Why you should spay or neuter your pet
Every year millions of pets, many that are purebred, are being put to sleep because there are not enough homes for all the unwanted animals. Unfortunately, many more will be put to sleep in the future. one way to prevent this from occurring is to have all nonbreeding animals spayed or neutered at six months of age or older. Spaying or neutering your pet will also prevent many medical problems later in life.
The medical term for spaying a female animal is called ovariohysterectomy. The procedure consists of the surgical removal of both ovaries and the uterus. Though it is routinely performed, spaying is a major abdominal surgery requiring general anesthesia and sterile operating technique. Prevention of pregnancy and heat periods is the main reason for this surgery, there are many other benefits. Dogs and cats can develop breast cancer just like people do. Therefore, by spaying a dog or cat before her first heat, the chance that she will NOT develop cancer is greater than 99%. Also, spaying an animal early in life will help eliminate such things as uterine infections, ovarian and uterine cancer and some skin disorders later in life.
Some people feel that it is important to allow a female animal to have at least one litter of offspring before she is spayed. There is no medical advantage in allowing this to occur. In fact, it does the opposite. By allowing her hormones to increase during the pregnancy, she may be predisposed to develop "female problems" as she gets older. Also, some people think that dogs will have a better personality if allowed to have at least one litter of puppies. This is not true. Actually, some mothers will become more aggressive while the puppies are nursing, feeling that she has to protect them. After the puppies are gone and mom's hormones are back to normal, she will have the same personality as she did before she was pregnant.
The term for neutering a male animal is called castration. Castration is the surgical removal of both testicles. If a dog only has one testicle or no testicles are present, then surgery must be done similar to the female animal such that the veterinarian must go into the pet's abdominal cavity and find and remove any testicular tissue present. It is especially important to neuter these animals for two reasons. First, having a retained testicle is a hereditary trait and can be passed down to the male's offspring. Additionally, these animals have a higher incidence of testicular cancer later in life.
The reasons for neutering a male dog are to eliminate sexual activities and make him less likely to roam, make him sterile, decrease his desire to fight with other dogs and reduce his risk of developing prostate disease and testicular cancer later in life. Male cats will reach sexual maturity at six to eight months of age therefore it is recommended to neuter these animals before that age. Neutering before or at sexual maturity will reduce the cat's sexual instincts and the cat becomes sterile. Fighting and night prowling, common in intact male cats, is largely eliminated. However, neutered cats may still go outdoors to hunt. The objectionable urine odor of the male cat is also reduced as well as his desire to spray.
In conclusion, spaying or neutering your pet should be done at six months of age for a number of medical reasons discussed above. However, in doing so, it will not change their personality, disposition or intelligence. Personalities do not fully develop until one to two years of age. If there is a personality change in a pet neutered at a young age, the change would have occurred without surgery. Additionally, spaying or neutering is not a replacement for obedience training for an owner that has an unruly pet. Remember that in our community alone, hundreds of healthy animals are put to sleep each year because there are not enough homes.
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