Population Control in Small Animals

Background: Desexing dogs is promoted for population control, preventative healthcare, and behavior modification. Common methods are orchiectomy and ovariectomy/ovariohysterectomy. GnRH superagonist implants are available in some areas. Alternative methods like vasectomy and salpingectomy/hysterectomy are uncommon. The terminology used to describe desexing is inconsistent and contradictory, showing a need for the adaption of standardized terminology. Population Control: Surprisingly, empirical studies show no effects of desexing on population control in companion and shelter dogs despite desexing being consistently recommended in the literature. There is evidence for a population control effect in free-roaming dogs, where desexing also has benefits on zoonotic disease and bite risk. Population control in free-roaming dogs is mostly correlated with female, not male desexing. Health and Lifespan: Desexing affects numerous disease risks, but studies commonly neglect age at diagnosis and overall lifespan, age being by far the most important risk factor for most diseases. We argue that lifespan is a more important outcome than ultimate cause of death. A beneficial effect of desexing on lifespan is consistently demonstrated in females, while evidence for a beneficial effect in males is inconsistent. Studies are likely biased in desexing being a proxy for better care and desexed dogs having already lived to the age of desexing. Desexing reduces or eliminates common life-limiting diseases of the female reproductive system such as pyometra and mammary tumors, while no analogous effect exists in males. Disease risks increases across sexes and breeds include cruciate ligament rupture, various cancers, and obesity. Urinary incontinence risk is increased in females only. Various other disease risk changes show considerable variability between breeds and sexes. Behavioral Effects: Desexed males show reduced libido, roaming, conspecific mounting, and urinary marking frequency, as well as reduced male dog-directed aggression in a majority of males desexed for behavioral reasons. There is a detrimental effect on the risk and progression of age-related cognitive dysfunction. Desexed dogs may be less likely to cause bite injuries across sexes. The evidence for other effects such as human-directed aggression, human or object mounting, resource guarding, or shyness and anxiety is inconsistent and contradictory. There are few studies specific to females or individual breeds. Conclusions: The evidence for a beneficial effect of desexing is stronger in female than in male dogs; however, there is significant variation between breeds and sexes, and more research is needed to further elucidate these differences and to arrive at individualized evidence-based recommendations for clinical practice.

Section: Surgical Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Desexing Dogs: A Review of the Current Literature

Urfer

Kaeberlein

2019

“…This is mainly due to high implementation costs, a need for qualified professionals to perform surgeries and anesthesia, as well as operating rooms and equipment and medical care after surgery [8,9]. Hence, cheaper, easily applied non-surgical methods based on hormones antibodies, and other pharmacological techniques have been researched and developed to be used on both genders; among these the most promising method is immunocastration [8,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bonding of GnRH-I to its receptors stimulates pituitary secretion of the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and the luteinizing hormone (LH), which are the key reproductive hormones [8]. Immunocastration creates specific antibodies that recognize and bond to the hormone GnRH-I, preventing bonding with pituitary receptors, thus inhibiting FSH and LH secretion, causing infertility [10,12]. Thus, immunocastration has proven inhibition of reproductive activity in pigs [13][14][15], cattle [16,17], horses [18], sheep [19], mice [20][21][22][23], camelids [24], cats [25], chickens [26], and dogs [9,27,28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive and Behavioral Evaluation of a New Immunocastration Dog Vaccine

Siel

Ubilla

Vidal

et al. 2020

Canine immunocastration development has been of interest for many years as a complementary strategy to surgical castration. The purpose of this paper was to verify the effect of a recombinant vaccine for dog immunocastration. Two tests were done, one under controlled conditions and a second under field conditions. Animals were injected with 1 mL of 500 µg GnRXG/Q recombinant protein; 500 µg of low molecular weight chitosan as adjuvant; 1 mL NaCl 0.9% q.s. In the first trial, eight Beagle male dogs between the ages of 1 and 3 comprised the sample, randomly divided into two groups: vaccinated group (n = 7) and control group (n = 2). The second trial had 32 dogs with owners. In the first controlled conditions trial, the vaccine produced specific antibodies that remained until the end of the trial (day 270), inducing reduced testosterone and spermiogram changes in the immunized animals. In a second trial, on the field, specific immunity was induced, which remained high up to day 150. The vaccine also reduced sexual agonistic and marking behaviors. This new vaccine proved to be safe, immunogenic, capable of reducing gonadal functionality, and had a positive effect on inducing reduced sexual, agonistic, and marking behavior of the animals.

“…Thus, unlike pyometra, the benefits and timing of spaying to prevent mammary tumour are still controversial. The main long-term complication of spaying female dogs is urinary incontinence, particularly in large breeds and in pre-pubertal spaying, as well as obesity, cancers and other detrimental health effects as in male dogs [5,26,27,28,29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Views of the UK Public Towards Routine Neutering of Dogs and Cats

Wongsaengchan

McKeegan

2019

Despite being routinely recommended by veterinarians, neutering of dogs and cats has both positive and negative impacts on animal welfare and is ethically problematic. We examined attitudes of a sample of the UK public towards routine neutering of dogs and cats using a questionnaire. Respondents indicated their level of agreement with statements describing welfare and ethical reasons ‘for’ and ‘against’ the neutering of male and female dogs and cats. We conducted a general linear model (GLM) analysis to investigate the effects of demographic factors on agreement scores. Respondents (n = 451) expressed views both supporting and opposing neutering. The predominant view (>80%) supported neutering, justified primarily by prevention of unwanted offspring and reproductive diseases. Around 10% of the respondents disagreed and felt that neutering should only be done for medical reasons. Men were less likely than women to support neutering (p < 0.001). Those with meat reduction diets were more likely to be against neutering (p < 0.05) and cat owners supported neutering more than non-cat owners (p < 0.05). Although the data reflected a wide range of ethical views, our findings show that the UK public generally supports the routine neutering of dogs and cats. This insight has implications for future policy-making and compliance with veterinary advice.