Spaying and Neutering Your Pet

Maria Bustillos

Whether you’re thinking of having a fur baby or you already have one, one of the things you’ll have to decide over is, “Do I really need to neuter my fur baby?” Spaying is a veterinary procedure of removing the ovaries and uterus of a female pet, while neutering is the procedure of removing your male pet’s testicles. However, majority would use the term neuter to refer to both genders.

Here are some benefits why your fur baby needs to get neutered before their heat season.

• Neutering will help your dog or cat live a healthier, happier, and longer life. Your cat could add another 3 to 5 years of their life while your dog could have another 1 to 2 more years.
• The change in behavior they go through during heat season is avoided and so the dangers they could face through mating will be reduced greatly. While heat cycles vary, breeding season lasts an average of 6 to 12 days often twice a year for dogs and an average of 6 to 7 days three or more times a year for cats.
• Spaying helps eliminate the possibility of having uterine or ovarian cancer and breast cancer too, mostly if they were spayed before their first heat cycle.
• Neutering on the other hand helps eliminate the possibility of testicular cancer and decreases vastly the incidence of prostate diseases.
• It reduces aggression, humping, marking of territory for the males. While your females could be more affectionate.
• It is cost-effective, some clinics would cost higher for spay/neuter but many shelters offer low-cost neutering and there are some who offers it for free for those who really doesn’t have the money for neutering their fur baby. Yet again this is one of the things you should consider even before getting a pet. While you might think this is an added expense and you think your pet doesn’t need it, it beats the sudden expense of treatment when your unneutered pet got into fight because of heat season or when they got ovarian or testicular cancer later on in life.

Some myths to debunk:

• Spaying or neutering doesn’t make your fur baby fat because they became “lazy”; lack of playtime and overfeeding will make them one so you still have to provide them the exercise they need and monitor their food intake.
• Your female pet doesn’t need at least one litter before getting spayed the routine of overpopulation will take place if this happens. There are so many unwanted dogs and cats in a single shelter and adding two or more litter will eliminate their chances of getting adopted. One more thing, their chances of having mammary cancer if spayed after their first heat could increase as well.
• Neutering doesn’t mean it quickly fixes the behavior of your male pet. It reduces the unwanted behaviors only because the procedure will reduce the level of testosterone of your fur baby. Their behavior will still be dependent on their individual personality and history.

When should I neuter my baby?

• Although the traditional age for neutering for dogs is six to nine months and before five months for cats, they can be spayed/neutered as early as eight weeks old as long as they’re healthy. You can contact the nearest or cheapest clinic near your place for an appointment and they can discuss to you if it’s a go signal for them and what are the pre and post-operative care for your fur baby.

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