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| Reluctant To Get Your Dog Desexed? |
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 Many owners, especially male, of male dogs are reluctant to have their dog desexed or 'fixed' - in plain terms, desexing, neutering, or 'fixing' of male dogs refers to surgical castration where the testes are removed, therefore rendering the dog permanently infertile.
Understandably, a male (human) doesn't want to have done to his dog what he wouldn't want to happen to himself (ouch!) and many believe that a dog will be ruined by taking away his masculinity - "a dog's gotta do what a dog's gotta do!" However, the benefits are in the dog's, and owner's, favour.
Castration reduces behaviour associated with testosterone such as fighting, roaming, and urine-marking, and undesirable sexual behaviours such as mounting and masturbation, as well as decreases the incidence of prostate problems later in life and prevents testicular cancer.
It is also an erroneous belief that castration alters the personality of a dog, since this comes from its brain and not from his testes.
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Is there an alternative to desexing?
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Well, now there's some good news for dogs that want to retain their 'manly' attributes (cosmetically, at least) - there is a new non-surgical alternative available that temporarily and reversibly prevents reproduction with the health and behaviour benefits of desexing but without having to 'have the snip'!
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How does it work?
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This breakthrough product has been developed and recently released by an Australian company - basically it is a contraceptive implant that is inserted under the dog's skin between the shoulder blades. The dog is rendered sterile for 6 months by slow release of the active ingredient deslorelin that suppresses testosterone levels. The implant does not need to be removed but to continue to prevent fertile mating the implant needs to repeated every 6 months.
The implant is safe to use in all dogs and exhibits no side effects. There is no scarring at the site of implant and no anaesthetic is required for its insertion.
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What are the advantages of the contaceptive implant?
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The advantages of using the contraceptive implant include seeing what difference castration will make to a dog's behaviour before deciding on permanent castration, temporary sterlisation of a stud dog, and sterilsation in older dogs with prostate problems where an anaesthetic would be dangerous.
Surgical sterilisation is still encouraged for all pets not intended for breeding purposes but now you have a choice if surgery is not the prefered option. Please contact your veterinarian for further information.
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Content Editor: Dr Julia Adams BVSc
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