Conference misery::feline_v1

    
    
    I don't see any difference either...as long as your puppy is doing
    fine, don't worry about it.
    
    :')

    Fran - you were doing the right thing.  We always had our dogs
    neutered.  There is nothing more disgusting than a dog that keeps
    trying to hump your leg!  Not to mention the fact that an unneutered
    dog can go out and make more unwanted puppies!  
      The people who were appalled are just unenlightened.
      Nancy DC

    Fran you did right. People who don't neuter their animals are a
    real pain. Now you can enjoy you dog without him whimpering/howling
    for hours when some female is in heat, (maybe 5 miles away.)
    
    
    Barbara

    you did your puppy a favor - Un-neutered dogs frequently have painful 
    testicle problems as they age. Also, he will tend to want to stay
    "home" - and will pay not attention to your leg.
     

    I'm so glad to hear that everyone!! whew!!  I was so upset thinking
    I maimed him or something. But then again, we were at the King
    Richard's faire with him and he tried to hump a Shitzu, a cute
    sassy looking pomerianian and was eyeing an Alaskan malamute!
    He is shameful at six months and eleven inches high!!
    
    so we figured it was best to get him neutered.  Three unspayed
    purebreds and dear old Brodie could have produced a dozen pups
    in one day.  But the people I spoke with today only believed in
    spaying the female dogs not neutering the pups.
    
    Actually, in just a day brodie is a lot more playful where a couple
    of days ago he was a bundle of nerve ending!!
    
    thanks again
    
    Fran
    

    It's funny you should mention neutering a dog - each time when
    I meet someone that has a purebred pup/dog, I always, out of habit
    I guess, ask if they plan on breeding dogs, they say no, then I
    ask if they are going neuter the dog, they always say, NO.  I
    never could understand that.??  Weird - it seems that they 
    just dun't.

    This is interesting.  Last year, a man at work was looking for a
    home for his Lhaso Apso and my mom happened to be looking for a
    small dog.  I was on the phone with him making the travel arrangements
    to have him bring the dog to Mass. and casually mentioned that my
    mom had already made an appt. to have the dog checked over and
    neutered.  Weelll, he was appalled!  Refused to give her the dog
    under those conditions... said that his dog doesn't need to be neutered
    and he won't release him to a home that would do such a thing. 
    I don't know if it was his male ego or what but it certainly ticked
    me off.
    
    And last night, I distributed "found" fliers around my complex to
    see if anyone would come forward for the little orange kitten. 
    At the bottom of the flier I wrote that if no one claims him, he
    is up for adoption to the right family.  A woman who lives across
    the street from me phoned later on in the evening.  This woman is
    from a different culture and does not believe in altering pets.
    She has an unspayed female that she keeps indoors and refuses to
    spay because "it is unnatural."  I have politely tried to educate
    her about the benefits of spaying, and especially a female that
    is not intended for breeding.  It is like talking to a brick wall.
    She wanted me to give her the little orange kitten!  I told her
    that the kitten will be going to a home where he will be neutered
    and explained to her that unaltered males make undesirable pets.
    She tried to convince me to let her take him at least for the night
    so she could see how her Cookie reacts to him and again, I refused.
    This woman is a very nice person and really loves her cat.  She
    is simply ignorant and I wonder if it is possible to ever make her
    see the light.  After awhile, I stopped trying to get through to
    her... you know the feeling... all the lights are on but nobody's
    home.....
    
    I'll stop rambling now!!!
    
    
    --Roberta
    

    
    
    	I'm so glad ALL of you folks wrote and said it was the right
    thing to do!  I've got a male dog now and wouldn't think of NOT
    neutering him, since he will not be used for breeding.  I guess some people
    will always feel that you don't neuter the male - let the owner
    of the females get them fixed.  I too can't understand the headset.
    
    	Keep the good advise going............
    
    
    	-Dee
    

I think its a case of male ego in many cases.

My boyfriend has a problem with this too.  He agrees that my cats should
be fixed, but if we ever got a dog, I think I'd have a battle on my hands.
I'll just get him a female dog!  I think men who are dog people have a
problem with neutering but men who are cat people do not.

Karen

    RE: .9
    
    	I'll buy that.
    
    

    I think that part of the resistence is the attitude that males
    don't have to be neutered because they can't have puppies or kittens.
    That makes it someone else's problem even if you dog/cat is the
    father.
    
    Another, bigger problem, is male image.  I always cringe when I
    hear the vet or someone else refer to male neutering as 
    "castration".  I don't think there's a male around who wouldn't
    "duck and cover" upon hearing that word.  I think for many
    people, men and women, neutering a dog/cat is depriving it of
    its "value" as a male.  I have also heard people argue that you 
    are depriving the animal of pleasure and other statements that 
    indicating that they are "projecting" their feelings onto the
    dog/cat.  Fortunately, the dog/cat doesn't know the difference and
    probably gets far more enjoyment out of a ball or kitty-tease 
    than out of sex.
    
    Well, guys - hopefully humans have the intelligence and control
    to restrain over sexual actions in public places, and to control
    the ultimate result of sexual activity - offspring.  Animals
    don't and you can't project human values and feelings onto your
    dog or cat.
    
    Nancy DC
   

    
    
    Re:  Maybe the basic difference between cat people and dog people
    is part of the problem with dog people neutering their pets.
    
    I think whoever wrote that is correct.  When I worked for a Vet,
    most male kittens that were brought for routine shots etc were neutered
    almost as a matter of course.  But it never failed that we had to
    fight with the dog owners to perform this simple responsible act.
    
