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Spay or Neuter Your Pet

What do "spay" and "neuter" really mean?

Female dogs and cats are spayed by removing their reproductive organs, and male dogs and cats are neutered by removing their testicles. In both cases the operation is performed while the pet is under anesthesia. Depending on your pet's age, size, and health, he or she will stay at your veterinarian's office for a few hours or a few days. Depending upon the procedure, your pet may need stitches removed after a few days. Your veterinarian can fully explain spay and neuter procedures to you and discuss with you the best age at which to sterilize your pet.


Spaying or Neutering Is Good for Your Pet

  • Spaying and neutering helps dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives.

     

  • Spaying and neutering can eliminate or reduce the incidence of a number of health problems that can be very difficult or expensive to treat.

     

  • Spaying eliminates the possibility of uterine or ovarian cancer and greatly reduces the incidence of breast cancer, particularly when your pet is spayed before her first estrous cycle.

     

  • Neutering eliminates testicular cancer and decreases the incidence of prostate disease.

Spaying or Neutering Is Good for You

  • Spaying and neutering makes pets better, more affectionate companions.

     

  • Neutering cats makes them less likely to spray and mark territory.

     

  • Spaying a dog or cat eliminates her heat cycle. Estrus lasts an average of six to 12 days, often twice a year, in dogs and an average of six to seven days, three or more times a year, in cats. Females in heat can cry incessantly, show nervous behavior, and attract unwanted male animals.

     

  • Un-sterilized animals often exhibit more behavior and temperament problems than do those who have been spayed or neutered.

     

  • Spaying and neutering can make pets less likely to bite.

     

  • Neutering makes pets less likely to roam the neighborhood, run away, or get into fights.

Spaying and Neutering Are Good for the Community

  • Communities spend millions of dollars to control unwanted animals.

     

  • Irresponsible breeding contributes to the problem of dog bites and attacks.

     

  • Animal shelters are overburdened with surplus animals.

     

  • Stray pets and homeless animals get into trash containers, defecate in public areas or on private lawns, and frighten or anger people who have no understanding of their misery or needs.
  • Some stray animals also scare away or kill birds and wildlife.

Spay or neuter surgery carries a one-time cost that is relatively small when one considers its benefits. It's a small price to pay for the health of your pet and the prevention of more unwanted animals.
 

 

 

Myths and Facts About Spaying and Neutering

MYTH: My pet will get fat and lazy.

FACT: The truth is that most pets get fat and lazy because their owners feed them too much and don't give them enough exercise.

MYTH: It's better to have one litter first.

FACT: Medical evidence indicates just the opposite. In fact, the evidence shows that females spayed before their first heat are typically healthier. Many veterinarians now sterilize dogs and cats as young as eight weeks of age. Check with your veterinarian about the appropriate time for these procedures.

MYTH: My children should experience the miracle of birth.

FACT: Even if children are able to see a pet give birth—which is unlikely, since it usually occurs at night and in seclusion—the lesson they will really learn is that animals can be created and discarded as it suits adults. Instead, it should be explained to children that the real miracle is life and that preventing the birth of some pets can save the lives of others.

MYTH: But my pet is a purebred.

FACT: So is at least one out of every four pets brought to animal shelters around the country. There are just too many dogs and cats—mixed breed and purebred.

MYTH: I want my dog to be protective.

FACT: Spaying or neutering does not affect a dog's natural instinct to protect home and family. A dog's personality is formed more by genetics and environment than by sex hormones.

MYTH: I don't want my male dog or cat to feel like less of a male.

FACT: Pets don't have any concept of sexual identity or ego. Neutering will not change a pet's basic personality. He doesn't suffer any kind of emotional reaction or identity crisis when neutered.

MYTH: But my dog (or cat) is so special, I want a puppy (or kitten) just like her.

FACT: A dog or cat may be a great pet, but that doesn't mean her offspring will be a carbon copy. Professional animal breeders who follow generations of bloodlines can't guarantee they will get just what they want out of a particular litter. A pet owner's chances are even slimmer. In fact, an entire litter of puppies or kittens might receive all of a pet's (and her mate's) worst characteristics.

MYTH: It's too expensive to have my pet spayed or neutered.

FACT: The cost of spaying or neutering depends on the sex, size, and age of the pet, your veterinarian's fees, and a number of other variables. But whatever the actual price, spay or neuter surgery is a one-time cost—a relatively small cost when compared to all the benefits. It's a bargain compared to the cost of having a litter and ensuring the health of the mother and litter; two months of pregnancy and another two months until the litter is weaned can add up to significant veterinary bills and food costs if complications develop. Most importantly, it's a very small price to pay for the health of your pet and the prevention of the births of more unwanted pets.

