense.    The reason I asked was I was quoted £155 to get Mia spayed when I was at the practice of Monday and she's just 0.1kg under 30kg.

If it is to avoid him reproducing then I don't think it relevant as you wouldn't be letting him loose to find and mate random bitches,a nd you don't have a  bitch of your own to worry about.

If it is because he is showing aggression to other male dogs due to sexual competitiveness.

If his problem with other dogs is general and not sexually driven then castrating is unlikely to make a difference.

Interestingly cruciate problems are seen more often in castrated dogs, if they are not fully mature when it is done, so if he is under about 18 months it might be worth waiting until he is skeletally mature.

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

ta i'll have a look at the link. If it would in any way aggrivate the cruciate thing i certainloy wouldn't have it done.

he is 2 now so hitting full maturity (his heads still going but the rest of hims there) and i would leave it a few months for him to settle with us anyway so definately done growing.

i definately wouldn't be letting him wander free to be a casanova but i propbably will be getting a bitch (far) in the future though that of course leaves plenty time for thinking about it.

i think then it will take some real thinking about and observation of his reaction to different sexes outside the home. i suspect his prob will be with males but we will have to carefully experiment and see.

thanks everyone for the advice!

that seems like a really good price for a bitch. ok, i will scout out that practise as well, thanks

it all apparantly depends on the weight of the dog as to how much anesthetic is needed, thats where the price comes in, our stafford is around 20key and it cost us £90,

yeah i know, our lot are usually quite pricy and as my boy is massive for a bully he'll be on the expensive side...

> As far as the nervy issue - I haven't a clue!!! but i have heard people on hear mention an injection, a sort of tempory chemical castration apparently usefull to seeing what the effects of actual castration would be.

That's actually a progesterone based injection - Duibh had it and it made him quite dog aggressive (can't say if there would have been any difference with castration as he hasn't been), but I've been told it can cause depression\ anxiety because of the progesterone effects. Apparently it can also have a calming effect not linked to the 'castration' part so you might not get a clear picture with it.

Thanks for that :)
Like I said, I know nothing about the injection, I've just heard it mentioned on hear.

It does sound as though it isn't really any indication as to the effects of castration then :(

I think it can be a guideline, but I just wanted to warn people not to rely on it. :)

Hi
i also Bullmastiffs and i had my male castrated in Dec 07 he weighed 51kg at the time he had previously been up to 58kg and was fat IMO i got this down to 51kg for the op but i still struggle to keep his weight down he was weighed sat at 55kg and he also had problems with a limp so would prefer to keep him a little more lean which is hard as i cannot exercise him at the moment i have not seen much difference in his behavior as he was an angle already but as i have three bitches it became unfair for him to go through their season his personality changed when they are in heat and my angle turns into a monster that did not want any contact from me and trying to control a 58kg bully that desperately wants his girlie's can be difficult.

The cost was £135 but this was not my usual vets as they had quoted me £180 and i have been in their waiting room when other people have collected their dogs and they had been charged more than they were quoted as the quoted price is just the op and anesthetic not any after treatment and meds (pain relief antibiotics)

> Dec 07 he weighed 51kg at the time he had previously been up to 58kg

lol, i'm not metric yet, do you know what that is in stone? i think Tio is pushin 14 and a half but not had him weighed in a bit...

> quoted price is just the op and anesthetic not any after treatment and meds (pain relief antibiotics

oh, good point to ask about if i do get this done.

55kg is 123 bls  8.8st

i would be surprised if you dog is 14st and bullmatiff

my boy is big and the breed standard is

Male bullmastiffs grow to be 25 to 27 inches tall (63.5 to 68.5 cm) at the withers and 110 to 140 pounds (50 to 60 kg). Females typically reach 24 to 26 inches (61 to 66 cm) at the withers, and 100 to 120 pounds (45 to 55 kg).

60kg=9.5st

i know, he's well out of standard. much taller and heavier. possibly not that heavy but not far off i'd say. his whole line is big (his grandad is much bigger than he is). my girls weigh around the eight stone mark...kizzy maybe a bit more as shes a wee bit podgy at the mo which needs to come off as she;s getting at bit athritic