Castration is a word that might be a little bit terrifying right? No matter how terrifying a castration is please keep in mind that this is a safe and common medical procedures for your male dogs and puppies. First of all we will make sure we are on the same page about castration, we don’t want anybody here get into wrong definition and purpose of castration. Castration is a procedure to remove testicles from male dogs, bear in mind that it won’t remove all of your dog reproductive system, therefore male dog that castrated will be infertile and cannot reproduce anymore. A safe castration is performed only by a vet in a sterile operating room. A castrated dog will be healed in about 7 days after the procedure and can live back to normal and happy again as usual.
Now we are on the same page about castration and now we will learn together 3 effects of castration on your dogs.
1. Population Control
This is an important case for dog owners that have a couple of dog (male and female). As mentioned before, a castrated male dog cannot reproduce anymore in any form of reproduction method. This means that castrating your dog is taking part in population control of dog in your environment. Some people said that population control is is an excessive term, because we don’t see our dog as a pest or a threat right? But do you know that overpopulating your area with too many dogs is also making a new threat for your dog. If you let your dog reproduce several time in your house, then you must be ready for giving them space and attention as much as you give to your previous dog.
Many dog owners faced this situation before, at first they think having puppies are so adorable, but along with their growth many troubles began to emerge. You cannot give as much attention to your dog as you usually give. You will spend a lot more expenses on your dog care (food, toys, medicals, etc). The worst thing that can happen is you will neglect your dogs because you feel overwhelmed while taking care all of them. One of the bad luck that can befall a dog is being abandoned by his own master. An orphaned (abandoned) dog suffer way more than any other dog. You don’t believe this? Pay a visit to a local shelter and see it with your own eyes.
If you really wanna have more than dogs that you already have, please make sure you have enough resources to take care all of them. However, if you think that you have limitation in taking care of your dog, make sure you do a castration to prevent them from reproduce.
2. Improving Your Dog’s Health
Many research and report show that castration on your dog can improve their health. Health improvements here are more likely caused by the loss of testosterone in neutered dogs. There is a different in health improvement because of castration and vasectomy of your dog. Vasectomy does not reduce any testosterone level, meanwhile castration will remove it permanently.
3. Disease Prevention
Castration will reduce the risk of some disease from your dogs. One of them is of course testicular cancer. Dog that has been castrated will have zero risk of testicular cancer. This is not a common disease but an older dog that hasn’t been castrated will have a high risk of suffering testicular cancer. Some research said that testicular cancer are caused by unstable testosterone level of your dog, therefore a castrated dog with almost zero testosterone level will be less likely suffering from testicular cancer.
There is another form of cancer that can be prevented by castrating your male dogs, that is a perianal cancer. This type of cancer can be treated by surgery only, no medication can heal this type of cancer. Because of that, perianal cancer must be treated as soon as possible. A dog with an advanced stage of perianal tumor will less likely to survive.
A castrated dog also will have less risks in prostate related disease. Prostate is a part of reproduction and urinal system, and it will be affected by testosterone level of your dog. A castrated dog will have less problem in prostate rather than a dog with high testosterone level.
Other disease that caused by genetic trait also can be avoided by castration. Example of these diseases among others are hip dysplasia and epilepsy. Both of these diseases are rare but it can happen to any dog in any breed.
4. Physical Improvement
A castrated dog usually has a more significant growth in weight or height. As we discussed before about disease prevention, a healthy dog is more likely has a better physical condition rather than a sickly dog. Moreover, dogs with better physical condition have better chance of longevity because of its prime health condition. Other than this general benefit, we also has one physical improvement that will greatly affect your dog. This physical condition is related with an abnormality that called hernia.
Hernia is a condition where an organ (or parts of an organ) protruding out past its own “wall”. A wall in here means a cavity wall where the organ is contained and perfectly placed. A protrusion of these organ is an abnormality that causes pain, discomfort and infection if not treated immediately. A male dog that hasn’t neutered will be more likely has a perineal hernia. A perineal hernia is a hernia that caused by these organs: colon, bladder, prostate, and fat from abdominal cavity. A high testosterone level caused weakness in muscle in perineal area, and the more weaker it gets the more likely a hernia will appear. A severe untreated hernia can cause blood loss in the protruded organ and can cause organ failure and death. Hernia can be treated by surgery and it will cost you very greatly.
There is more than just a medical effect about castration on your dog. Even if it’s only about medical benefit you must see that a neutered dog will have a greater health condition and it will save you from unwanted incident. Please bear in mind that castration on your dog has so many effect and benefit and we urge you to always castrate (neuter) your male dogs.