MYTH: I'll find good homes for all the puppies and kittens.

FACT: You may find homes for all of your pet's litter. But each home you find means one less home for the dogs and cats in shelters who need good homes. Also, in less than one year's time, each of your pet's offspring may have his or her own litter, adding even more animals to the population. The problem of pet overpopulation is created and perpetuated one litter at a time.

 

 

Breeding Your Pet?
Don't Want to Have Your Pet Spayed or Neutered?

Are you thinking of breeding your pet? Are you unsure as to whether you want to have your pet sterilized or don't think that it's necessary? Then here's something you should know: Spaying or neutering your pet can help it live a longer, healthier life. It's true! Studies have shown that spayed or neutered pets are less likely to develop reproductive-related health problems. In fact, the earlier in life that a dog or cat is altered, the better.

Another benefit to having a spayed or neutered dog or cat is that your pet won't stray away from home to search for a mate. Also, without the urge to mate, your pet is more likely to focus on you, resulting in a closer bond with your animal companion.

Consider this: If your pet roams away to find a mate, it faces the dangers of getting hit by a car, encountering people who might abuse it, getting in to a fight with another animal, catching a disease from another animal and other perils.

Spaying or neutering your pet also helps to eliminate the pet overpopulation problem. Since there are not enough good homes for all of the pets that are born, it's important that you prevent your pet from reproducing.

Even if you can place all of the puppies or kittens that your pet may have, you cannot guarantee that those animals won't reproduce. If they do, you won't be able to control whether those litters will be placed in good homes.

Another benefit to having your dog or cat spayed or neutered is that most animal control agencies offer reduced licensing fees for sterilized pets.

Also, spaying or neutering your pet is affordable! Look through the "yellow pages" and ask for references from other pet owners you know to find the veterinarian whose services and fees are just right for you.

Q & A
Q: Isn't it dangerous for "Shadow" to undergo a spay or neuter surgery?
A: No. Millions of cats and dogs have been safely spayed or neutered by veterinarians across the country. The surgery is common and routine for most veterinarians. If you're concerned about the procedure, be sure to have your veterinarian thoroughly explain the steps of the surgery to you.

Q: If I have "Sammy" sterilized, won't he become fat and lazy?
A: Pets that have been spayed or neutered can be just as active as un-sterilized pets. Remember that any pet can gain weight if it's not provided with appropriate nutrition and adequate exercise.

Q: Isn't it healthier for "Misty" if I breed her once?
A: No. Female dogs and cats are less likely to develop medical complications in their senior years if they've never been bred or experienced any estrus cycles.

Q: Won't "Jake's" personality change if I have him neutered?
A: No. The basic personality of your dog or cat won't change when it's sterilized.

Q: Wouldn't it be great for my kids to witness the miracle of life by letting "Bitsy" have a litter?
A: The birth of a litter of puppies, kittens or other small pets is truly miraculous. However, it's equally important to teach children about being responsible for these lives. Since this litter will add to the pet overpopulation problem and there's no guarantee that they or any of their future litters will have good, permanent homes, what other lesson will your child be learning from this experience? Homeless pets that already exist desperately need your help in teaching kids about responsibility to animals and respect for all life.
 

 

 

GENERAL INFO from Prevent a Litter Society (PALS)

In every pound, the animals KNOW when death is taking place close by. This is a hard fact of life. The country's thousands of pounds and shelters are forced to kill literally MILLIONS of animals every year. They pour in, a never-ceasing, always increasing, inundating flood. Consequently, EVERY DAY, the pounds and shelters are compelled to kill and kill and kill, in order to make room for the ones that will flood them that day: all the result of thoughtless pet owners. Animals turned in to the shelters to be killed are the lucky ones - most are abandoned to be tortured, starved, frozen, injured and infected.

One female's cumulative offspring could total in TEN years this staggering number:

If all survived, the total would be.....84,652,644.

If 90% survived.........................76,187,380
If 80% survived.........................67,722,116
If 70% survived.........................59,257,380
If 60% survived.........................50,791,588
If 50% survived.........................42,326,322
If 40% survived.........................33,861,060
If 30% survived.........................25,395,796
If 20% survived.........................16,930,532
If 10% survived......................... 8,465,264
If 5% survived......................... 4,232,632
If 1% survived......................... 846,526

A thousand pet owners have a thousand excuses for letting their pets breed, and so they add thousands - hundreds of thousands - millions - of puppies and kittens to the mounting flood of the unloved and unwanted.

