Spring is prime time to have your female pet spayed or your male pet neutered, because dogs and cats tend to spend more time outside the home. Pets that have access to the outdoors may explore greater distances in a day than they might during colder months. And as they explore, a pet may encounter another pet. If both animals are not spayed or neutered, they might reproduce. So the reminder for us as owners is two-fold – surgically altered pets are less likely to develop certain tumors and cancers. And they tend to live longer than their unaltered counterparts.
For example, spaying can help to ensure your female pet does not develop certain reproductive diseases, such as pyometra or uterine cancer. And if done before the animal’s first heat cycle, spaying can reduce the risk of mammary tumors.
Neutering a male pet also has health benefits, beginning with eliminating the possibility of testicular cancer and lowering the risk of prostate gland problems.
For any pet, spaying or neutering will give it a chance to live 20-40 percent longer and stay healthier. There is also a tangible benefit to having your female pet surgically altered – it’s a good investment! It eliminates the expenses related to caring for a litter of puppies or kittens and then trying to find them all homes.
If you think you can just take the litter to the local animal shelter, you should know that VERY few shelters have a zero percent euthanasia rate. So those precious puppies or kitties may not survive to adulthood. Or if they do, it may be that they were adopted but other shelter pets had to be euthanized because there are just not enough homes for all of them.
That’s the sad reality of too many puppies and kittens, so be a responsible owner and have your dog or cat spayed or neutered – today – when you’re speaking of pets.
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