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Reproduction in dogs part 1: surgical and non-surgical de-sexing options

02 August 2020
Clinical
16 mins read
02 August 2020
Volume 25 · Issue 7

Abstract

This article summarises the surgical and non-surgical options for desexing dogs, using standardised terminology by defining the meaning of commonly used terms. Desexing has been historically recommended to help with population control, disease prevention and behaviour modification. Surgical methods of gonadectomy are the most common method for desexing in both owned and unowned dogs, with orchiectomy being the most common method of desexing male dogs. Surgical methods of desexing in females may refer to ovariohysterectomy, ovariectomy, salpingectomy or hysterectomy with or without an ovarian autograft (referred to as a so-called ‘ovary-sparing spay’). Non-surgical desexing methods include three broad categories: hormonal, immunological, and chemical or physical methods. The use of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist as a method of inducing reversible infertility in dogs is discussed in detail, including a review of the physiological effects of surgical gonadectomy compared to a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist and potential health effects of each. There is a growing body of literature on the disease risks associated with whether a dog is intact or desexed, and by which method it has been desexed. This will be discussed in the next article.

This article summarises the surgical and non-surgical options for desexing dogs, using standardised terminology by defining the meaning of commonly used terms. Desexing is a sex-neutral term that refers to any procedure that causes permanent or temporary loss of fertility. Desexing is frequently performed via surgical removal of the gonads (testes or ovaries) which is referred to as gonadectomy, another sex-neutral term. The common use of terms such as neutering and castration by some authors and practitioners as a sex-specific term for male gonadectomy is well understood, although others have used them as sex-neutral terms for gonadectomy in both sexes. Other terms, such as sterilisation and spaying, can cause confusion among practitioners and their clients (Table 1).

Desexing has been historically recommended to help with population control, disease prevention and behaviour modification, although prevalence rates of desexing vary by country (Table 2) and can be very low in countries such as Germany and the Nordic countries where it goes against animal welfare legislation unless there is a clear medical indication (Sallander et al, 2001; Kuhne, 2012; Jitpean et al, 2012; Wongsaengchan and McKeegan, 2019). For consistency and clarity, desexing and the terms included in Tables 3 and 4 will be used throughout this review. The effects of desexing on the production of hormones have implications for potential health problems which may develop over the lifetime of a dog. There is a growing body of literature on the disease risks associated with whether a dog is intact or desexed and by which method it has been desexed. This will be discussed in the next article. Before considering how various methods of desexing affect dogs, we must first consider normal reproductive physiology in intact dogs.

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dogs
GnRH agonist
gonadectomy
options
reproduction control