Bichon Frise health issues and recommended castration. Health

Hi,

I have a Bichon Frise for 4 years now. He is cute, happy, full of energy. We all love him very much so when his health issue started we have been stressed ever since.
He had an anal gland infection a few times already and he has a skin infection on his testicles at the moment after he scratched his skin on a walk.
The vet recommended castration and I don't think too happy about it. I have read so many articles about dogs being castrated, their health issues after, etc. and I really don't know what to do. How castration is going to help with his anal gland problems?
We live in a small town so don't really have any other vet to go to

What do you think would be the best? Were your dogs castrated? How do they behave after?
Thanks in advance.

Apart from being a little bit calmer after castration, I found no difference.

What I can't understand is that if it is the skin that is infected rather than an internal infection, why castration has been recommended.

I can't answer your poll because there is too little information given as to why the vet recommended going down this route

What you are feeding now, have you tried other foods or any supplements?
I agree with Chris, if it’s just a skin infection why advise castration.

In the argument of to castrate or not, I am on the side of castration. All my cats and dogs have been spayed and neutered for my 56 years. I have never had an issue with any of them caused by neutering. And life is much calmer and relaxed because of it for all of us.

As for the skin infection, is castration being recommended because of how the dog got the injury? You say he scraped his skin during a walk - are his testicles low enough to make this type of injury a likely reccurrence when out walking? Is he licking himself there to the point that the infections are not healing - maybe the vet is recommending castration so the dog won't scrape and/or won't keep licking the injury causing infection.

I would talk to your vet and ask him specifically why he's recommending the castration before making a decision. If after the vet explains why, you can then work out if it makes sense or not.

Is Bella spayed? If so, I don't know why the vet would suggest castration for a skin infection. However, I did have a friend who had a Keeshond that developed orchitis - this manifested as swelling of the testes, with ulceration of the scrotum, and the remedy was castration. I wonder if this is what is in your vet's mind? I do wish they would communicate their thoughts more clearly.
I had my boy castrated at about 15 - 18 months. He is the first male that I have ever had done, and I think it achieved nothing. I have regretted doing it and think it was unnecessary in his case.

I'm curious as to why you say it achieved nothing. Was there something in particular you were neutering him for?

Over here, folks neuter so they don't have to worry about escapes and potential "casual" breeding. We have enough folks who let their unneutered and unspayed dogs run loose, so for those of us who care about the dogs in shelters, we neuter and spay so we don't contribute to that problem. Exception is made for show dogs.

I know other places have different issues and attitudes, so I'm just curious.

I have always had intact males I had no plans to breed, none have ever roamed or showed a tendency to do so, unless there is a medical necessity for such surgery, I don't see the need.
Vets/rescue centers are making owners paranoid about intact males as being some monstrous breeding machines.

I am not against neutering in any way but it’s not the answer for all problems.
We have been conditioned that it’s the “responsible” thing to do and of the benefits but rarely told of the risks, research continues to show there are also some damning results of spay/neuter.

Long-Term Health Risks and Benefits Associated with Spay / Neuter in Dogs – DogTraining.World

That's why I was asking CaroleC. It sounded from her post that there was an expected outcome from neutering the dog that she expected but didn't see. I was curious what that might be other than the generalized "the dog will be healthier" which really doesn't have any definitive meaning, or the prevention of breeding.

I suspect the UK has a better relationship with your dogs than we do in the states. We have far too many folks who get a dog and toss it in the yard. The dogs aren't working or showing, and they are not interacting with the family at all. So we do get a LOT of "street breeding" due to loose unneutered dogs.

My boy could be reactive with some other dogs. He was OK as long as he had his invisible safe zone, but he was competing in trials and obedience where it is not always possible to control those variables. He never bit, but he could either warn, or even remove himself from what he read as a tense situation - neither of which is ideal in, for example, group stay exercises.
We reluctantly decided that as he was fully mature, there could be potential benefits to castration. At best, it made no difference, and I now feel that it could have trapped him in a late fear stage, rather than allowing him time to work through it. We all have to make our own decisions, but I would need a great deal of persuading before agreeing to have another male castrated.

Thanks. I don't believe neutering will change existing behavior like that. It may allow them to "grow up" a bit sooner, but they'll reach that stage either way. On the other hand, I haven't seen it "freeze" a behavior either.

For me, as long as an owner is responsible and good to their dog, neutering is a choice. My dad showed all my life, so we always had an unneutered male. They were never a problem and they didn't roam because we kept all our dogs secure. Well except the Siberian who took a perverse pleasure in escaping from every security my dad created to stop it. He would have done that neutering or not.

When I asked about it, the vet didn't give me a reasonable reason. He just said this could help but he cannot give me any warranty that it will. I think his thinking is more related to a previous anal gland infection than a present skin infection. I am not really sure.

Lads, I had a bad experience with my cousin's cat. The cat was castrated and got totally mad after this surgery. I think that is why I am so against it.
Exactly the same has happened with my sister's dog, so you can understand my worries.
I don't really have any problem with my dogs. Bella isn't spayed, so I wasn't thinking about castration before until now when the vet suggested it.
I am very lucky to have my dogs just the way they are. They are full of energy (in a good way), happy and they never escaped. Bella as a husky has never even tried and before we get her I read so many things about huskies, escaping, biting everything, digging, etc. Sometimes I even wonder is Bella even husky at all and then, I see my garden (I have no flowers there, she digs out everything so I stopped even trying to plant anything). She never had any health problems as well, and in Poland, we say, " We shouldn't try to fix, anything that doesn't have to be fixed".
Mr. Cuddless was healthy as well. His problem started after his groomer cleaned his anal glands and he has problems from time to time since then.
I told the vet I have to think about castration and believe me when I called him, Mr Cuddless come to me and he started to bark in a happy way, just like he would understand that I have canceled his appointment hahaha
I need to take a second opinion about Mr. Cuddless's castration. Don't really understand why the vet suggested it. If Mr. Cuddless needs it, I will do it, but not because someone thinks it could help him. I have to be sure, it will.

Violetta,

While I have never seen a "bad result" from a spay or neutering in years of owning and rescuing dogs and cats, I agree that you should be able to get a clear explanation as to why castration is recommended in your case. You took Mr Cuddles in for a specific problem and the vet should be focused on that. If he can't or won't explain why castration "might help" for that problem then talk to another vet.

In this situation, castration is being touted as a treatment for a skin infection/anal gland infection, not as a pregnancy prevention, so it should be evaluated like any other potential treatment. If he can't provide any clinical basis for the treatment then it needs to be questioned. We would be bad owners if we didn't.

that’s so nice advice ., can you help me ?
I’m planning to have a husky puppy ., until I watch this video., it’s a YT video that’s make me worried about this breed. Please have time and help . Thanks
Please watch https://shrinke.me/S2ewlD

This is your second identical post since you just joined. I will repeat the comment I made to you following your other post.

That is not a YouTube link. I do not know what it is but the ESET anti-virus program on my computer would not open it.

I was also cautious about the shrinke.me address. I'll look if it's safe but I have been caught out before.

Carole - shrink.me is like tinyurl where you can create short links. It is free but you also get paid for using it. I do not know how as I am not prepared to go against my anti-virus program to look any further.

me. itself is the code for Montenegro.

I suspect this is a spam poster.

I’m not a spam poster ., I just copy the link in YouTube.
That link sometimes won’t open ., sometimes open. I
Sorry for that. I just wanna need help

I

Im not a spammer ., it’s just I copy on YouTube ., all I want is help .. I’m sorry for that link