New Strides In Spaying And Neutering:

[sandgrubber]

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/02/new-strides-in-spaying-and-neutering/?emc=eta1&_r=0

Todd Bruce, a herd manager on a farm in Oregon City, Ore., had long resisted neutering his 5-year-old Australian cattle dog, Cody, for fear of losing the extra set (or two) of legs in the field.

“I just wanted him to maintain his working abilities,” said Mr. Bruce, 28. “I’ve had other dogs neutered that have had a lot of weight gain, and their bodies go through huge changes, and I didn’t want that to happen with my dog this time.”

Then Mr. Bruce’s sister, a veterinary student, told him about Zeuterin, a drug that sterilizes male dogs without the removal of the testicles, thus preserving some testosterone production. In June, Mr. Bruce volunteered Cody for the procedure, performed by veterinarians as part of a training program at a clinic in Portland. The next day, Cody was back at work, enthusiastically rounding up livestock.

“It was quick, painless and super uninvasive,” Mr. Bruce said. “He’s mellowed out a bit, but I haven’t had the problems I had before.”

The 40-year movement to convince Americans that they should spay or neuter their pets has been nothing short of a triumph: 83 percent of owned dogs and 91 percent of owned cats are now spayed or neutered in the United States, compared with only about 10 percent in the 1970s. But surgically removing the reproductive organs of every pet is still time-consuming for veterinarians, unpopular among a subset of pet owners and ethically troubling to animal welfare advocates.

It is also an impractical solution to sterilizing stray animals, which constitute the bulk of America’s nuisance animal problem. “Surgery is definitely a bottleneck for humane animal control,” said Dr. Julie K. Levy, a veterinarian at the University of Florida who has researched the problem.

Now, a handful of nonsurgical sterilization treatments are emerging — led by Zeuterin, which could be commercially available in the United States by the end of this year — that could reduce or even eliminate the need for traditional neutering.

“The truth is, we may have maximized what we can do with surgical spay-neuter,” said Joyce Briggs, the president of the Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs, a group advocating alternative approaches. “Nonsurgical sterilants could be a game-changer for animal welfare across the world.”

[OSoSwift]

Is that a bit like suprelorin? And are they aiming for 100% desexing rate??? I would have thought 90% was actually quite good. I also don't see why the bloke with the entire cattle dog should feel do pushed to have to do something. If he is responsible then what's the issue????

ETA-sorry I thought the dog rate was 90%, but 80% is still quite good. I wonder what our stats would be?

Edited December 9, 2013 by OSoSwift

[tdierikx]

The data sheet for Zeuterin says convalescence time is similar to that of a surgical neuter - being that they inject the stuff into the testicles and all - the after effects can be similar to the surgical method (swelling, pain, bruising, etc) - the guy having his dog rounding up sheep the next day might be exaggerating somewhat methinks.

T.

[Dame Aussie]

Is that a bit like suprelorin? And are they aiming for 100% desexing rate??? I would have thought 90% was actually quite good. I also don't see why the bloke with the entire cattle dog should feel do pushed to have to do something. If he is responsible then what's the issue????

ETA-sorry I thought the dog rate was 90%, but 80% is still quite good. I wonder what our stats would be?

Yeah I don't see why he should be pressured into neutering his working dog

Good to see alternatives are popping up though.

[WreckitWhippet]

If it works and it works well,why would you remove that dog from the gene pool.

[OSoSwift]

Excatly!

OH and I do remember hearing about this before now. Yes it is permanent. I would imaging good for ferals and strays, we could probably use some in some areas around OZ but buggered if I would castrate my good working dog!

Edited December 9, 2013 by OSoSwift

[german_shep_fan]

If it works and it works well,why would you remove that dog from the gene pool.

Hopefully the "if you don't spay/neuter your dog you are irresponsible scum" animal rights brigade haven't pressured him into it!

I would be leaving him, but not my dog therefore not my business

[BlackJaq]

Excatly!

OH and I do remember hearing about this before now. Yes it is permanent. I would imaging good for ferals and strays, we could probably use some in some areas around OZ but buggered if I would castrate my good working dog!

Yea I was wondering this.....

I'm just imagining rangers running around, trying to shoot ferals with dart guns to sterilize them... You can imagine the canine or human type of feral, it is up to you :laugh:

[espinay2]

I can see it being of use in areas where the conduct of surgery is problematic. For example third world programs. It reduces the need to set up a surgery and reduces issues with maintaining a sterile environment and risk of post surgical infection. For areas where surgery is more common it probably won't be taken up very quickly.

Edited December 11, 2013 by espinay2

[WoofnHoof]

I wouldn't assume that every working dog needs to be a breeding dog, he might want to sterilise the dog for ease of management, whatever his reasons I think it is good to have an option that works for him and potentially works for a lot of other people who have difficulties with surgical sterilisation.