So two insurance companies in such a short spate of time, and poor Darcy had to be spayed as has had some serious health issues, she had a liver shunt and they almost lost her.
I sometimes think back about Asha, now she has terribly sensitive skin, but I have no memory of any issues when she was younger, before she was neutered. She chews her feet and legs and sufferers from seasonal itches. Then there's Ziva, I know for a fact that she did not have skin issues before having her litter. I remember saying to Steve at the time that it was another factor why I would breed from her, not that Jezi has skin issues either but it was all part of the decision to breed from Ziva. (Along with better hips, better colour and better movement) Ziva was spayed not long after her litter and she now too sufferers from seasonal itches .. and a reaction to lying in mud! She can get terribly itchy and spotty, but luckily it never lasts long. So are we doing more harm than good neutering these animals? .. Finlay was itchy too and he was the only castrated GSD male I've owned, none of my other males have had skin problems. I honestly don't know the answers, but the more research that's done the more I worry about the decisions we make which are suppose to be for the good of the dogs.
Sammi is not neutered, and not itchy, Kaiah is not neutered and not itchy, the same for Nico and Loki. Jezi is neutered but she is never itchy either. Ross .. Hmm I'm sitting on the fence there. If we look at the health risk by neutering for convenience are we really putting our animals at more risk of diseases and defects than we are by keeping them entire? I appreciate the risks of over population, but hell just a bit of care and responsibility is all that's needed to stop unnecessary litters.
This worries me, it worries me so much, what are we doing to our dogs? What are we being advised the the BVA to do to our dogs? ... and that's before we consider vaccination!
Among dog folk the subject has become quite a topic of discussion with more people opting to only use the parvo part of the vaccination which can be done in one vaccination as late 14-16 weeks. More dogs actually die from an adverse reaction to the Lepto 4 vaccinations in the UK than actually contract leptospirosis. Honestly this is a frightening fact. Also if a pup is vaccinated too early, the mothers immunity (MDA..Maternal derived immunity) will interfere and render the vaccine useless, leaving the pup unprotected ... another reason to consider only doing one parvo vaccination at 3 - 4 months old, after all earlier than that the pup will be protected from his mother immunity. Yet still pet owners are taking their 8 week old pups to the vets and risking their life by giving them this killer vaccination. Please if you have a puppy or a young dog, do your research before you consider vaccinations and neutering.
