By Heather Nokes
As a pet parent, it can be hard to figure out how to do what is right for our beloved fur babies. This is especially difficult when deciding whether to spay or neuter your pet. The idea of putting your pet under anesthesia is scary, so why risk it? The fact is that the pros greatly outweigh the cons. From the health of your pet to helping your community, there are many reasons why spaying and neutering your pets is a great decision.
- Health
According to the ASPCA, spaying a female cat or dog before their first heat cycle helps prevent 50-90% of these animals from experiencing malignant mammary or ovarian masses and uterine infections, referred to as pyometra. This is also the case with prostatitis and testicular cancer in males. Don’t we all want our pets to be as healthy as possible?
The Humane Society of the United States reports that spaying and neutering also correlates with a longer lifespan. For instance, cats live 39-62% longer when altered while dogs around 20% longer. This means more time with your beloved companions!
- Behavior
As if the health of our pets was not enough, spaying and neutering also shows a major shift in behavioral issues for cats and dogs. Why is this? When in heat, females tend to not only be more vocal, but they can also mark their territory with urine. This is to attract males for reproduction but is often unacceptable to pet parents. Males also tend to practice urine marking and can have a tendency to run away to find a mate; this can lead to unwanted damage to your property, unplanned litters, and even death for the animals that escape.
- Cost Effectiveness
Upfront, the cost of spaying or neutering can seem like a lot. However, if you consider how much healthier your pet is likely to be because of these procedures, it is worth the cost. For example, an unaltered female is up to 90% more likely to develop an infection of their uterus, aka pyometra. Surgery to correct a pyometra is usually done on an emergency basis which increases costs significantly compared to a routine spay surgery. This is also the case with the expenses to treat mammary or testicular cancer. And, of course, one animal is much less expensive to care than a litter of unwanted offspring.
- Community Welfare
As mentioned before, intact animals are more likely to roam in search of a mate. This means leaving their home and going wherever their senses tell them to go in order to reproduce. Often, they do not take into account such things as traffic, wildlife, and people that are not familiar with small animal behavior. These animals walking into traffic can cause car accidents. They also tend to prey on wildlife whether it be for sustenance or to protect themselves. And lastly, loose dogs and cats can be scary to those unfamiliar with them, such as children or the elderly.
- Unwanted Animal Population
The most important reason to spay and neuter, in this author’s opinion, has to do with the sheer number of homeless animals. According to the ASPCA, over 1.5 million animals are euthanized in the United States annually. To break it down even further, this means 670,000 dogs and 860,000 cats are killed every year across the United States. While a small percentage of these cases may be due to health or behavioral issues, most of these animals simply cannot be cared for. By leaving your animals intact and able to breed, you could be contributing to this number of homeless and euthanized pets.
The five reasons listed above are more than enough proof that fixing your pet is beneficial to not only the animal, but to you, other animals and our community. Understandably however, surgery and cost can still be an issue for some owners. If you find that you have questions or concerns about spay or neuter procedures, your veterinarian should be able to help ease your mind.