Why Spay Or Neuter Your Pet?

Pet Overpopulation

                Twenty million unwanted dogs and cats are euthanized each year.  If you allow your pet to breed, even if you have good homes for the puppies or kittens, each home that you find is taking a home away from another puppy or kitten that will then end up being euthanized.

                Thirty to forty percent of the dogs euthanized are purebreds.  American Kennel Club (AKC)

registration is not an indication of quality.  If done correctly, even purebred dog breeding is not necessarily a money-making proposition.  And puppies and kittens do not necessarily inherit their parents' personalities any more than children do.

Health Benefits

                Pets have a very high occurrence of cancer.  In fact, cancer is even more common in dogs than in humans!  Neutering and spaying virtually eliminates testicular, prostate, uterine, and ovarian cancer and even affects certain types of skin tumors.

                A pet's chances of getting mammary cancer are very much controlled by her hormone level when she's young.   Spaying a dog before her first heat decreases her chances of later getting mammary cancer by more than 200 times.

                Often, older unspayed or unneutered pets will contract uterine or prostate infections, which then require extensive treatment and surgery.

Behavior Benefits

                Spaying/neutering:

•  Eliminates the heat cycle with its bloody discharge in dogs and its yowling in cats.
•  Stops unwelcome "suitors."  An indoor pet in heat can attract unneutered males  from several blocks away.
•  Helps decrease urine "marking" of territory.
•  Decreases the motivation for your pet to roam and fight.

                Spaying and neutering does not change your pet's basic personality and will not decrease its instinct to protect his property.  However, in an overly aggressive animal, neutering does help to decrease the incidence of unprovoked biting.

                A common misconception is that spaying and neutering make animals fat and lazy.  Just like in people, only overeating and lack of exercise will do this.  Since the surgeries are best done just as your pet is approaching being an adult, growth is slowing down and naturally his/her calorie needs will decrease at the same time.  Also, if your pet roams looking for mates, and the roaming stops with the spaying or neutering, their calorie needs will decrease accordingly.

When to Spay/Neuter

                Pets are healthiest if the surgery is done between 5-6 months of age.  It is very important to try to spay your pet before she has had a heat cycle in order to decrease her later chances of getting mammary cancer.  In males, it is important to neuter them while they are young in order to stop the hormones from kicking in and causing unwarranted aggression or urine marking.