Spay and neuter is effective. It's not a safe option or an optimal solution in every single case.

Some animals that should not bred have health problems that make surgery too risky. Some animals, especially large and giant breed dogs, that will be spayed or neutered eventually, should be allowed to reach their full growth and full maturity first (18-24 months). Animals that _will_ be bred eventually, need to reach full maturity first.

These are all cases where having a _safe_, _effective_ alternative to spay and neuter would be extremely beneficial.

I don't get it. Spay and neuter is not effective enough for pets?

I don't think we should use these on wild animals. Except the feral cats, but wolves?? Aren't they still endangered?? And if it's going to be given to white-tail deer, then would we still hunt them? I grew up in a rural area, and EVERYONE and their grandma hunts deer.

Good grief. This seems like a swing-and-a-miss to me.

We have enough excess birth control hormones being dumped in our public & private waterways from humans, now we can pet birth control hormones? Yikes.

I don't know about using Lupron in dogs and cats, but in birds and in ferrets we use it monthly and it is REALLY expensive. I think that it would be cost prohibitive in a dog (especially a large breed!) or cat.

Supposedly, there's work being done in Europe on the use of GnRH agonists (such as Lupron) on dogs. Dunno much about its effectiveness/safety beyond that.

Cheque drops? didn't know that was still available. Lots of endometrial issues with that product (as with (depo Provera) so we don't tend to recommend it.

What about the use of Lupron in these animals?
I don't really know what the effects would be for animals such as cougars, dogs, etc. But I know it is frequently used in Humans to effectively cause menopause, Birds to prevent egg laying and Ferrets with tumors.

Would Lupron not cause the same sort of menopause/anovulatory effect in other animals? Why would it not be effective/efficent as a form of "birth control"?

The lack of stopping cycles would be a drawback, but if only Cheque drops were safer- I'd LOVE not to put my spitz girl through the stress of seasons while she matures (poor baby got out of girl-jail yesterday and was THRILLED to be able to go to the park again), and it'd allow us a LOT more flexibility about trialling in our various sports, since I wouldn't have to stress so much about "OMG is she going to go into season and we'll forfeit that weekend of entries?" It used to be that clubs would usually refund them, but most have stopped doing that.