Neutering an adult dog?

[Wild Bill]

We noticed last week that our almost 7 year old griff had some blood in his urine and we took him in to the vet to get it checked out.

According to his vet his prostate is prettttttty big and causing the blood and the prostatitis infection that we've now got under control. She said the best course of action is to neuter him and curb the excess testosterone that is causing his prostate to continue to grow, which should also cause it to decrease in size and mitigate any future issues.

Obviously most dogs are neutered at a younger age, so I'm wondering if anyone else has had to neuter an older dog and what can/should I expect for any side effects with the decrease in testosterone (decreased muscle mass, decreased drive, diet change, etc.)? He's my first male dog so neutering is new to me.

Pretty bummed out for my guy getting his manhood removed, but as long as he's healthy I'm happy. Bigger bummer is that it's scheduled the day before grouse season opens. He should be back ready to hunt by pheasant season.

 

[Mallardsx2]

I hope it fixes your boy!

Different scenario than yours but I had a 3 year old Black Mouth Cur neutered to try and curb aggression. It didn't work.
He was bloodthirsty mean until the day he got lead poisoning.

 

[Birdbander]

My last pointer was neutered at almost 9. One testicle was getting noticeably larger, after discussing with my veterinarian, I chose neutering. The dog showed no changes in behavior or physical characteristics. He died at nearly 12 from a heart attack.

It's always been my understanding that once a dog has reached physical maturity, being neutered will not negatively affect them. I'm not a veterinarian.

 

[brymoore]

Ugh. Tough decision but I’d follow the vet’s advice.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Our yellow lab had the same problem as your dog when he was about 6 years old. The surgery went smoothly and he suffered no ill-effects.

 

[El Jason]

I would neuter him without any other concerns. We neutered Finn at age 5 and haven’t seen any adverse effects.

 

[buckbull]

My vet recommends i dont neuter my golden retriever until 18 months old or older. A recent study (stanford university?) Says not to spay a female golden at any age. You prob dont have a choice since your griff is having issues. Im not sure if ill neuter jack. The only time he gets frisky is after his venison dinner. He goes to work on his dog bed for about a minute then is done.

 

[Wild Bill]

Thanks all for the input.

It was a no brainer to schedule the procedure.

More bummed than anything that we're delaying chasing birds this fall.

 

[Sask hunter]

Had my lab neutered at 3 it was no big deal. Had to cut his food down by half after I did it

 

[Tikka06]

I had to neuter a 150lb, 5yr old Anatolian Shepherd a few years ago. No issues whatsoever.

 

[mmazour]

Similarly, I have neutered my male working dogs at around 9 due to prostate issues. It works great, and the drive they have developed by that time is present and will continue. The main change was the weight gain. On all 3 that I have done, I had to cut back the food just a bit as they instantly had some gain (shows how that dip in testosterone as we get older makes it easy to put on some pounds). This was feeding a performance high protein/fat food. So just watch that and you will be fine.

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

Yes, on an adult Lab for basically the same reasons. He would have seizures and his penis would swell up like it was going to burst. My wife took him into the vet for the seizures. She called saying they couldn't find any cause and she was on her way home. I asked if they checked his prostate. They hadn't and when they did it was huge. I only thought about it because a vet had checked my Brittany previously. They neutered him and that stopped the seizures. He never was an aggressive dog and the neutering didn't change him at all. Loved to hunt and retrieve until his hips gave out.