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Really interesting (and thought-provoking) information. Thanks!

Nuts right? She was expecting them to say it would be $1000 or so because everything is more expensive here, but that that about knocked her out of her chair.

157.something. This morning was so long ago!

Craft show was very slow but at the very end another vendor bought several items from me so the end result was about what I usually take in at a fair and the vendor fee to participate was much cheaper!

Stephen's Ministry obligations at church tomorrow and then hopefully I can get motivated to get some much needed housework done!

The reasoning behind waiting is simple: early spay/neuter interferes with puberty and the hormonal signals to close the growth plates on the long bones. Without those hormonal signals the long bones continue to grow AFTER the tendons and ligaments stop growing. This extra length puts undue strain on ACL, CCL, etc... We have discovered the incidence of soft tissue injury has increased significantly in the 30 years organizations like PETA, HSUS, and the AVMA has encouraged early spay and neuter.

Research has also shown that for males there is no health benefit gained by neutering other than the inability for males to develop testicular cancer. Neutering does not, as was previously believed, reduce the occurrence of prostate enlargement or cancer in males. It does reduce sexual behaviors, but does not change aggressive behaviors.

Spaying after a first heat cycle, if she is not to be bred, has many benefits for the female. Spaying will eliminate the risk of ovarian and uterine cancer. It also greatly reduces the risk of mammary cancer in females. (Neutering does not reduce the already low incidence of mammary cancer in males.) While spaying does bring on early onset of menopause and the possibility of a reduced metabolism causing weight gain, in most females spaying will help maintain an even temperament (no hormonal fluctuations due to ovulation), which many pet owners appreciate.

And since I did mention HSUS and PETA, I will make a request that if any of you do make charitable contributions to either of these organizations, you STOP. PETA is an anti-pet organization and through its tactics has endangered the lives of thousands of dogs. PETA has an extremely high kill rate for dogs they "rescue". The HSUS uses 95% of its donations to pay for administration costs and human causes. Less than 5% of the money they collect actually goes to dog and cat rescue. HSUS has NO SHELTERS and had a few years ago the highest kill rate of any rescue organization in the USA. But boy, their marketing is great! The HSUS has the lowest non profit charitable organization ratings given. I shall now step off my Soap Box.

Current research on golden retrievers says waiting until two years of age cuts down on joint problems like ACL tears and several types of cancers. Given 70% of golden retrievers will have cancer, that feels like something you can actually do to stop that. But even waiting a year helps.