If you’re a pet owner, you may have heard about the updated spay and neuter guidelines recently published by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association. If you haven’t stumbled across it, you’ve come to the right place.
Historically, spaying and neutering has been recommended at about 6 months of age although in large breed dogs the recommendation is often pushed to after the first heat cycle or after 18 months of age.
However, in the recently published guidelines, there is discussion about forgoing neutering all together when a dog has a “responsible owner,” as defined by the attending veterinarian or pursing vasectomies in males and hysterectomies (rather than ovariohysterectomies) in females.
Keep in mind, these updated guidelines apply to dogs and not cats.