Don't YOU contribute to the misery: "Neuter and Spay - the Kindest Way"

"I ask for the privilege of not being born ...not to be born until you can assure me of a home and a master to protect me, and a right to live as long as I am physically able to enjoy life...not to be born until my body is precious and men have ceased to exploit it because it is cheap and plentiful" -author unknown

FACTS AND MYTHS

Doesn't everyone get their cats spayed and neutered? No. There are millions of healthy cats and kittens put to death each year in U.S. animal shelters because of unaltered cats and not enough homes for their offspring. Some people don't know this, or they don't recognize this is related to themselves or their cats.

People put off spay/neuter due to issues of money, transportation, or time. Some people believe it's more fair to allow the cat to mate "just this once" -- or they think a female cat's pregnancy and kittens will be sweet or educational for their human children. Also, some people don't know that:  

  • Cats can start mating as early as six months
     
  • Even indoor-only house cats often find ways to get outdoors when the sexual urge hits them. Whether they disappear for good (due to panic, accidents, or enemies) or they return home, kittens are the result.
     
  • An unaltered male cat can father hundreds of kittens a year.
     
  • Statistically, even if a person finds good homes for his cat's kittens, some of the kittens will grow up and produce litters of kittens.
     
  • Spaying a female before her first heat protects her from risks of uterine, ovarian, and mammary cancers.
     
  • Spaying also protects her from the stresses of pregnancy.
     
  • Spaying stops her frantic interest to roam outdoors and reduces the chances she'll mark your home with urine when she's in heat.
     
  • Unaltered cats have urges that make them irritable and upset. They yowl or whine non-stop, fight, or destroy objects in the house.
     
  • Neutering a male reduces his risk of prostate problems, including cancer, later in life.
     
  • Neutering lowers his urge to roam and to fight, and thus lowers chances of disease transmission and wounds.
     
  • Neutering also reduces his tendency to spray in the home.
     
  • And neutering eliminates the powerful odor of adult male cat urine.

Help stop the suffering -- Spread the word in your neighborhood
You can help cats and people by distributing flyers in your neighborhood about low cost or free spay/neuter services. Design an attractive flyer highlighting the benefits of spay/neuter plus the names and phone numbers of local services. Post the flyers in supermarkets and other public places where flyers are accepted. Distribute flyers to households in your neighborhood, especially those with new or unaltered pets.

Early-age spay/neuter
Some people delay spay/neuter for their pet because they've heard the animal must be six months or older. Although many older veterinarians were taught that, a number of studies show that cats and dogs as young as eight weeks have no problems later in life due to early- age spay/neuter. Plus, young kittens bounce back faster from the procedures than older kittens or cats. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) endorses early-age spay and neuter.

 

Did You Know?

  • On average, for each pet adopted to a new home, 9 animals are euthanized because there are not enough homes for them.
     
  • Each day in the U.S., 70,000 puppies and kittens are born while only 10,000 humans are born. That's a 7 to 1 ratio.
     
  • In 1995, the City of Idaho Falls Animal Control Center euthanized 1,928 animals out of a total of 2,880 animals received. This does not include roaming animals killed in traffic and deceased animals from other sources.
     
  • Each year in the U.S., almost 15,000,000 dogs and cats are destroyed because there are not enough loving homes for them all.
     
  • Please don't fool yourself into thinking that if you can find a home for each of your pet's offspring you avoid adding to the number of homeless pets. Usually, you've only eliminated potential homes for other waiting dogs or cats. Only so many responsible, caring homes exist, and finding a home for one of your pet's offspring just prevents some other dog or cat from finding a nice home.
     

You Can Teach Them Tricks, But ...

The "No Sex" command does not work!. So only you can help prevent unwanted pet reproduction. If you get a puppy or a kitten, plan to have it surgically sterilized as soon as the animal is old enough. This procedure is beneficial for you and your pet, as it makes them calmer, more content indoors, less aggressive to other pets and people, less likely to get in outdoor fights, and less susceptible to certain forms of cancer, particularly in females.
 

Sterilized pets have twice the average life expectancy of un-sterilized pets, partly due to a much lower chance of suffering from breast, uterine, prostate, and testicular cancer. Also, since the urge to mate is eliminated, neutered pets are less likely to roam from home and be injured in fights or killed in traffic.

 

Health Benefits
 

Female Dogs and Cats:

Spaying removes the ovaries and uterus, so this eliminates the possibilities of ovarian and uterine infection or cancer. Bacterial infection of the uterus (pyometra) commonly afflicts older un-spayed cats and dogs. In its advanced stages, pyometra causes general illness and kidney failure. If the uterus ruptures the animal will probably die. Pyometra requires emergency spaying, which may not save the animal. The best preventive care is to spay dogs and cats when they are young and healthy.
 

