OH HOW EASILY
THERE CAN BE A 'BALLS UP'!
Not a very
nice title I know but then once again
another subject that owners, particularly
the male ones, don't seem to want to
discuss:
CASTRATION
As a branch
of the Retired Greyhound Trust it is our
policy to always have the dogs we home
either castrated or spayed in the case of
female dogs. In general folk don't seem
to have such a problem with the latter.
We look at it very much from a health
point of view, unspayed bitches can
develop mammary tumours and indeed one of
the deadliest and most life threatening
conditions, if not caught early,
pyometra. These are just two illnesses
that can be prevented by having your
bitch neutered.
But back to
the male hound - we liken keeping a dog
entire to parading an extremely
attractive naked female in front of a
healthy young man and never allowing him
to have his wicked way - think on
gentleman! Agreeably some dogs are
oblivious to this, in fact I have a
friend who had an entire Labrador who
given the choice between a female on heat
and an apple core would inevitably choose
the latter but then as we all know, labs
are ruled by their stomachs.
Over the
years Mal and I have owned many male
dogs, 30 odd at the last count and
everyone of them has been castrated.
People say their personalities change -
this has never been the case with any of
ours or indeed any of our friends dogs.
Apart from preventing unwanted puppies it
is the health reasons that frighten us.
Testicular Cancer -
completely preventable, no testicles no
cancer. Recently one of our owners
discovered, quite by chance, that
although he had been castrated prior to
arrival - the vet had only taken one
testicle not bothering to search for the
remaining one. When opened up a tumour
the size of a grapefruit was discovered
attached to the testicle that hadn't
decended. Thankfully the cancer doesn't
appear to have spread unless some cells
have escaped, this is one lucky dog. Not
so for another case recently on one of
the forums by the time they opened this
particular dog up it was too late and the
dog had to be put to sleep. It is vital
that if testicles do not appear of their
own accord that they need to be brought
down by surgery. Leaving them can prove
dangerous.
Ranger's massive
incision to remove the testicle with the
tumour attached to it.
Ranger 10 days after
his operation still on pain relief and
still a little confused
Apart from the serious
aspects of keeping a dog entire, there
are other reasons, that constant
mounting, leaving home in search of that
bitch on heat. Embarrassing your guests
by climbing up their legs,
aggressiveness, dominance, I could go on,
all we ask is that you consider these
aspects see if you agree that this is the
road to go down for your dog. Discuss it
with your vet.
We all think arrr.....
aren't puppies gorgeous but the world is
full of unwanted dogs, do we really want
to add to this!!!
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