Did neutering make your dog gain weight?

[DominoRules]

Hi everyone, just wondered what the general effect of neutering had on weight for your dogs?

My springer is just over one and not neutered yet - there’s been no behavioural issues so far so planned to wait to 18 months plus.

He was poorly in the summer and dropped to 16kg from 18kg and it’s been an uphill battle to get back to 18 and maintain it. The vet has been concerned at times how skinny he is and so we agreed for blood tests and checks to make sure nothing underlying, all came back clear. His ribs are very easy to feel and you can feel his spine and hip bones too. He has a relatively big frame/long legs so definitely at the top end of size for a springer.

He’s on three meals a day - 2 x 400g butternut box (recommended is only 250g twice a day!) and also has a huge bowl of kibble. Plus high calorie treats so a peanut butter stuffed kong, piece of salmon with his kibble etc. He’s on at least double the calories that’s recommended for a dog his age and size! We’re at the sweet spot where his tummy is fine with this amount of food but anymore he gets upset tum.

I’m wondering if neutering will help him to gain weight? He has plenty of energy, lovely shiny coat and eyes/teeth. He has around 2 hours off lead a day which he adores so I really wouldn’t want to cut this down - great calm behaviour at home too.

Just realised how long that was sorry!

They don't gain weight as a result of neutering as such, they gain weight because they turn into "greedy thieving bastards" - this was the warning from my vet when we had our Lab neutered.

Not sure about boy dogs , but my girl dog put loads of weight on after she was spayed. That was 10 years ago and even now we have to watch her weight or she gets very chunky very quickly ! Shes a JRT.

Our lab never gained weight but only because, on the advice of the vet, we initially cut his food back by 30% when he was neutered then monitored and adjusted his food from there.

@CharlotteStreetW1 he’s already a greedy little so and so, I can’t imagine him being more so 😂

No.

However about 3 years on from that he has gained weight and is currently on a diet so I think it's because he has gone from having infinite energy (WCS) to about 70% with age rather than neutering plus a DH that gives into sad eyes and over feeds him treats.

Yes, our beagle did - but I don't think it was solely down to neutering.

He was neutered a few months before the first lockdown and he became much less active - and like me, he spent a lot of time laying around and sleeping

As soon as everything opened up again, his exercise went back to normal and he dropped the weight and has kept it off ever since. He had a vet check two months ago and the vet was really happy with his condition.

Nope none of my dogs have ever gained weight after castration.

I would not worry about a working dog that is "underweight" most/nearly all pet dogs are overweight and vets included are not used to seeing healthy weight working muscley dogs.

I possibly would look at other food though (only to save you a fortune on the amount you are paying for him eating such large quantities) Have you worked out if he needs a higher carb diet or protein diet. It depends on the kibble you are giving him at the minute.

Butternut box is low in calories so depending on the food 100g of butternut box is 140 calories (really low!)

Millies higher fat food for example is 434 calories per 100g.

I would change his food so he gets the calories more easily and has to digest less food. It will be easier to increase his calorie content and manage his weight better.

Thanks @ShouldIknowthisalready I will take a closer look at his food. He will eat anything so changing it won’t be a problem as long as his tummy tolerates it - I’ve stuck with the butternut as it really suits him in that respect particularly red meats rather than chicken/turkey. But it is costing me a fortune 🙄 we tried a few kibbles and he’s on Arden Grange at the moment.

Millies wolfheart kibble is easy to manage as it has very clear ingredients so very easy to avoid chicken/turkey or derivatives eg chicken fat which is in loads of kibble

Yes. But I now weigh his food and he's lost the weight.

No, our female basset never gained weight but we've always been careful to keep her active and slim anyway, plus she's slow to get round to eating her food.

Neutering or spaying will cause pets to gain weight, so need to be fed less and no treats, the worst thing you can do is allow your pet to become overweight.
They get the same problems we do, diabetes and joint problems being common, so if you don’t want an unhealthy pet and big vet bills restrict the food.

Thanks for all the replies - seems a mix of some who gained and others who didn’t. I don’t want to neuter him just on that basis so will alter his food first to see if we can get his weight up that way instead.