When Is The Best Time To Spay Or Neuter My Shih Tzu?

It’s hard to know when to spay or neuter – or if you should at all. Here’s the best veterinary advice for your Shih Tzu.

So you’ve decided to spay or neuter your Shih Tzu– but when?

Often called getting your dog Fixed or Done (nomenclature that bugs me, because, fixed, implies broken, which is kinda mean!), the majority of dogs have this minor procedure performed upon them at a young age. Usually on a veterinary recommendation.

I know when Indie was little, I was told: “Six months, on the dot” – which is common advice given across America and Europe. If you ask the Internet (i.e. Facebook) usually recommendations say later and say a minimum of twelve months. 

But is that even right? Or is it founded in any sort of science? 

With this conflicting information, how are you meant to know? Trust your vet? Do as your family has always done? Or trust the rando on the internet who appears to know it all. 

None of that seems to be a good idea when the potential consequences of these procedures are rumoured to be some of the scariest diseases and ailments a dog can face… Cancer, Hip or Elbow Dysplasia, and other rotten afflictions like pyometra. All of this is the result of removing the availability of hormones…

Luckily, research has come forward which is not just size specific, but breed-specific for 35 breeds! So, here we’re going to discuss the ideal times for spaying or neutering your dog.

First, let’s do a little housekeeping…

What is Neutering?

This is the surgical castration of a male dog – usually by the removal of his testicles (sorry for making you cringe, gents!). This process means that your male dog cannot breed and that they are no longer producing hormones that are important to your dog’s development – both emotionally and physically.

Similar to neutering, spaying is a form of surgical castration that removes the ovaries and most often the fallopian tubes along with it. This means your girl cannot breed, but it also means she is missing some critical hormones.

This process can be done in a ‘keyhole’ surgery at extra cost, though it is much better for recovery times.

Recommended age:

Male – It’s your choice!

Female – After 2 years. Another possibility is spaying a female a month or two before 6 months to avoid the increased risk of cancers of spaying later.

Sadly, there’s not a big enough sample of Shih Tzus in the study to create a big enough trend to say strongly which one is which way to go with Shih Tzus sadly – there are definitely some spots to avoid? But we can get into that below!

What Are The Risks?

Here’s a quick overview of what the study says the breed suffers from depending on when their surgical castration (Spay or Neuter) was performed. The aim of providing this information is about giving you all the information to make the best decision.

Disorders include – Cranial cruciate ligament tears or ruptures, Hip Dysplasia, Elbow Dysplasia 

Cancers include – Lymphoma, Hemangiosarcoma, Mast Cell Tumours, Bone Cancer (Osteosarcoma),

Gender	Age of Surgical Castration	Disorder risk	Cancer Risk
Male	Under 6 months	0%	0%
Male	6 to 11 months	0%	0%
Male	12 to 23 months	0%	0%
Male	2 years to 8 years	0%	0%
Male	Intact	0%	0%
Female	Under 6 months	0%	0%
Female	6 to 11 months	0%	7%
Female	12 to 23 months	0%	18%
Female	2 years to 8 years	0%	0%
Female	Intact	0%	0%

• 5% of intact females developed Pyometra.
• Spaying at 6-11 mo. resulted in a 6 percent occurrence of UI, and at
• UI was not reported in any females
• There were no occurrences of MC in either the intact or spayed females

I think the main thing that we can take from this, is that these dogs don’t seem to do well with procedures performed under a year – the combined rates of problems is so much higher at this phase than later in life.

Though, the traditional ‘spay and neuter to prevent cancer does seem to have some truth to it – at least according to the figures. The number definitely seems to lean in favour of the boys though, doesn’t it? I find that really curious as I go through all of these findings for these blogs – but there is often a gender disparity where the boys seem to be healthier than the girls, or vice versa.

Please do remember that health testing is really important! So before you do invest in a puppy, make sure your breeder has invested in them too, by looking at the Shih Tzu health testing suggestions from the OFA.

If you’re doing what I am doing and looking at this research and reconsidering? It’s good to know that there are other options available.

Yes! On the presumption that these issues are caused by the lack of hormones (which is almost certainly the issue!) – there are a couple of ways to keep hormones but not facilitate breeding.

For Girls

Hysterectomy

This is the surgical removal of the uterus and only part of the fallopian tubes! The removal of these means that your girl is without the ability to breed – however – as she keeps her ovaries, hormones will still be produced and should mean that her risk levels are the same as an intact female – without the risk of pyometra! Though, there is a risk that the breeding instinct can remain? Which may be quite risky if a male tries to breed with her. 

For Boys

Vasectomy 

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p id=”block-9cf9414d-ec91-47b3-aaca-8cd98c50e194″>The tubes that run from the testes are called the vas deferens – these are what get cut or removed in this instance – rendering your dog without the ability to impregnate a female. It leaves his hormones (and likely his desire to breed as a result) but also means that your dog should have the same risk factors as an entire male.

Chemical Castration

Did you know that surgical castration is not legal in Norway? Consequently what is common in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway is chemical castration which is an injection your dog will have to have every six months that drop the levels of testosterone by approximately half. Which is proven to be effective in temporary neuter for your dog. This means you can actually test what castration might do to your dog and is often how it’s used in the UK and America – but it’s also a fantastic way of not putting your dog through surgical procedures. 

The study “Assisting Decision-Making on Age of Neutering for 35 Breeds of Dogs: Associated Joint Disorders, Cancers, and Urinary Incontinence” (Hart BL, Hart LA, Thigpen AP, Willits NH) was released in July 2020 – it covers 35 different breeds – and a separate scientific paper for mixed breeds. The study followed a total of 15,414 dogs over 15 years of recording;

1. The age of the dog when neutered or spayed
2. Breed
3. Disorders including: 
4. Cancers including;

General Thoughts Across The Study

I find it incredibly interesting that there is breed-specific deviance. Prior to this, I was very much of the camp that it was simply a case of variations for dogs of different size brackets – but that appears not to be the case.

For example, a male Labrador (for whom I would have assumed were not dissimilar to a Shih Tzu) actually have the best results when neutered at 6 months – yet the females prefer a slightly older age (When Should I Spay Or Neuter My Labrador is here by the way!).

So it’s really worth doing your research about these things.

As always? There’s not quite enough information to make a totally informed decision (yay for variables!) but, you can definitely get a good idea of it.

It is worth noting that this study is a fantastic guideline – and one of the most solid pieces of research we’ve had – it doesn’t take into account many factors that I would imagine should be considered. The limitations I see are as follows;

• Multiple conditions were not recorded if they fell in the same category,
• Genetics were not considered,
• Living conditions were not considered,
• Food quality was not considered,
• The exercise a dog had was not considered,
• Body condition was not factored in because it had been studied previously and no strong correlation was found between body condition and joint issues.

The biggest thing I can say is, that whilst this is the scientific recommendation for when to spay or neuter your Shih Tzu do remember that at the end of the day? This is your decision. You are the only one who can make this decision. So, do your best – you’ve already found a phenomenal resource – just keep reading.

Or check out The Rebarkable Spay & Neuter Information Center! Where you’ll find the answers to all your spay & neuter questions.

Link to originalRebarkable

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