Spaying can also prevent mammary gland tumors, the most common tumor in un-spayed female dogs and the third most common tumor in cats. They are more common in dogs than in humans. A high percentage of mammary tumors are cancerous: in dogs, nearly 50%; in cats, nearly 90%. Once a cancerous mammary tumor spreads to the bones or lungs, the cancer will be fatal. An un-spayed dog is 200 times more likely to develop mammary tumors than a dog spayed before her first heat. An un-spayed cat is 7 times more likely than a spayed cat to develop mammary tumors.
 

Spayed dogs and cats also avoid the dangers of giving birth. A narrow birth canal or inadequate body size can sometimes make giving birth perilous.
 

Male Dogs:

Neutering removes the testicles, which prevents testicular tumors and greatly reduces the risk of developing rectal tumors. A dog who develops a testicular tumor must be treated before the tumor spreads -- the only effective means is neutering. Testicular tumors are especially prevalent in older dogs and are the second most common tumor in male dogs.
 

Enlargement of the prostate gland affects over 60% of un-neutered male dogs older than five years. Prostatic enlargement predisposes a dog to prostate and urinary-tract infections, which can make urinating difficult and painful. If an infection leads to an abscess, the abscess must be surgically drained. Common consequences of the surgery include system wide infection and shock or sometimes death. Because prostatic enlargement is caused by the male hormone testosterone, and testosterone is produced by the testicles. Neutering acts as both a preventative measure and a cure.
 

Additionally, by eliminating the sexual drive that can cause a dog to bolt from the yard or house, neutering helps protect dogs from injuries associated with roaming, such as being hit by a car or infections transmitted by other animals.
 

Male Cats:

As with un-neutered male dogs, an urge to mate increases the chances that a male cat will slip out of the house and suffer fight wounds or traffic injuries. The resulting wounds frequently develop into abscesses that must be surgically drained and treated with antibiotics. Worse, even a single bite can transmit deadly diseases, such as Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) or Feline Leukemia from one cat to another. FIV and Feline Leukemia can cause fatal failure of the immune system in some cats.

Behavioral Benefits

Female Dogs:

Spaying prevents irritability and aggressiveness that some dogs show while in heat. For indoor dogs, this also prevents vaginal blood spots from getting on household furniture or the carpet
 

Female Cats:

Most un-spayed female cats experience heat cycles during 10 months of the year. While in heat, many cats yowl loudly and continually during any hour of the day or night. By eliminating the heat cycle, spaying frees cats (and their human companions) from considerable stress.
 

Male Dogs:

In many male dogs, neutering reduces or eliminates sexual mounting behavior and territorial marking with their urine (including any that might take place in the house).
 

Male Cats:

Most un-neutered cats frequently spray urine to mark their territory. In contrast, only 1 in 10 neutered males sprays. The urine of an un-neutered male has an exceptionally strong odor as well.

Frequently Asked Questions
 

Q1. Is spay/neuter surgery painful? Is it dangerous?

A. During spaying/neutering, dogs and cats are fully anesthetized, so they feel no pain. After surgery they may experience some discomfort, but this disappears in a few days or hours. As with any surgery complications are possible, but rare.
 

Q2. Is spay/neuter surgery expensive?

A. spay/neuter surgery generally costs less than most other major surgeries and some local veterinarians provide discounted sterilization to the public. It is generally cheaper to spay an animal than to pay for the costs of caring for an entire litter of puppies or kittens.
 

Q3. Shouldn't a female dog or cat have one litter, or at least one heat, before being spayed?

A. On the contrary, a dog or cat has the best chance of good health if spayed before her first heat. Early spaying also reduces the chance that the animal will "accidentally" escape and become pregnant.
 

Q4. Can a pregnant animal be safely spayed?

A. Many animals and cats are spayed while pregnant to prevent the birth of puppies or kittens. However, a veterinarian should be consulted about the health and stage of pregnancy before making such a decision.
 

Q5. Don't spayed/neutered animals become overweight and less affectionate?

A. In some dogs and cats appetite will increase, but if your pet is given the proper amount of food and adequate exercise, they are unlikely to become overweight. In addition, because they are freed from the urge to mate, dogs and cats tend to be calmer, more content, and more affectionate.
 

Q6. Why should a male dog or cat be neutered - they don't give birth to puppies or kittens?

A. Besides the health benefits received from neutering, a male dog or cat can impregnate many females in a short period of time, and often without the owner's knowledge. This greatly contributes to pet over-population.
 

Q7. At what age should my dog or cat be spay/neutered?

A. Because of the health and reproductive benefits of early spay/neutering, most dogs and cats should have the surgery by 6 months. A growing number of veterinarians are sterilizing pets between 3-5 months, so please check with your veterinarian first. Remember, even older dogs and cats will receive huge benefits from being spayed or neutered.

 

 

 

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