    The most memorable (for me) was this huge and fat man that brought
    his German Shepard in for his one year check up.  The Vet asked
    if he were planning on breeding the dog, the answer was that the
    dog took care of his own love life!!!
    
    The Vet tactfully recommended neutering and gave a list of health
    reasons.  (The Vet was male by the way)
    
    The man said that he wouldn't think of neutering his pet, his answer
    went like this:  "Castrate him, yeah right, I'll make his appointment
    the day I make MY appointment!"
    
    I had to keep my mouth shut, but my impulse was that maybe that
    would be a good idea too!  ;-)
    
    I wonder why this guy invested so much stock in the fact that his
    dog was a STUD, a canine casanova.  It has always puzzled me.
    
    Feline curious,
    
    Sue & Panther & Spot
    
    

    I have noticed a change in temperment in Brodie since he has been
    neutered. He's gotten to be quite the cuddle pup:-))). before you
    could pick him up but he's struggle after a few moments now he
    cuddles up close.  He loves to play ball, before he would run
    and attack the ball, now he is bouncing it around retreiving it
    and generally seems to be having a good sporting time with it.
    Before he'd chase the cats to distraction now allthough they
    still run about it's more playful.
    He is also learning commands better heseemed distracted before.
    He's become quite an even more lovable kinda guy!!!
    
    Fran
    

    I don't think there's a woman around who would deny the effect
    of hormones on mood!  There's certainly no doubt in my mind that
    the male hormones in dogs and cats make them more aggressive and
    "wired".   Remove that nervous edge and your pet is free to express
    more positive actions and moods.
      Nancy DC

    I rmember a while back when I took Mozie in after he had been
    abandoned by neighbors that he was a nice cat but gave me some
    nasty scratches at first onsome of his "bitchy" wired days.  It
    then occured to me to check out the back end..and sure enough
    they they were!  off to the vet we went.  a week later he was
    the most mushy purrface I'd met to date - and playful like a kitten.
    and no more lashing out. I see much of the same behavior now
    with the puppy - in fact he and Mozie now generally hang around
    together :-))
    
    Fran
    

I really have found the male humans the most negative about neutering the
male dogs....I kinda think there is some identification going on here....
8^}

One final argument FOR neutering males - older, whole male dogs acquire
a very strong "goat" odor that cannot be eradicated no matter how much
you bathe the animal.  I had some friends that ended up replacing their
carpets in their house because the husband refused to neuter his pointer!
When they realized they had a problem, the vet said that castration at
the age of the dog would probably not help.  The dog became "outside-only"
(after many years of indoor living - he was miserable) and the house
was recarpeted - the smell just would not go away.  According to my vet,
most dog owners don't see this problem because the dogs that are not
neutered have shorter lives because they wander more and get hit by
cars or suffer other medical problems that shorten their lives.

re: >"I have noticed a change in  temperment  ..    since  he  has  been
    neutered.  He's gotten to be quite the cuddle ....  He loves to play
    ball, before he would run and attack the ball, now he is bouncing it
    around  retreiving  it  and  generally  seems  to be having  a  good
    sporting time with it."
    
    Just  had a 5 year old Tom Cat castrated, and  he  is  acting  in  a
    similar  manner,  but  added  to his playfulness is his alertness to
    things small and things mildly noisy ..
    
    He  now  attacks my wifes 'refrig magnets' and the kids observed him
    trying  to  get  the  sweep second hand on the electric clock in the
    kitchen.
    
    He has gone from being a regular night owl (all night) to basically
    an indoors  cat  ...   however as he seems to have regreesd to being
    kittenish ...   he  also fails to cover his dirt completely ...  and
    at 14 pounds can be quite a strong odor first thing in the morning.
    
    His predilection for 'hanging things' worries  me  a  little,  as he
    usually comes into the bathroom whenever I do, whether I'm there for
    a shower or whatever ..

    Getting back to this neutering bit ..  he has had  such  a  dramatic
    change,  it  makes me wonder why they don't 'neuter' volent  people.
    Might make them less  violent  and  more  playful, and won't produce
    unwanted babies ...  ;^)
    
    -BobE
    
    
    
    

    I have had cats neutered at all ages.  I usually do the youngsters
    between 7 and 9 months; however, I have taken in strays that were very
    advanced in their male tendencies and all benefited immensly from the
    surgery.  T.K., especially, was a changed cat.  He is the biggest mush
    in the world, there is not an aggressive bone in his body now.  He
    sleeps with us every night and is a father figure to all of the other
    cats.  Murdock, Kelsey and Nikki adore him.
    
    I think T.K. is close to 5 years old, and Nikki was over 5 when he was
    neutered.  I am guessing Nik to be almost 10 years old now, though he
    still acts like a kitten.
    

    Neuter Violent people....I like that!!  Maybe that is the answer
    to Capital Punishment!!
    
    Well I own Barkley who was a stray that joined us last MAY.  I'm
    not too sure of his age,,,but we did have him castrated in the early
    part of June.   I found there was very little change to his temperment.
    What did change was that he stays close to the house and does not
    wander too far.  He still is very aggresive to all other cats/dogs
    that come into our yard.  He was never a cuddler, hates to be held,
    but loves to be petted if he is laying down. His terms only!!
    
    I still believe I made the right decision to do this to him,,,,,but
    I wish it would have calmed him down a little more.
    
    Sandy                                                        

    Well, aggression was one of the very few behaviors that has been 
    shown to be corrolated to sex.  Males are more aggressive than females.
    (In general)  That's based on my psychology training in college.  
      Nancy DC